I got this recipe from a friend, she uses peanut butter as the “glue”, my daughters prefer it with Nutella but my son is allergic to hazelnuts so I make a nut free chocolate spread to use instead.
Chocolate spread
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz bittersweet chocolate (finely chopped)
5 oz unsalted butter
Chocolate Balls
1 – 16.6 oz package regular Oreo cookies
6 ounces of whipped cream cheese
1/3 cup chocolate spread
12 oz (at least) semi sweet chocolate
Instructions
- Finely chop the dark chocolate and set it aside for a moment.
- In a small saucepan, combine the water, granulated sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Place the pan over medium heat and stir until the sugar and cocoa powder dissolve. Continue to heat the pan, stirring frequently, until bubbles appear around the sides of the pan and it starts to simmer.
- Once simmering, remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla extract, chopped chocolate, and cubed butter.
- Whisk until the chocolate and butter melt and the mixture is completely smooth. When it is freshly made, this spread will have the consistency of hot fudge sauce.
- Pour the spread into a jar or other container with a lid. Press a layer of plastic wrap on top of the chocolate to prevent a skin from forming, place the lid on, and refrigerate it for at least an hour, until cooled.
- If it is too cold to spread easily, let the chocolate spread sit at room temperature for a short while before serving.
- This chocolate spread can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month.
- Pour the Oreos in two ziplock bags (one inside the other) and crush with the flat end of a meat tenderizer. Once you’ve gotten them broken up use a rolling pin to get the rest of the big chunks
- Pour into a large mixing bowl. Add the cream cheese and chocolate spread. Using a hand mixer, mix all the ingredients. This can be messy so I put the bowl in the sink to cut down on the amount of stuff making a mess flying out of the bowl. The mixture will be glistening, dark and smooth when done.
- Roll mixture into small balls and place on wax paper on a cookie sheet
- Chill in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments stirring with a dry spoon until smooth
- Drop balls one at a time into the melted chocolate, roll ball using a spoon to coat completely. Put on the wax paper and chill in the fridge for one hour. I store them in the fridge once complete. While these can be decorated with sprinkles, I don’t.
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