Homemade Gift Ideas – Oreo Truffles

For the past few years I’ve tried to give something home made as a Christmas gift. Last year I made hampers, which contained personalised gifts depending on the recipient.

I actually ended up spending a fair amount of money, by the time I had bought the ingredients, jars etc, but it’s nice to give a gift you’ve put time and effort into. I don’t know about you but I love receiving home made gifts (especially ones I can eat!!).

Over the next week or so I’ll be posting a few recipes and ideas that you could make if you fancy. They’re not very expensive and are very easy to make.

Last year I gave some of my friends and family a little bag of these Oreo truffles each and they went down a treat!! Here’s how to make them….

Ingredients

200g Oreos (I actually used Lidl’s own brand, “Neo” which look and taste exactly the same, but are about half the price)
100g soft cream cheese eg Philidelphia
1 tsp vanilla essence
150g white chocolate

— In a food processor, put all of the Oreos in whole and pulse them until there are no large pieces left. If you don’t have a food processor you can bash them in a sandwich bag with a rolling pin, but I’m lazy and I like the easier food processor method!

— In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese with the vanilla extract until the cheese is a bit of a softer, looser consistency.

— Bit by bit, add the blitzed Oreos to the cream cheese mixture until it is fully incorporated. Reserve about 2 tablespoons worth of Oreos for decoration.

— Take a small amount of the mixture and roll between your palms to make a smooth ball. You don’t want it too big, because they’re quite rich. About a teaspoon’s worth. If the mixture is too sticky, try wetting your hands with water.

— Put it on a plate and continue rolling the rest until all of the mixture is used up. Try not to eat too much of the mixture otherwise you won’t have any truffles to give away!! You should have about 24 balls.

— Chill for at least 2 hours. The longer you leave them, the easier they will be to work with. I left mine overnight.

— When you’re ready, break your white chocolate into pieces and melt it in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. When it’s melted, coat all the truffles in the chocolate. I’ve found the easiest way to do this is just dropping one truffle at a time into the bowl, using a spoon to move it around the chocolate, then when it’s all covered scoop it out with the spoon, draining off any excess.

— Put each coated truffle on a sheet of grease proof paper, and continue until all truffles are coated in chocolate. Stop every 5-7 truffles and sprinkle some of the remaining crushed Oreos on the top – if you leave it much longer than this, the chocolate will have set and the decorations won’t stick.

— Once they’re all done, leave them to dry fully in the fridge, then package into cellophane bags and give them away!!

Or, you could eat them all, like I did. Last year I had to make a second batch, because I’d eaten so much of the first batch myself, I didn’t have enough for gifts. Seriously. Oops!!

If you’re after more ideas for what to do with Oreos take a look at this website.