No-Bake Thin Mint Truffles

Remember how back in January I talked about Joe buying a ton of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies?  We still have some, and he was kind enough to "allow" me to have a half a box with which I could do whatever I pleased.  I wanted to eat them, but I had a ton of recipe ideas involving Thin Mints/other cookies, and thought it would be a good idea to try one of them out.

These no-bake truffles are amazing.  They're super easy to make, take barely any time at all AND only use three ingredients! Obviously, I made mine with Thin Mints, but if you don't have them, you can easily substitute them with Keebler Grasshoppers (if you want minty ones), but I'm also thinking about trying them with Oreos and chocolate chip cookies.

My recipe made about 20, but since I was playing around, I didn't really want to make too many and then have them not be so tasty.  If you need to make more, you can easily double, triple, etc. the recipe.  I originally tried combining everything with a wooden spoon, but you'll want to skip that and just use a fork.  Trust me, it will make your life a million times better.

Also, the amount of the melting chocolate is a guess.  You know those little baker's dipping chocolate things that come in the little microwave container? I had about 1/4 of one of those left in the fridge from something else, plus I had bought a 10 oz. bag of Candy Melts at Michaels that I used about half of.  If you have leftover chocolate or candy coating that's already been melted, you can stick it in the fridge in an airtight container for later use.  Most of the packaging recommends storing it for up to a week or two, but I've used it older than that and never had any issues. 

What's the last few-ingredient recipe you made that came out better than you expected?

No-Bake Thin Mint Truffles
To print this recipe, click here

Ingredients
1 roll (approx. 16 cookies) Thin Mints or Keebler Grasshoppers
2 Tbsp. brick cream cheese, softened
7 oz. dipping chocolate and/or candy coating

Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper and set aside.

Put the cookies into a ziplock bag and squeeze the air out.  Seal the bag.  Using a rolling pin, crush the cookies into fine crumbs (you don't want any big chunks).

In a bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese.  Using a fork, cut the cream cheese into the crumbs until the cream cheese disappears (no white spots!) and a thick dough forms.

Roll the dough into one-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheet.  To keep mine uniform in size, I measure out a teaspoon-full of dough for each one.  Place the baking sheet in the fridge to set, about 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate or candy coating according to package directions.  Drop each truffle into the chocolate/candy coating, coating completely.  Use a fork to lift truffles out of the chocolate and drain the excess.  Place back onto prepared baking sheet.  Once all truffles are covered, place back into the fridge to set, about one hour.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Peanut Butter Buckeyes

Joe is a big fan of college sports.  Which is to say, college basketball and college football.  His favorite college football team is Ohio State Buckeyes.  What you probably don't know is that in real life, buckeyes are an inedible nut that have light a brown inner circle with a glossy, darker brown outer shell.  These buckeyes look pretty similar, but are made with chocolate and peanut butter.

The best part is that they're easy to make and, like most candy, you spend more time waiting for them to harden than anything else.  And by waiting, I mean saying "oh that one broke, I better try it and make sure they taste okay."  The recipe says to work with only a few peanut butter balls at a time, and that's definitely true.  I ended up having to put mine back in the freezer a few times because they got a little too soft and started to fall apart once I stabbed them with a toothpick. 

I don't want to call these a fail because they definitely weren't, but they were also not as popular as I had hoped.  When I made them, Joe had a toothache that made it hard for him to eat anything, but especially sweets.  My mom and brother both though they were good, but that they were too peanut butter-y/not chocolatey enough - which, in retrospect, are pretty much the same complaint.  Joe's boss, who gave me recipe and requested I make them, also was pretty "meh" about them.

Me? I LOVED these.  The recipe makes about 3 dozen and I might have eaten 2 dozen or so all by myself.  Whatevs.  They were DELICIOUS!  They taste like an overstuffed Reese's peanut butter cup, only about a million times better. 

Peanut Butter Buckeyes
To print this recipe, click here

Ingredients
2 cups confectioners sugar
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 oz. dipping chocolate

Line a large cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper.

Combine sugar, peanut butter, butter and vanilla in a mixing bowl and beat well with a wooden spoon.  The dough will be thick and hard to stir, so you may need to use your hands. Roll the peanut butter mixture into 1" balls and place on the lined cookie sheet in a single layer.  Freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.

Melt chocolate according to package directions.

Working with about 6 peanut butter balls at a time, insert a toothpick into the center and dip about three-quarters of the ball into the chocolate.  You want to leave a circle of peanut butter visible in the middle.  Twirl off the excess chocolate and transfer to another lined cookie sheet, chocolate side down.  Repeat with remaining peanut butter balls, reheating chocolate as necessary. As chocolate starts to harden, smooth out the toothpick holes left in the peanut butter.

Freeze buckeyes until firm, about 1 hour.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Yields about 36.

These are not edible

But these definitely are!