Nutty Truffles

Nutty Truffles

by Andrea Pederson (Elissa’s mom)
Submitted by Elissa H with a couple of alterations based on what I brought to the Cooking Group

*Toast nuts first so that they can be "cooling off". Never roll truffles in anything that is still warm.

Chocolate Ball Mixture
Place 2 1/4 C. Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips in a med- large glass mixing bowl and set aside.

In a med. sized heavier gauge pan combine:
1 C. Heavy Cream (I used regular whipping cream)
4 T. Butter (salted)

Bring to a boil on Med. heat (I use the heat setting that is "one notch past Med." on an electric stove) and lightly boil for about 3 minutes

Pour hot liquid over choc. chips and add:

2 t. vanilla
2 t. Hazelnut flavoring OR 1 t. Almond flavoring
2 t. Honey (optional)
(The batch I made today I used 1 t. pure Mexican vanilla, 1/4 t. almond flavoring and 1 T. honey)
Stir well until very smooth, then cover and put into fridge for 4-6 hours or until mixture is uniformly firm.

Coating
2 giant sized Hershey's chocolate bars (with Almonds is okay), crumbled (directions below). I used only 1.
1 1/4 cups chopped, toasted* pecans (I use toasted pecans that are very finely chopped...just buy them that way if you can) I used about 3/4 cup.

It helps to place choc. bars in fridge or freezer first and break into chunks before putting into the blender. "Pulse" chocolate bars in the blender until crumbly...you will have to use a spatula or butter knife to scrape it off the bottom of the blender after you have removed container from power source.
Place crumbled chocolate in a bowl or on a plate with cooled toasted nuts and mix well with a fork. This is what you will roll your chocolate truffle balls into in order to coat them.

*To toast nuts
I put chopped pecans in a Corelle cereal bowl and hollow out an "empty space" in the middle of the bowl so that the nuts are on the "outer edge" like a doughnut shape.
Microwave pecans on high for 30 seconds at a time, stirring and re-doing the "doughnut hole" shape in the middle before toasting again for 30 more seconds...this keeps them out on the edges where they will be toasted. It takes about 90 seconds or less all together...it's good to smell them between each 30 second stint in the microwave to make sure you're not burning them. They should smell toasted, not burned.
All microwaves are different and have varied speeds/temps.
Cool pecans thoroughly!! (I put them in the freezer for a few minutes before adding them to crumbled chocolate.)

To form truffles
Scoop small truffle balls from cold chocolate mixture and roll in nuts/chocolate...try not to touch soft chocolate too much before rolling them. I sort of formed them as I rolled them in the coating.

Place finished truffles on wax paper or a plastic lined container and cover tightly. Keep in fridge until well cooled. These are best eaten at room temperature, but always keep them stored in the fridge otherwise.

Substitutions can be made for nuts...if you use almonds to coat truffles, make sure they are well chopped/pulsed in blender first or they will be too hard.