Holiday Roundup: Fabulous Christmas Treats

No Christmas would be complete without a sugar high that gives you heart palpitations. Oh Christmas, how I love thee. 

Here are a few of Hardly Housewives' favorite Christmas treats.  Any of these would be perfect to bring to a cookie swap, to your office to spread some cheer, or to thank your children's teachers for being extra patient this year.  

1.  Five Layer Bars.  My Uncle Mike and Aunt Deb send a box of cookies every year and inside the little treasure chest you'll find these babies.  They are usually the first to go.  Because I eat them all.

2. Dark Chocolate Chili Truffles. These are delish and a little different, so if you're looking to shake things up a bit, this will do the job. 

3. Oreo Truffles.  Thank you cousin Lesley for introducing these and my favorite drink, Minnesota Bootlegs, into my life. If there aren't a surplus of these when I come to visit this Christmas you are in big trouble. 

4.  Saltine Candy Bark.  This link will bring you to a post written by Caitlin and photographed by me.  We just like to confuse you.  Caitlin's friend's mother-in-law first introduced this to her, and my Aunt Martha first introduced this to me.  You know a recipe is great when neither of us can spend the holidays without it. 

5.  Salted Caramel Blueberry Bark.  I don't think I'm going to make this, this year.  I can't keep my hands off of it.  I put it in the freezer thinking it would deter me from eating it all in one sitting.  Instead, I just munched on frozen solid chocolate all week. 

I'll be sharing one of my families very special, traditional holiday treats soon, but in the meantime let us know what some of your favorite holiday treats are and stay hungry! 

Dark Chocolate Chili Truffles

I was going to call these Little Crack Balls but I thought that would be a little inapropro.  But seriously.  So good.  A little sweet, a little spicy, a little salty and a little AWESOME.  

My friend Zan's Aunt Liz makes the best frickin truffles ever and shipped a bunch from London.  My ration (and rationale) just ran out so I quickly made a batch of my own.  They weren't quite as good...but pretty damn close. 

Here are the ingredients:

3/4 Cup Heavy Cream

2 Tbs Unsalted Butter (at room temp)

12 Oz Semisweet Chocolate (finely chopped)

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

3 Tbs Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

2 Tbs Sugar

1 Tbs Red Chili Powder 

2 Pinches of Sea Salt 

I don't have a pic for this because I did it the night before, but here are the directions to make the filling.

Heat the cream and butter up over medium heat until the butter melts completely.  Remove from the heat and add your finely chopped chocolate.  Let it rest for about a minute.  Gently stir until the chocolate becomes silky smooth and no chocolate chunks remain.  Add your vanilla and then pour contents into a bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours up to overnight.

Mix the rest of your powdered ingredients on a dinner plate once your filling is ready.  I used a melon baller which was sort of big, but I like delicious things to come in extra large sizes...that's just me. Once you scoop out the chocolate, roll gently and quickly with the palms of your hands to create a ball like shape.  They aren't going to be perfect.  In fact, they look cuter when they aren't.

Once you've rolled them right round baby right round, let them sit on parchment paper for a bit to set.

 Don't these look amazzzzingalingadingdong?

Now, one quick disclaimer.  Make sure you knock off the excess powder or else you'll end up like Michael Scott: 

Stay hungry! 

Mint Milano Cookie Bark

I'm really getting the hang of this bark thing.

Melting chocolate down and throwing whatever I like in the middle? Yes please. Next week might be a chocolate, salami, sour cream and onion chip bark. No? You don't want me to post that one?

I love Mint Milano cookies. They remind me of my Dad. He has the same freakish obsession with mint that I do. They are so crispy and light - just the perfect thing to sandwich between layers of chocolate.

To drive home the minty flavor, I decided to melt down mint and bittersweet chocolate chips. Who knew they sold them like this (I rarely bake if you haven't noticed).

Melt the chocolate down over a double boiler. I had to resist the urge to not drop my hand in like it was paraffin wax.

Pour half of the chocolate out on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and sprinkle the crushed up cookies on top.

Throw this in the freezer for fifteen minutes and then pour the rest of the chocolate on top.

Let it chill in the fridge or a freezer if you need to eat it immediately like me.

Stay hungry!


Mint Milano Cookie Bark
4 Cups Mint & Bitter Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 Package Mint Milano Cookies

Melt chocolate chips down over a double boiler. Pour half of chocolate out onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Crush cookies and sprinkle on top immediately. Freeze for 15 minutes or so. Top the bark with the rest of the chocolate and freeze to set and then break apart and EAT.

Oreo Truffles

I wish I could tell you what my husband said when he ate these.  But it's not that kinda site.  Let's just say he really enjoyed them.  A little too much. 

I first learned about these a year ago at Christmas.  My cousin in law Lesley introduced me to these.  I popped one of these in my mouth and my life has never been the same since.  So I guess these are a "classic" but since I had never heard of them until just a year ago, I need to spread the gospel.  Are you with me?  Amen child.

Just four ingredients.  Four little ingredients to make your taste buds tap dance:

Oreos 

Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

White Chocolate

Cream Cheese 

Throw the Oreos and cream cheese into a food processor.  You can do them both at once.  I literally had it pulsing for a good three minutes and then realized I forgot the cream cheese.  I can't think when I'm sober.

Blend together until it's nice and creamy.  Ok.  So LISTEN TO ME.  Do not try this mixture or you will have about 50% less truffles than you set out to make.  I mean.  HOLY COW is this good.  

Unrelated:  How cute is Ralphy?  His Mom and Dad are in Hawaii so we get him a little longer.  We just love him.  He's sleeping next to me in bed right now.  He's such a little snuggle bunny.

Anyway, I bought a mini ice cream scoop and it's the best thing I've bought for my kitchen in awhile.  It comes in very handy.  Just scoop them out and roll with your hands so they are as smooth as possible.

I've never done this, but I put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes.  This helped them from melting and getting squishy in the hot melted chocolate.  Between a spatula and a fork I managed to get these covered.  For some reason, I am not very good at this part.

Let them cool and then drizzle with white chocolate.  OR, dip them in white chocolate and drizzle with dark chocolate. OR OR OR dip them in white chocolate AND dark chocolate and then sprinkle crushed Oreos on top.  And then cast them in iron so you can save them FOREVER.

Aren't these pretty?

Make like 400.

And save 350 for yourself.

Do you have any variation to this recipe?  We'd love to hear about it.  Stay sweet and stay hungry! 

Oreo Truffle Recipe 

1 Package of Oreos

3 Cups Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips, melted

1 Cup White Chocolate, melted

1 Package of Cream Cheese 

Blend Oreos and cream cheese in blender.  Form into truffle size balls.  Place in freezer.  While truffles are chilling, melt semi sweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips over individual double boilers.  Once melted, roll Oreo balls into semi sweet chocolate to coat.  Drizzle white chocolate on top and chill in the fridge.  Try to not self induce diabetic shock.