Cookie Dough Truffles [Menu]

I love cookie dough. I know it's usually full of eggs and other things you really shouldn't eat raw (like two sticks of butter and several cups of flour, etc.) All the same, I sometimes think that a good, firm cookie dough is better than the cookies themselves. Back when Matt and I started dating - seven years ago as of September 2nd, although I can hardly believe it -  cookie dough posed as the "gateway" food to a whole new realm of possibilities for Matt. As I know I've mentioned before, he grew up with a very picky palette, which quickly became a hinderance after engaging in a relationship with me. 

After shocking him with olives and wasabi, Matt found his own path to enlightenment. At the time, my father was keenly interested in the consumption of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and, after being accidentally served it once or twice (and too much of a gentleman to say anything), Matt was hooked. Now Matt looks for cookie dough wherever it can be found, and nothing excited him more going through my Pinterest and Springpad boards than these cookie dough truffles.

The wonderful thing about Pinterest is the wealth of information and inspiration you can garner from the images that flip across your screen. The bad thing is the tendency towards inaccurate or broken source links and questionable recipes. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it, and I've benefitted much more from its pages than I've suffered its downfalls. However, it was frustrating to not be able to come up with a reliable recipe. So I sort of made my own, piecing together several different ones, and then eventually using my favorite cookie recipe without eggs and by adding a little extra flour and some milk (to make up for the moisture from the eggs). If you're not a chocolate chip fan, try the same with your favorite cookie recipe! No eggs. Little extra flour. And a little liquid to make up the difference. It will work for you, and they will be delicious. And your former picky eater will be happy. <3
Recipe Ahead! Cookie Dough Truffles Yields about 50 Truffles (depending on size)
Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 3/4 cup white, granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup milk (I used coconut milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla (I use 1/2 tsp almond extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla)
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (more or less based on your personal preference)
• 16 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (chips, bars, etc. - doesn't matter)

Instructions

1. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy. Add extract and milk of choice and beat into sugar mixture until just combined, then slowly add in flour, salt, and baking soda - beating on low (to prevent an explosion of ingredients). Finally, stir in the mini chocolate chips. Gather the dough into a ball in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for at least one hour. 
2. After the dough has chilled, use a spoon to scoop small portions of dough, and then roll them into  about 1 - 1 1/2" balls (larger or smaller based on your personal preference). Place these on a baking sheet lined with wax paper, and then put in the freezer to chill for about an hour. This will ensure they stay chilled throughout the dipping process.
   
   
   
3. Now comes the dipping. Full disclosure, this can be a very messy process, but it can be done with minimal damage. The key is using enough chocolate. So, to begin - melt your chocolate! Take your regular chocolate chips (or your baking bars, etc.) and melt them in the microwave at half power (stirring frequently) or in a double boiler. If you're using chips, a full bag and then the remainder of the mini chocolate chips bag should be plenty.
   
   
   
4. If you're fancy and have some sort of proper dipping apparatus, feel free to utilize this gadgetry. I do not have this. I have a fork. If you are using a fork, your first thought (as my first thought was) may be to stab the frozen truffle. This is ill-advised. It will pull out bits of the truffle that will discolor the chocolate and make your life difficult when trying to release the truffle back onto the waxed paper lined sheet pan. I suggest setting a frozen truffle onto the fork and lowering it down gently into the chocolate, swirling it around before pulling it out of the chocolate, letting it drip, and setting it back on the baking sheet. Another method is to use a fork to lower it down towards the chocolate and then using a spoon to drizzle chocolate on the top (and then spoon some extra over any "holes"missed when put back on the sheet). This is not as fancy of a method, I know, but it will reduce mess exponentially and, thus, make your life a little easier. At no point should you use your fingers. It won't work well (not that I would know).
   
   
   
5. After all the truffles are properly coated and lined back up on the baking pan, place the sheet back into the freezer and chill until they're hardened. You can store these chilled for about a week or so in a wax-paper lined, airtight container in either the freezer or refrigerator based on your textural preference. They may not last very long!

---------- Nutritional Information Analyzed using the Spark Recipe Calculator and Points Plus Calculator 1 Truffle Calories: 140.3 Total Fat: 7.5g Total Carbs: 20.2g Protein: 1.3g Fiber: 0.9g Estimated WW Value: 4 Points(+)