Got this recipe from a co-worker. They have been well received (meaning "people devour them like hordes of locusts").
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/PeeDee/t.jpg)
What You Need
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 pkg. (16.6 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 4-1/4 cups), divided
2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted. (I used chocolate chips, and, when those ran out, a Hershey's dark chocolate bar, instead, worked fine.)
Mix cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended.
Shape into 48 (1-inch) balls.
Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet.
Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.
I KNOW THESE BALLS.
I know what I'm making for the crew's next dessert. Thanks Luna!
Quote from: Fuck You One-Eye on December 16, 2011, 05:38:55 PM
I know what I'm making for the crew's next dessert. Thanks Luna!
I have a big grin on my face. Like, this one. :D
A food processor was suggessted for crushing the cookies. I don't have one, so I tossed 'em in a freezer Ziplock (the double walled ones) and beat the hell out of 'em with a rolling pin. ECH, if you have better ideas, that would be awesome, it was a pain in the ass.
I also learned, use a double boiler (or improvise one). Melting chocolate in a tupperware container in the microwave got me melted tupperware. :oops:
Luna: Queen of Kitchen Mishaps
I realized I don't have enough chocolate chips for a whole batch so I'm gonna do half dipped in milk chocolate and half dipped in white chocolate.
Quote from: Fuck You One-Eye on December 16, 2011, 06:43:02 PM
I realized I don't have enough chocolate chips for a whole batch so I'm gonna do half dipped in milk chocolate and half dipped in white chocolate.
Nice! I'm thinking about grabbing a package of the mint oreos to try this.
Quote from: Luna on December 16, 2011, 06:48:18 PM
Quote from: Fuck You One-Eye on December 16, 2011, 06:43:02 PM
I realized I don't have enough chocolate chips for a whole batch so I'm gonna do half dipped in milk chocolate and half dipped in white chocolate.
Nice! I'm thinking about grabbing a package of the mint oreos to try this.
DUDE.
YES.
I should do this for Christmas Eve and bring leftovers to the Squids!
Quote from: Suu on December 16, 2011, 07:03:06 PM
Quote from: Luna on December 16, 2011, 06:48:18 PM
Quote from: Fuck You One-Eye on December 16, 2011, 06:43:02 PM
I realized I don't have enough chocolate chips for a whole batch so I'm gonna do half dipped in milk chocolate and half dipped in white chocolate.
Nice! I'm thinking about grabbing a package of the mint oreos to try this.
DUDE.
YES.
I should do this for Christmas Eve and bring leftovers to the Squids!
Go for it.
Melting the damn chocolate takes forever, if you can food process the cookies, get the chocolate started first. The rest goes pretty quick.
My parents have a food processor, so that should be fine. I'll probably stick with the chocolate chips since they tend to melt better and more evenly than bars. (It's science.)
But other than that, the mint ones sound bangin', and it's just not Christmas unless my brother and I have a war in the kitchen while finishing a bottle of tequila. I'm so glad he's not working at a restaurant this year. That means we can Iron Chef.
Quote from: Suu on December 16, 2011, 07:27:46 PM
My parents have a food processor, so that should be fine. I'll probably stick with the chocolate chips since they tend to melt better and more evenly than bars. (It's science.)
But other than that, the mint ones sound bangin', and it's just not Christmas unless my brother and I have a war in the kitchen while finishing a bottle of tequila. I'm so glad he's not working at a restaurant this year. That means we can Iron Chef.
Yeah, the bar was an, "ofuk, I'm out of chips" improv. Worked, though.
I've had these before, and they were made with the mint oreos, I thought they had also put some creme de menthe in the cream cheese but I may be wrong. They were absolutely fucking amazing.
I melt my chocolate in the microwave on medium, I've never had an issue :?
Quote from: Khara on December 16, 2011, 07:30:57 PM
I've had these before, and they were made with the mint oreos, I thought they had also put some creme de menthe in the cream cheese but I may be wrong. They were absolutely fucking amazing.
