Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Ok, I admit it. I am weird. I do NOT like chocolate chip cookie dough. Never have. I love chocolate chip cookies, but the unbaked dough is gross. But, that being said, I'm in the minority in this household, so I had my 3 guys begging me to make these after they spotted the recipe on Pinterest. 

I think everyone knows the warnings about eating raw cookie dough, because of the uncooked eggs. Fortunately, these use sweetened condensed milk as a liquid replacement for the eggs, but they DO contain uncooked *flour* which has recently become a bit of an issue, too. So eat at your own risk, cookie dough lovers.

Cookie Dough Truffles
Recipe from CakesCottage

Ingredients:
½ cup (1 sticks) butter, room temperature
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans*
1 pound dark chocolate candy coating**
*My family doesn't like nuts in their chocolate chip cookies, so I just upped the amount of chips to 3/4 cup
** I use the pound-plus bars from Trader Joes or the Ghiradelli chocolate wafers available at my local grocery store. 

Instructions:

1. In a bowl combine butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated, beating well after each addition.
3. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. (You can sub more chocolate chips for the nuts)
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for approx 1 hour, or until firm enough to handle.
5. Shape mixture into 1 inch balls by rolling a spoonful in the palm of your hand (I use a melon baller to keep the size consistent.)
6. Place on paper-lined baking sheets. Loosely cover and refrigerate for about 20 minutes or until firm again.
7. In a bowl, melt dark chocolate candy coating either by placing atop barely simmering water as a double boiler or by microwaving according to package directions. I got tired of dipping truffles about halfway through, so you might consider doing this in batches, depending on how much time you have.
8. Dip the cookie dough balls into the chocolate and place on parchment paper. I use a fork to dip and gently shake the excess off before placing on the parchment.
9. Let the truffles sit until hard, about 15 minutes.
10. Once set, remelt remaining candy coating.
11. Carefully drizzle chocolate over truffles either by using a ziplock baggie with a tip snipped off or by dipping a fork and gently shaking it about 2 inches above the truffles. As you can see by the fancy picture, I didn't bother with that part this time. They still tasted fine according to the boys.
12. Store in the refrigerator and serve cold. These can also be frozen for longer storage.

Recipe: Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I discovered this recipe via the lovely food blog, Full Fork Ahead. They have adapted it from a Kitchen Aid recipe. My only change is to use a combination of milk chocolate chips and Nestlé semi sweet chunks. These cookies are soft, chewy, don't spread everywhere, and you can't bite into one without getting some chocolate! Imagine kick-ass Keebler Soft Batch without that chemical preservative taste. Mmmm...

You really need a sturdy stand mixer to make these. If you don't have one, you'll have to do these as you normally would,  adding the last of the flour by hand.

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt (I use 1 teaspoon to cut down on saltiness)
4 cups all-purpose flour
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chunks (about 1 cup)
6 ounces milk chocolate chips (about 1 cup)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla in mixer bowl. Attach flat beater to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 (just above "stir") and mix about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl with spatula. Turn to speed four (about medium) and beat about 30 seconds more. Stop and scrape bowl with spatula.

Turn to Stir (low) Speed. Gradually add in baking soda, salt and flour to sugar mixture and mix about 2 minutes. Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 30 seconds more. Stop mixer, scrape bowl again. Add in chocolate chips and mix on Stir Speed for 15 seconds.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets, or roll into balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges of the cookie have just started to turn golden brown. Leave on baking sheet for about a minute after removing from oven, then put them on wire cooling racks.

Keep an eagle eye on the cookies because they'll lose their chewy, soft texture if you overbake them.