How I Managed to Make Peppermint Truffles

I really love peppermint and dark chocolate together. When I was a kid, my grandma made this peppermint ice cream dessert at Christmas, and that's probably what started my love of this flavor combination. We called this Christmas-time dessert "pink dessert," and it consists of chocolate-covered rice crispies and peppermint ice cream. She would laugh and laugh about how much we all liked it saying "it's such a simple recipe."

As soon as Starbucks transitions from Pumpkin Spice Lattes to Peppermint Mochas, I become a frequent customer. I can't get enough! This flavor combination reminds me of Christmas at my grandparents' farm with my dad's family. But it's also plain old super-delicious!

My sister pinned a recipe for four ingredient peppermint truffles, and it caught my attention. You can find the recipe at http://houseofyumm.com/peppermint-truffles/. So earlier this week, I thought I'd try making them. The recipe promised to be easy, and I had some time.

However, as this was my first attempt at making any kind of truffles, I ran into some problems. At first, the middle of the truffle (the ganache) was way too hard. There was no way I was going to be able to scoop it and make little peppermint balls. And I also thought it needed more peppermint. A lot more peppermint. So I added more heavy cream and more peppermint extract. Then the ganache was not firm enough. Ugh. So I added more white chocolate. Finally, I had the right consistency!

I borrowed a melon baller from my mom, which made the truffles just the right size. Also, since these truffles are supposed to be kept in the refrigerator, I didn't want the chocolate to turn white like it does when it has been heated and then refrigerated. That meant added coconut oil - a staple in my pantry.

Here's the 5-ingredient recipe I ended up with for Peppermint Truffles:

• 4 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 10 ounces white chocolate chips (weigh it - it's about 1 3/4 cups)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (dark chocolate would also be really good)
• 1 tablespoon refined coconut oil

1. Using a double boiler, melt the white chocolate chips. Add the peppermint extract and heavy cream. Stir until all chips are melted and ingredients are combined.
2. Transfer peppermint ganache to a bowl and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.
3. Remove the ganache from the fridge.
4. Melt the semisweet or dark chocolate chips in a double boiler. Add the coconut oil and mix well.
5. Scoop one truffle center at a time and dip into the melted chocolate. Place the chocolate-covered peppermint ball onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Once all the peppermint ganache has been used and dipped, put cookie sheet back into the fridge until the chocolate has hardened.
6. Transfer the truffles to a sealed container and store in the refrigerator.

I got 16 truffles from this recipe, but the first two I made were quite big. I'd think you would end up with between 16 and 18, depending on how big your balls are. Let me know if you make them!