I melt my chocolate in the microwave on medium, I've never had an issue :?
My microwave has been getting twitchy. Damn thing isn't quite a year old, I am less than thrilled.
Creme de menthe? Hm....
Whoa that sounds really good!
Quote from: Luna on December 16, 2011, 07:07:31 PM
Melting the damn chocolate takes forever, if you can food process the cookies, get the chocolate started first. The rest goes pretty quick.
(hm I see Khara already said this while I was writing, posting anyway)
Melting chocolate is
real easy and quick if you have a microwave. Try 30-60 seconds at first, then try stirring, then maybe another 10-20 seconds. Because microwaves are weird, the chocolate will melt but not go liquid if that makes sense (microwaves are not required to make sense) so it'll look like nothing happened until you stir/poke at it and you'll find that most of it is melted.
Chocolate melts at 34-36 degrees Celsius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate#Tempering) (~95F), just below body temperature, so you don't need much heat at all, and the microwave helps it get in there more quickly/easily I *think* because in
au bain marie only the bits that are in contact with the heated bowl get heat transfer, or something, anyway my experience agrees that it takes forever. Also if chocolate gets too hot something in the structure changes and it's ruined, looks a bit like curdles. Taste is fine (unless it's burned), you can still use it as chocolate bread paste or something, but it's no longer good for dipping. My guess is that this happens at 50C (122F) which is when most proteins start denaturing (but I never measured it, and it could be different because 50C is for animal proteins and chocolate protein might be different).
A biochemist once told me a trick to very easily test whether something is 50C: it's the temperature at which, if you touch it or stick your finger in, it goes from "pretty hot" to "painful/unbearable", because your body is telling you "stop doing that, my proteins are denaturing!". It's a magical temperature, and also the point where a steak transitions from "very rare/blue" to "rare".
Quote from: Luna on December 16, 2011, 07:32:47 PM
Quote from: Khara on December 16, 2011, 07:30:57 PM
I've had these before, and they were made with the mint oreos, I thought they had also put some creme de menthe in the cream cheese but I may be wrong. They were absolutely fucking amazing.
I melt my chocolate in the microwave on medium, I've never had an issue :?
My microwave has been getting twitchy. Damn thing isn't quite a year old, I am less than thrilled.
Creme de menthe? Hm....
If you like creme de menthe, let me give you my creme de menthe ice cream pie recipe with girl scout cookie thin mints crushed up as a crust...... :evil:
Quote from: Khara on December 16, 2011, 07:40:40 PM
Quote from: Luna on December 16, 2011, 07:32:47 PM
Quote from: Khara on December 16, 2011, 07:30:57 PM
I've had these before, and they were made with the mint oreos, I thought they had also put some creme de menthe in the cream cheese but I may be wrong. They were absolutely fucking amazing.
I melt my chocolate in the microwave on medium, I've never had an issue :?
My microwave has been getting twitchy. Damn thing isn't quite a year old, I am less than thrilled.
Creme de menthe? Hm....
If you like creme de menthe, let me give you my creme de menthe ice cream pie recipe with girl scout cookie thin mints crushed up as a crust...... :evil:
Oooh, yes... :D
You will need
1/3 cup crème de menthe
One box of thin mints crushed, or enough to fill the bottom of a 9X11 freezable dish.
½ gallon of your favorite vanilla ice cream, or get freeky, try chocolate chip or add your own chocolate chips.
Chocolate chips or a crumbled candy bar or (and this one is great) that chocolate syrup that gets hard when it's poured on cold ice cream.
Put crumbled thin mints in the bottom of your dish and microwave or put in the oven just long enough for the chocolate to melt a bit and create a solid bottom. Put in freezer for at least half an hour or longer.
Mix ice cream and crème de menthe in a food processor until smooth and minty green throughout.
Layer half this mixture onto the thin mint crust.
Sprinkle chocolate (whichever you use) or pour on crackle, cover with remaining ice cream and smooth with a spatula.
