Neighbor's Favorite: Oreo Truffles

"These truffles are both elegant and fancy, but they're so easy," explained Michelle Haney as she stood in her kitchen talking about her Oreo Truffles recipe. "We just have fun making them whenever the kids have a function."

Michelle, a working mom who lives in Loma Rica with her husband and three teenage children, likes to keep things personal. "We grow our own garden, we have chickens, I even dry my own herbs. This weekend, the girls and I made jelly from locally bought fruit."

Michelle freely admits that the recipe for this rich dessert didn't originate with her. "When I worked at Centex Homes, our department was always throwing some sort of little lunch get-together. One of the things we sometimes did was appetizers. One day, I took in two or three, and this appraiser we had, Gus, brought in his Oreo Truffles. What we did was put cards in front of our dishes with the recipes, so you could try them if you wanted.

"I liked them, and I've been making them ever since. So when there's a party or something and people ask me to bring a little something, I just throw the three ingredients together.

"I can't take credit for it, but I can take credit for perfecting it," Michelle said with pride.

She can say that because she's found ways to vary the taste, the toppings and the look. Michelle said she can vary the flavor by using strawberry or vanilla Oreos. She might also dip the mixture in white chocolate, for those who don't like regular chocolate, or she can vary the type of chocolate she uses by switching between dark or milk as the mood hits her.

And while Gus used white chocolate drizzles on top, Michelle said she uses different toppings, such as crushed toffee or nuts.

Her personal truffle taste preference doesn't include dark chocolate, she said, but she's not adverse to dripping some over the top for a festive look or a little different taste.

As she said, making the truffles is very simple — it takes just three ingredients (Oreos, cream cheese and dipping chocolate) and (except for the cooling time) less than 45 minutes. Plus, she estimates it costs less than $7 to make a tray of these very tasty and very rich dessert truffles.

As she prepared to demonstrate her recipe for me, she laid out the ingredients: an 18-ounce bag of regular Oreo cookies, an 8-ounce block of cream cheese and one or two 12-ounce bars of Ghirardelli candymaking and dipping bar chocolate.

"I like to use Ghirardelli melting chocolate because that works the best. I've used a few other types, as well as chocolate chips, but they don't work as well, and the Ghirardelli taste is phenomenal," Michelle said.

The process is as simple as the ingredients.

After ripping open the pack of cookies, she dropped them into her food processor and ground them into crumbs. Michelle added the cream cheese and blended the ingredients together until it formed a smooth dough.

The hardest part came next — putting the mixture into a plastic bag and letting it sit in the refrigerator for a minimum of four hours. "I usually don't have to wait long because I usually have time to make the dough the day before, so I'm able to let it cool overnight."

Michelle said you can hurry the cooling process a little by putting the dough into the freezer for a short time, but she doesn't recommend it. She said she doesn't do that because there's too great a chance of the outer portions of the dough freezing.

After the dough has cooled, hand-roll it into 1-inch balls.

The next step is to melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Michelle doesn't recommend melting the chocolate in a microwave, because she said it's important that the chocolate is warmed slowly for best results.

Finally, dip the balls into the melted chocolate. Place them on a wax paper-lined tray, sprinkle with your favorite topping and let them sit until the chocolate has cooled.

"Once you dip it, you can put all kinds of different toppings on it. You can put cereal, chopped nuts, toffee — anything that you really enjoy. You can even put more of the cookie crumbs on top it you want," Michelle said. "Just have fun with the recipe."

Other recommend toppings: powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar and cocoa powder.

"I can only eat two," Michelle said. "But my son can eat four or five."

• OREO TRUFFLES

Ingredients

1 bag (18 ounces) Oreo cookies

1 block (8 ounces) cream cheese

1 or 2 bars (12 ounces each) Ghirardelli candymaking and dipping bar chocolate

Toppings: nonpariels, melted white chocolate drizzle, chopped nuts, chopped toffee, etc.

Putting it together

In a food processor, process the cookies until they are fine crumbs. Add cream cheese and mix until it forms a smooth dough.

Refrigerate dough ball in a quart size zip-close bag for at least four hours or overnight.

When ready to make the truffles, begin melting chocolate in a double boiler over low heat. Do not overheat chocolate because it will separate and ruin the appearance.

Roll tablespoon-size balls of dough by hand and place on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Once all the dough has been rolled and the chocolate is melted, begin dipping one ball at a time into the chocolate and place on a separate wax paper-lined cookie sheet to cool. You may use special candy-dipping tools, if you like, or just tongs or a skewer will work fine, too.

If topping the truffles with anything other than another type of chocolate, you must sprinkle the toppings on almost immediately after dipping; otherwise, the chocolate sets up and the toppings will not stick.

Refrigerate the finished truffles for up to an hour before serving, to allow the chocolate to set fully. You may refrigerate the truffles for several days and they will still be wonderful — unlike chocolate-dipped strawberries, which are only good for a day or two.

• • •

Michelle lives in Loma Rica with her husband, Phillip, and her three children: a son, Cort Edwards; and daughters, Amber Edwards and Page Miller.

She said her family has lived in the foothills for four years after living in Yuba City for two years. "We have been here since '05, and we lived in a camping trailer while we built the house. It was a very busy time for us, but it was worth it."

As a Realtor, she works for Keller Williams Realty in Yuba City, "My specialty is here, mainly in the foothills."

• • •

Bonus recipe

Michelle said she was in a quandary about which recipe to share, because as much as she likes making the truffles, she really loves making appetizers, especially her pinwheels. "Everybody really loves them, because the ranch dressing gives it a nice kick," she said.

• MICHELLE'S MIRACLE PINWHEELS

Ingredients

3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese

2 envelopes powdered ranch dressing (or 6 tablespoons prepared)

1 can (4 ounces) diced green chilies (including juice)

1 can (4 ounces) chopped/diced jalapeños (including juice)

1 can (4 ounces) chopped black olives

1 package burrito-size tortillas

Preparation

Mix the first five ingredients until they form a paste. This is the filling. Spread a good amount of filling onto each tortilla and roll up. Slice rolls crosswise into "pinwheels" and place slices onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

Discard the ends, as they are not presentable on your serving tray — but may be enjoyed by those who are making the appetizer.

Refrigerate pinwheels for an hour, so the cream cheese has time to set up again. Cut wax paper to fit the size of your serving tray and transfer pinwheels to new tray. Serve and enjoy.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter John Hollis at 741-2400 or jhollis@appealdemocrat.com.