10/15/08

white chocolate-pumpkin fudge truffles

white chocolate pumpkin truffles

These little gems are a flavor explosion. I was searching for something festive yet different for the pumpkin season but couldn't find anything that tickled my fancy. By chance, at Whole Foods, they had samples of these to-die-for pumpkin truffles. They also had little cards out of the recipe, so I took recipe home, changed it around a bit, well, a lot actually. Wanted the truffle to look different than your average white chocolate truffle, so I put the melted white chocolate "in" the mix rather then coat the outside. See where I'm going here?
The orginial recipe is here: Whole Foods Pumpkin Truffles, and my changed around recipe is below.

white chocolate pumpkin truffles

I wonder how these would be with a milk chocolate? Anyone up for trying that? Let me know how it tastes if you do decide to try it out. These truffles are definitely different tasting and definitely melt in your mouth. Plus they we really easy to make. And can be used for any upcoming holiday parties, house party or as a gift for your friends, family and/or business clients.

white chocolate-pumpkin fudge truffles
Adapted from Whole Foods Market
print recipe

Makes about 30 – 50 truffles (depending on size)

3 - 11.5 ounce bags of good quality white chocolate chunks
1/2 cup+ gingersnap cookie crumbs, *plus more for garnish
1/2 cup canned pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie mix, just pureed pumpkin)
1/2 cup+ cinnamon graham cracker crumbs, *plus more for garnish
3 TB confectioners’ sugar
2 ts orange zest
1/2 ts ground cinnamon
2 big pinches of sea salt
8 ounces cream cheese, softened

Pumpkin pie spice mix, optional
Melted white chocolate for drizzling, optional

A few things to note: I recommend using those really hard, all natural ginger snaps. Whole Foods has a good selection of them; gluten-free is even better; the harder the ginger snap the better for a good hearty, thick-like texture for inside the truffle and one that stands up to grinding them done to a fine crumb. White chocolate does NOT melt good in the microwave, please use a double-boiler. And if you can, use a good quality white chocolate. Again, Whole Foods has the best selection for this. Ghiradelli brand is good too. Go easy with the pumpkin pie dry spice as it's strong.

Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler over medium-low heat; make sure to stir it often to keep the chocolate from burning. Note: white chocolate burns faster than milk or dark chocolate. (I melted the chocolate right before using it so it didn’t have to sit)
In a large bowl mix gingersnap crumbs, pumpkin, graham cracker crumbs, sugar, zest, cinnamon, salt, and softened cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add in the melted chocolate and mix well. You can do this over the double boiler if it makes it easier. I then put the bowl in the fridge for about 45 minutes to an hour. I didn’t want this to completely set as I want to roll it into balls first then a complete chill.
Get a large shallow bowl and fill it with the remaining *crumb mixture and a couple dashes of Pumpkin Pie Spice mixture if desired; this is for rolling the truffles in. (you may need a bit more crumb mixture, I did).
Once the mixture is chilled, line a large sheet tray with parchment paper. Roll a large heaping teaspoon of the pumpkin truffle mixture into a ball in your hands, then drop it into the crumb mixture and coat, then transfer to parchment paper.
Repeat truffle-ball making process with remaining pumpkin mixture. Truffle balls should be chilled for at least 4 hours until very firm.
You can decorate the truffle balls with melted white chocolate if desired. Or white confectioners sugar.
(I got the Halloween ribbon from Target in those little .50 cent and dollar bins...they are crazy tiny ribbons, but adorable for small foods. I hope they have some for Christmas time)

34 comments:

  1. That title IS a mouthful, but a ridiculously decadent & delicious one at that ;0)

    Love you variation of the original recipe!

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  2. What a fun festive treat! Very creative, like always!

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  3. FUN! I actually have some sort of pumpkin truffle recipe set aside. I kind of forgot about that until now... will have to dig it up!

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  4. Wow. It's like you read my mind and made these just for me. I will totally be making this recipe very soon.