Now you can do anything with the top. I sometimes dot it out with whole thin mints, or I sprinkle chocolate chips, however, the crackle stuff on top looks cool and makes it "different"
Put in freezer until firm. Cut, serve, share or be like me and eat half before any of your guests make it over. :lulz:
I will try this, next girl scout season!
Quote from: Luna on December 16, 2011, 09:17:25 PM
I will try this, next girl scout season!
You can actually use any mint cookie, the reason why I like the thin mints best is because they have just enough chocolate to melt and make a solid crust. If you use other mint cookies, add a few chocolate chips, heat then spread out and let cool till hard.
Quote from: Khara on December 16, 2011, 10:34:50 PM
Quote from: Luna on December 16, 2011, 09:17:25 PM
I will try this, next girl scout season!
You can actually use any mint cookie, the reason why I like the thin mints best is because they have just enough chocolate to melt and make a solid crust. If you use other mint cookies, add a few chocolate chips, heat then spread out and let cool till hard.
Awesome, thanks!
I am working on a batch of oreo truffles right the fuck now.
I think the hardest part is going to be leaving some for the rest of the crew.
Quote from: Fuck You One-Eye on December 17, 2011, 03:20:42 AM
I am working on a batch of oreo truffles right the fuck now.
I think the hardest part is going to be leaving some for the rest of the crew.
Yeah, that's a bitch.
They're done and they turned out awesome.
One question, though...
It feels like it shouldn't have taken an hour and a half to coat 48 little balls in melted chocolate. Do you have a trick or a technique that makes that easier and faster?
Quote from: Fuck You One-Eye on December 17, 2011, 05:48:52 AM
They're done and they turned out awesome.
One question, though...
It feels like it shouldn't have taken an hour and a half to coat 48 little balls in melted chocolate. Do you have a trick or a technique that makes that easier and faster?
I just dunked 'em, rolled 'em around with a spoon, and didn't worry about pretty.
I want to make truffles. I've been wanting to make them.
With pistachios and chilies.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on December 18, 2011, 04:49:18 PM
I want to make truffles. I've been wanting to make them.
With pistachios and chilies.
DO IT.
JAMIE AND I WILL EAT THEM.
I made these yesterday. What occurred was a Goddamn shark like feeding frenzy.
Quote from: Suu on December 25, 2011, 06:04:56 AM
I made these yesterday. What occurred was a Goddamn shark like feeding frenzy.
You had seen what happens. Any damage to persons, property, or livestock is not my fault.
Being able to offer people my balls alone made it worth it...but holy hell.
Oh, and my mom and I did it a little different. 3 cups of crumbs was too much, so what we did was after we mixed it in the cream cheese was roll them in MORE crumbs, then dunked in the melted chocolate, then MOAR CRUMBS.
The kitchen was a mess. :lulz:
MOM JUST MADE A DOUBLE BATCH OF BALLS.
GODDAMNIT, LUNA, WE'VE CREATED A MONSTER.
Quote from: Suu on December 30, 2011, 07:12:27 PM
MOM JUST MADE A DOUBLE BATCH OF BALLS.
GODDAMNIT, LUNA, WE'VE CREATED A MONSTER.
Yeah, I worried that setting this one loose in the wild could be bad, but, SCIENCE!
ECH, did you come up with a better way to do the chocolate?
No, but I did notice that it makes a huge difference which chips I melt. Ghirardelli gets clumpy and kind of grainy after a little while and is much harder to get a good coating with. Toll house morsels work MUCH better.
Quote from: Fuck You One-Eye on January 12, 2012, 11:30:30 PM
No, but I did notice that it makes a huge difference which chips I melt. Ghirardelli gets clumpy and kind of grainy after a little while and is much harder to get a good coating with. Toll house morsels work MUCH better.
Good to know, I usually just grab whatever's on sale. (Budgets this tight PINCH.) I'll remember for next time, thanks!
My other useful find was that Sam's Club sells Oreos in boxes of 10 sleeves. That's three batches, plus one for the cook.