Oreo Truffles

I've been lazy when it comes to cooking lately. The closest to a real cooked meal I've made in weeks has simply involved roasting some vegetables and making salad (from a bag). Let's blame it on being a student again. Midterms, papers, plenty of readings...how does one find the motivation to do such things as cook a real meal?

But I love to cook! And it's finally soup season! And holiday baking season is around the corner! I have to get on this thing!

I've decided to ease myself in. I started with a baking recipe that actually involves no baking. Oreo truffles. Yes, they are a bit reminiscent of Sandra-Lee creation. They involve three (processed) ingredients. But they come out pretty damn delicious, and are a nice little segue back into actual cooking and baking projects (hey, and they do involve melting chocolate, that counts as cooking, right?)

Undoubtably you've seen these at a holiday pot luck, food blog or elsewhere. I am not really sure where they originate. When I mentioned them to a friend, she immediately remembered someone she knows who makes these, and I myself can remember a schoolmate bringing these into class once or twice in the past. They are ubiquitous. Could that be because they are simple to make, delicious, and involve ingredients you can get nearly anywhere? You could shop for this recipe at Wallgreens or even 7-11 if you wished. All you need is a pack of Oreos, a package of cream cheese, and some chocolate for melting.

I went to my nearby expensive organic grocery store, because...I was too lazy to take the bus somewhere else. Hence I made mine with organic Newman-os, organic neufchatel cheese, and fair trade chocolate chips, haha. Completely unnecessary, but maybe someone out there will appreciate the odd intersection of organic cooking and recipes that call for store bought cookies.

The instructions are easy:

Ingredients:

8oz oreos (or Newman-os)
8oz cream cheese- not whipped (or Neufchatel)
1 bag chocolate chips

Optional: 1 TBS coconut oil, cream or shortening. I used coconut oil (organic, obvs.)

Supplies:

• Ziplock bag and a rolling pin or other heavy object (or a food processor)
• Wax paper lined baking sheet, serving plate or cutting board (this doesn't have to be oven safe)
• Double boiler- I always improvise, and use a sauce pan, with a bit of water, and lay over a slightly smaller metal bowl. Works perfectly.

1. Crush a package of Oreos (I found this easy to do by sealing the cookies inside a ziplock bag and bringing out my rolling pin...it's a good way to get out aggression, too.)
2. In a large bowl, combine the oreos with cream cheese- I find a just shy to 50-50 ratio is yummiest, but you can taste as you go (since there are no raw ingredients) more cream cheese makes for a smoother richer inside, less means more oreo flavor. Mash with your hands until blended.
3. Roll into equal sized balls, and lay out on wax paper lined baking sheet
4. In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips. Make sure you have enough to cover your truffle balls, extra chocolate can be used for experiments (turns out chocolate covered tortilla chips are delicious)
5. If you wish, you can add shortening, a bit of cream, or coconut oil to your melting chocolate, this can help it go on smoothly
6. One by one, drop an oreo-creamcheese ball into the melted chocolate, roll it with a fork to cover on all sides, then use the same fork to fish it out, and lay it back on the wax paper
7. When you have coated each ball with chocolate, move your baking sheet to the fridge or freezer to harden the chocolate
8. Voila!
9. Store in the fridge or freezer, and don't eat too many at once.