Twinkle's Kitchen | Simple Sweet Holiday Truffles

Simple. Sweet. And definitely decadent. Chocolate truffles are a perfect way to say how much you appreciate someone during the holidays, especially when you make them yourself.

Truffles are one of those chocolaty delights that may seem a bit out of reach for the amateur chef, but they happen to be one of the easiest recipes you can try.

I won’t argue that there are many amazing chocolate artisans out there that go above and beyond what even I can do in my own kitchen.  I’m looking at you, Chocolate For The Spirit!

But for simple chocolate truffles, you can easily create, package and hand these out with only a few simple ingredients in less than 24 hours.

You can add a dash of whatever flavor you like, but I prefer a little citrus zest or bourbon (or both).

The truffle is made from a basic chocolate ganache recipe and dusted with cocoa powder. You can substitute crushed almonds, pistachios or other nuts, toasted coconut or even crushed peppermint! This is a great way to use the leftover peppermint you’ve crushed to make Peppermint Bark.

Chocolate Orange Truffles

Makes 25-30 large-sized truffles

• 16 ounces of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (high quality, 62% cacao or higher), well chopped into small pieces
• 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or bourbon
• 1/8 cup orange zest

Truffle coatings

• Cocoa powder
• Finely chopped walnuts
• Finely chopped almonds
• Finely chopped pistachios
• Crushed peppermints
• Candy coating

In a medium, heavy saucepan bring the heavy whipping cream to a simmer.

Stir in your flavoring – orange zest or other – while the cream is simmering.

Chop your chocolate and place in a separate bowl.

Pour the warmed cream over the chocolate, add the vanilla, and allow to stand for a few minutes. Then stir until smooth.

Now you have successfully made chocolate ganache.

Let cool, then place in the refrigerator for about two hours.

Once set, remove from fridge. With a teaspoon or preferably a melon baller, roll out balls of ganache. Roll in your hands quickly and place on a lined plate or surface, like a baking sheet.

You want to do this as quickly as possible since the heat from your hands will begin to melt the chocolate.
Refrigerate again for about an hour.

Prepare a shallow bowl with your coatings, roll truffles and serve.

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Twinkle VanWinkle was born in a small town in Mississippi. A life-long lover of music, media and food, she grew up following those three things along her path. She has almost 20 years of professional cooking under her apron strings, feeding thousands of friends, family and other folks while working in restaurants and bakeries in Oxford, Miss. She baked 300 apple pies for the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and appeared on “The Best Of...” in the same year. Along with producing dynamic entertainment content for LIN Media, she is a mother, musician and social media fanatic.

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