Baileys Chocolate Truffles

Rich, creamy, and intensely bittersweet, these Baileys chocolate truffles are pure, all-encompassing bliss.

½ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream (okay to substitute heavy cream)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Pinch salt
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, best quality such as Ghiradelli, chopped
Coatings:

Cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-processed)

confectioners' sugar mixed with an equal amount of cocoa powder

finely chopped nuts

unsweetened shredded coconut

• In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine the heavy cream, Baileys, butter and salt. 
• Microwave on high power until the mixture comes to a boil, 70 to 80 seconds. 
• Watch that it doesn't boil over. 
• Add the chocolate and let sit for about 30 seconds to melt. 
• Using a whisk, stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is glossy and smooth.
• Refrigerate until completely firm, about 3 hours or overnight 
• Place your coating(s) on a plate. 
• Remove the chilled truffle mixture from the refrigerator. 
• If you've had the mixture in the fridge for longer than 3 hours, you may need to let it sit out at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes so it's malleable enough to work with.
• Using a small spoon, scoop out about 2 teaspoons of the chocolate mixture. 
• Dust your fingertips with the cocoa powder or the confectioners' sugar/cocoa mixture. 
• Use your fingertips to shape into a rough ball. 
• Quickly and gently roll in your palms to form into a smooth ball, then roll in your topping of choice. 
• If the chocolate starts to melt from the warmth of your palms, drop the truffle into the cocoa or confectioners' sugar/cocoa mixture and lightly coat, then continue rolling. 
• You may need to wash your hands in cold water from time to time. 
• Place the truffles in a single layer on a plate or in a storage container, cover, and refrigerate. 
• Remove from the refrigerator about 10 minutes before serving 
• keep in mind that they'll get too soft if left out at room temperature for too long
• The truffles will keep for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator. 
• They can also be frozen for up to two months.

 

Recipe: Once Upon a Chef

Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti

Perfect for dipping in coffee, latte, cappuccino, etc. They also make great gifts

1 ⅓ cup all purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 Large eggs
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup dried cranberries (or dried cherries)
chocolate for drizzling or dipping (milk, dark or white chocolate)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
• In a large bowl whisk together sugar and eggs until a light lemony color. 
• Add in dried cranberries.
• Mix in dry ingredients until a dough forms.
• Shape dough into two loaves approximately 12 inches by 2 inches. 
• Place on the baking sheet a few inches apart.
• Bake until loaves are just beginning to crack, about 30 minutes.
• Remove from oven and remove parchment paper and loaves to a cooling rack for 10 minutes. 
• Turn oven down to 325 degrees.
• Cut loaves with a serrated bread knife into ⅜ inch thick slices on the diagonal
• Place cut side up on the baking sheet.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes until crisp, turning each cookie over halfway through baking.
• Let cool completely. 
• Dip in or drizzle with chocolate as desired for decorating.

Recipe: That Recipe

Christmas Feta Dip

Smooth, creamy slightly sweet with some salty tang. Its whipped feta topped with orange zest, pomegranate seeds, candied nuts, and fresh thyme. It's basically a delicious ornament in a bowl! So Christmasy

One 8-ounce block of feta cheese
1 small clove garlic (or half if you’re sensitive to garlic)
2 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons honey

Toppings

Pomegranate seeds
Candied nuts (see notes)
Thyme leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
Orange or lemon zest

• Pulse feta, garlic, cream cheese, and honey in a food processor until very smooth. 
• Transfer to a plate and give it some swoops with a spoon to make it pretty.
• Top with pomegranate seeds, candied nuts, thyme leaves, freshly ground black pepper, zest, and a drizzle of honey.

Recipe: Pinch of Yum

Caramel Latte Bundt Cake

An amazing, fluffy, moist bundt cake. It has mild coffee flavor that is complimented so well with the caramel and espresso glazes

8 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and diced, plus more for the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, 8 oz.
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, at room temperature
2 tbsp instant espresso dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cappuccino chips

Caramel Glaze:

4 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream/milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Espresso Glaze:

3 tbsp milk, plus more if needed
1 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
1/4-1/2 cup powdered sugar

• Arrange a rack at center position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
• Thoroughly butter (or spray) the inside and all ridges of a 9 inch bundt pan
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, and sugars. 
• Add the diced butter and use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs. 
• Remove 1/2 cup to a small bowl, set aside.
• Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the large bowl with the flour mixture 
• Stir to combine. 
• In a medium sized bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, dissolved espresso, and vanilla 
• Stir them into the dry ingredients just until well combined. 
• Stir in the chips.
• Ladle half of the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly with a spatula. 
• Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over the batter. 
• Repeat with the remaining batter.
• Bake until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.
• Cool the cake to room temperature. 
• Run a sharp knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the cake. 
• Carefully flip the cake onto a wire rack or cake plate. 
• For the Caramel Glaze:In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. 
• Add the brown sugar and cream and stir until smooth. 
• Cook for one minute and remove from heat. 
• Let cool slightly and then whisk in the vanilla and powdered sugar. 
• Add more powdered sugar or milk to the glaze to thicken or thin it out.
• For the Espresso Glaze:Dissolve the espresso powder in the milk. 
• Add the powdered sugar gradually, stirring into the espresso mixture until it has reached your desired consistency.
• Drizzle glazes over cooled cake and serve.