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  5. Haha yeah my dog might need a bigger bed, you're right :)

    I am sooo happy you're back and baking. I've missed Dawns fun baking madness :)

    And speaking of madness, I've never done truffles before. But I love pumpkin, spice, gingerbead... everything. So when I make truffles, I'm making this. FREAL :)

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  6. Oh, I am so so glad you're back! I am also glad that I waited until after lunch to read your post. My mouth is watering with all the pumpkin recipes I am seeing. I think these would be awesome with milk chocolate or even dark chocolate!

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  7. These are so perfectly seasonal, I love the ribbons in your photos. I would love to try this special treat.

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  8. Oh those are even better than I have imagined them! I really wanted to have come over yesterday! Glad to have you back on the baking team!

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  9. Anything with pumpkin and truffle in the title is guaranteed to be perfection. This is really creative, Dawn, not to mention they look delicious.

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  10. Yummy. I'm always looking for something different for my weekly meeting, and this is definitely one that will stand out. I love truffles, pumpkin and white chocolate, so this is going to be a lot of fun making as well as eating...!

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  11. These sound great, are even prettier than the dipped ones and a hell of a lot easier. I have to try these with the dairy-free white chocolate I have. My son loves pumpkin.

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  12. OH yeah! I'd love these. They sound like the perfect little give away treat.

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  13. I cannot make these! I would have truffle sickness within 15 minutes. I would have a hard time keeping my sticky fingers off of them. They do look absolutely sinful. :-)

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  14. Going to the grocery store on the way home today to pick up the things to make these. You just need to pack up and move to Alabama. We would have so much fun in the kitchen. Rent and home prices are cheaper, too :-)

    Tona
    cookin_with_haggermaker

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  15. I don't think I could turn one of these beauties down if I tried! This is great stuff -- and so very seasonal!

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  16. I love the food bloggers world. We discover recipes that we have never heard of before like these truffles. I'd love to taste them.

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  17. *searching for the line*

    Um, where do I sign up? This looks GREAT!

    -DTW
    www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

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  18. Great post! I have never had anything like these pumpkin truffles. I'll have to try my hands at these. Thank you so much!

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  19. I've never made truffles before, These look wonderful!

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  20. Oh yummy. Ihave neve attempted truffles. The name alone sounds hard to me! Yours look out of this world!

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  21. one of my favorite things to put into ice cream is cinnamon graham cracker crumbs, but i've never considered using them in truffles. i think this idea is truly inspired--thanks for sharing, your creation looks fabulous!

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  22. What a great idea. I think I'm going to give these a try.

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  23. WOW - simply wicked... I love it. Great job - I cannot wait to devour one or two of these.

    Thanks for sharing,
    zesty

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  24. Oh girl, these look to die for! I know I'd love these! Go pumpkin!

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  25. What an amazing idea! I really like the sound of pumpkin white chocolate truffles!

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  26. Sounds *awesome.* I've not had a problem with melting chocolate (since my first chocolate-melting debacle of 2005) in the microwave. I place the half-squares in a microwaveable Pyrex jug, and microwave it for a minute on low. The residual heat of the jug is usually enough to melt everything as it's stirred; if it isn't, I do 15 seconds more at a time.

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  27. ooo i really like the idea of pumpkin in a truffle. id love to try these out with milk chocolate.

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  28. These look like such a treat! Isn't it fun to take a tried and true recipe and put your own twist on it?

    I never thought I would like the combo of white chocolate and pumpkin but I bought pumpkin spice Hershey kisses recently and thought they were great!

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  29. Those are so cute looking and would be perfect for our Thanksgiving dessert table!! Thanks.

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  30. Okay first of all I'm in love with that cookie picture you use for your banner! They look like the perfect chocolate chip cookies. And second of all agh drool these truffles look and sound so good! I love pumpkin things and I never dreamed of anything like this. Must try them!!

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  31. I hadn't seen these at WF! I've never seen pumpkin used like this :), I'd like to share your recipe with our readers! Please let me know if you're interested. Have a great new year!

    Sophie, Key Ingredient Chief Blogger
    sophie@keyingredient.com

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  32. Those look so delicious! I've never had a pumpkin truffle!

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  33. Y.U.M!! I've never tried a pumpkin truffle before, but they're so cute that I must change that asap. Pretty cool, that the chocolate is on the inside and instead the truffle is coated in crumbs ~ certainly on my list of must trys!

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