I make chocolate truffles every year for gift-giving to neighbors, friends, and family. I eat a lot of them myself too. I try out different recipes each year and this is my newest one to try (I made them for Thanksgiving), and they are delicious. I found this recipe in my Southern Living Christmas Cookbook from 2008. These truffles are so rich that I made them smaller than the recipe calls for. I did find chopped hazelnuts on sale so I used them instead of buying them whole (it’s much easier). If you don’t have hazelnuts, you could use almonds, walnuts, pistachios or whatever you have on hand, or that’s on sale. For a pretty presentation you can drizzle chocolate on the plate. These are perfect homemade goodies for teachers, coworkers, neighbors, and friends.
HAZELNUT-CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES-
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Chill: 2 hours
Bake: 5-10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 1 cup finely chopped bittersweet chocolate (I used bittersweet chips because they were on sale and saved me time)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons hazelnut liqueur (I used Frangelico)
- 3/4 cup hazelnuts (I bought them already chopped)
- 1 3-oz dark chocolate bar, chopped (I used 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips)
Directions:
Bring cream to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; whisk in bittersweet chocolate, butter, and hazelnut liqueur until well combined. Chill at least 2 hours.
Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until hazelnuts are toasted. Place warm hazelnuts in a dish towel, and rub vigorously to remove skins. Process toasted hazelnuts in a food processor until ground. Place in a shallow dish. *I bought them already chopped and toasted at 350 degrees for about 4 minutes.
Shape chocolate mixture into 1-inch balls (or smaller, which I did).
Melt chopped dark chocolate bar (or chips) in a small saucepan over low heat. Roll each ball in 1 teaspoon melted dark chocolate, and immediately roll in toasted, ground hazelnuts until lightly coated. *This was very messy when “rolling” the balls in the chocolate. I used small tongs with my second batch, or you could use a fork to dip them in to the chocolate.
Cover and chill truffles until ready to serve or give.
Yield: 20 truffles if making 1-inch balls….I made them half the size and got about 35-40.