Recipe: The Baker Chick

Snowy Chocolate Pinecones

Made with dry cereal and a peanut butter mixture, it’s part-healthy, part-sweet, and 100% fun. It’s a great edible craft for the kids to make this winter when the snow arrives and cabin fever sets in. No baking required—just mix and assemble.

3 cups Chex Chocolate cereal or comparable (I used Chocolate Fiber One cereal)
6 pretzel sticks (I used the thicker dipping sticks)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar

• Mix the peanut butter, Nutella, butter, and powdered sugar in a bowl.
• Take a pretzel stick and mold some of the peanut butter mixture around it, forming a slight cone shape.
• Holding it steady by using the tip of the pretzel as a handle, start inserting pieces of cereal into the peanut butter mixture in a symmetrical pattern around the stick. 
• Add more cereal pieces, staggering them as you move upward, until you get near the top.
• Cut several cereal pieces into triangles and add those to the top (most pinecone scales get smaller toward the end.)
• If your pinecone is getting too tall, cut off the top of the pretzel and add a dollop of peanut butter mixture to cover it. 
• Insert a few more triangle pieces of cereal into the top of the pinecone.
• For a “snowy” effect, dust the pinecone with powdered sugar.

Recipe and tutorial: Handmade by Charlotte

Stacking Snowmen Cookies

Get your kids counting down to Christmas with these delightfully cute snowmen biscuits. From cutting out the rounds for the body to making tiny carrot noses out of orange icing, your budding chefs will love getting stuck in – and tucking in afterwards!

200g plain flour
75g caster sugar
100g (4oz) butter, softened and cubed, plus extra for greasing
1 medium egg
icing sugar, for dusting
1 x 500g pack ready to roll white fondant icing
2 tbsp seedless jam
black writing icing
orange colouring or orange fondant icing

• Preheat the oven to gas 5, 180°C, fan 160°C. 
• Place the flour into a mixing bowl with the sugar and mix together. 
• Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips to form fine breadcrumbs. 
• Alternatively whizz in a food mixer. 
• Add the egg and mix well to bind into a soft dough.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 4mm thickness 
• Stamp out 8 x 11cm rounds, 8 x 8cm rounds and 8 x 5cm rounds, 
• Place onto 2 lightly greased baking sheets. 
• Bake for 8-12 mins until the edges just turn golden and the centre is still pale. 
• The small biscuits will cook quicker than the large biscuits so watch them carefully during cooking and take out when ready.
• Allow to cool on a wire rack. 
• Roll out the fondant icing on a surface lightly coated with cornflour, to a thickness of approx 4mm  Using the same cutters, stamp out the same sizes and quantity of rounds as the biscuits.
• Lightly brush the tops of each of the biscuits with a very thin layer of the jam right to the edges  
• Place the relevant icing circles onto the same size biscuits.
• Place all the large 11cm iced biscuits onto a board and top with a tiny smear of jam in the centre.  
• Top with the 8cm iced biscuit and again top with a tiny smear of the jam in the centre
• Top with the 5cm iced biscuits to make the snowmen. 
• Draw faces on each using black writing icing 
• Make tiny carrot noses with any icing remnants coloured orange or ready made orange icing.

Recipe: Tesco

Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti

1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
4oz white chocolate
2 candy canes (crushed)

• Preheat oven to 350
• In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar.
• Mix in the cocoa powder.
• Mix in the eggs until well combined.
• Add salt and baking soda and mix well.
• Add flour and mix until combined.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Form dough into a loaf shape about 12x4"
• Bake on a silicone baking mat or parchment cookie sheet for 30 minutes.
• Slice the loaf into 3/4-1" slices and bake for 5 more minutes with the cut side down.
• Flip the cookies and bake 5 more minutes.
• Let cool.
• Drizzle the the top of each biscotti with the melted white chocolate
• Sprinkle with crushed candy canes.
• Allow to set up before storing in a sealed container.

Recipe: Back For Seconds

Sugar Cookie Truffles

A three-ingredient no-bake recipe that uses sugar cookies, cream cheese and white chocolate (plus, sprinkles as an option).

2 cups (200 g) or 12 sugar cookies, about 2 1/2 in diameter
4 tablespoons (2 oz or 57 g) cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups white chocolate melting wafers,, or candy melts
Sprinkles for decoration

• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• Place sugar cookies in a food processor and process until cookies turn into fine crumbs. 
• Add cream cheese and process again until well-combined and mixture can be pressed into a ball, 1 to 2 minutes
• Shape cookies into balls about 1-inch to 1 1/2-inches in diameter. 
• If the sugar cookie truffle dough is not firm enough to roll into balls, add a teaspoon or two of milk.
• Place on prepared cookie sheet and place in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes.
• While the truffles freeze, melt white chocolate in a medium bowl according to instructions. 
• Microwave at 50% power level in 30 second intervals until chocolate is melted and smooth. 
• Never add water to melted chocolate. If you need to thin out the chocolate, add a tablespoon of shortening or coconut oil.
• Remove the cookie truffles from refrigerator. 
• Using two forks, dip and roll chilled truffles, one at a time, in chocolate coating. 
• Return to lined cookie sheet and immediately top with sprinkles. 
• Repeat process for remaining truffles.
• Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to one month.

Recipe: If You Give A Blonde A Kitchen