Happy 100th Birthday Oreo!  Seriously, 100?

In honor of Oreo’s 100th, I decided to put my spicy, devilish side to work on transforming this simple, yet beloved cookie, into something a hot!

Meet the darker side of the Oreo 😉  (insert evil laugh here)

Ingredients:

1 package of Oreo cookies (I used the less fat version)
1 8 oz cream cheese brick (again, low fat), room temperature
6 oz of dark chocolate chips (for melting)
1-2 tsp of cayenne pepper

Directions:

To make the truffles –

In your food processor, blend all of the cookies down into a fine crumb mixture.  This takes about a minute or two.  When done, add the room temperature cream cheese brick and cayenne and blend again.  When it’s completely blended, it will form a ball inside your food processor (my visual clue it’s done).

Remove that and refrigerate for about 20-30 minutes.

I then melt the chocolate chips in a microwaveable safe bowl.  My microwave has a melting chocolate setting so I follow that option.  You can melt them slowly over a double-boiler or melt them in your microwave, checking often so it doesn’t burn.

Give that a good stir and set aside.

I line my cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper and then use my tiny scooper to scoop out the truffle filling and roll into balls.  Once complete, I toss them into the yummy chocolate pool for a coating and then place on the cookie sheet. If you opt to top your truffles with additional cayenne, as I did, dust them while they are wet from the chocolate.  This is my indicator for which type of truffle I’ve made – if I make a variety of flavors.  Then they head back into the fridge or freezer to set up for 15 minutes.  They can be served right after that or stored in a tupperware container for 3-4 days.

Watch out… they’re spicy!

 

 

— Knead to Cook

 

 

Calling all cannoli fans!!!  This cannoli cream can be served in individual ramekins, as filling for your favorite cannoli shells or in little cups for shooters.

If making it to serve in ramekins, it can be made in advance and are always well-received!  You can opt to use berries instead of chocolate as well.  This is a super easy recipe with a lot of impact 🙂

For the cannoli cream:

Ingredients:

16 oz of low fat ricotta cheese
3 tbl of granulated sugar
3 tbl of powdered sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp of almond extract
1/4 c of chocolate chunks

In a food processor, add the ricotta cheese and blend until creamy.  This step takes about 2-4 minutes.  It should look like this – very creamy and smooth.

Then add the remaining ingredients till almond extract.  Pulse till blended.  Then you can hand mix in the chips/chunks of chocolate or process until well-blended, like I did in the photo above.  Spoon into individual glasses or ramekins OR if filling cannoli shells – spoon the mixture into a ziploc baggie and store in the refrigerator.  Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or more.  Just before serving, cut a tip off the bottom of the bag and pipe the filling in to the cannoli shells.

To make the chocolate bowls…   
To make chocolate bowls (yum) – blow up however many balloons (for the bowls) that you need.  I made 5 bowls and used the extra chocolate to cover some pretzel rods.  Okay back on task… I melted about 1 c of chocolate chips in the microwave (on the melting chocolate setting).  Once melted, whisk the chocolate and let it cool down to warm to room temperature.  DO NOT try this with hot chocolate or the balloons will explode and chocolate will go everywhere!

While I wait, line your baking sheet with wax paper.  Then when you’re ready, dip the bottom of the balloon in the chocolate.  Go over it a few times and then place the balloon on the wax paper.  Repeat until all of your balloons have been used.  I then placed my tray in the freezer for about an hour.  Once they were solid, I poked each balloon with a pin and let the air deflate  Work carefully and remove the balloon from each bowl (this takes a careful hand).  Then I placed the bowls back in the freezer until I needed them.  You can fill these with fruit, pudding, ice cream or whatever your heart’s desire.  Super fun!

 

 

— Knead to Cook