Holiday Sweet Treats: Peppermint Bark, Cookies & Cream Truffles and Walnut Fudge

We decided to make some holiday candy for gifts this year and it turned out to be pretty fun little adventure. We snacked and had holiday music playing in the background, it was pretty fun! All 3 of these treats turned out to be so delicious and fairly easy to put together. Honestly, it was hard not to eat a ton of each one while we were making them. I pulled all the recipes from an allrecipes holiday magazine I got recently and tweeked some of them just a bit. Here is how we made them...

Peppermint Bark        

Peppermint Bark

ingredients

•20 peppermint candies
• 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 Tbsp shortening
• 3/4 tsp peppermint extract
• 12 oz white chocolate chips

directions

1. Line lightly greased (I used baking spray) parchment paper on a baking sheet. Unwrap the candies and put in a ziploc bag. Using a mallet, finely crush the candies. (Note: don't do this until you are ready to use the candies so they don't stick together too much).

2. Put semisweet chocolate and 2 Tbsp shortening in a glass bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring with a rubber spatula until melted. Stir in half the peppermint extract. Pour into the prepared baking sheet and spread evenly. Sprinkle half the crushed candies over the top. Set in freezer for 1 hour until set.

3. Put white chocolate and 2 Tbsp shortening in a glass bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring with a rubber spatula until melted. Stir in the rest of the peppermint extract. Pour on top of the hardened chocolate and spread evenly. Sprinkle the res of the crushed candies over the top. Set in freezer for 1 hour until set.

Once hardened using a butter knife on a cutting board, break up the bark into small pieces. Layer between parchment paper (to prevent sticking) and in an airtight container up to 1 month.

Cookies & Cream Truffles        
Makes 3 1/2 dozen

Cookies & Cream Truffles

ingredients

• 14. 3 oz pkg of Oreo cookies
• 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
• 16 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 Tbsp shortening

directions

1. Pulse cookies in a food processor until they form fine crumbs. Set aside 1/2 cup crumbs in a small bowl. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Add cream cheese to remaining crumbs in the food processor. Plus until they are well combined. With dampened hands, shape the mixture into walnut size balls and set on the baking sheet.

2. Melt the chocolate and shortening in a glass bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. Stir with a rubber spatula until melted. Remove from heat.

3. Dip balls in chocolate using 2 forks to turn and coat. Lift out with the forks, allowing the excess chocolate to drip off. Transfer to the baking sheet and sprinkle the reserved cookie crumbs. Chill for about 1 hour until firm.

Transfer to an airtight container and store in fridge up to 2 weeks.


Walnut Fudge        
Makes about 2 pounds

Walnut Fudge

ingredients

• 18 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

directions

1. Line an 8 x 8 baking dish with greased parchment paper (layer 2 pieces over top on another in crisscross pattern so it is easier to lift the fudge out and cut).

2. Put chocolate, milk and butter in a large microwaveable bowl. Heat on medium, stirring once or twice until melted (3-5 minutes). Stir in the nuts. 

3. Pour into the prepared dish. Chill until set about 2 hours. Cut into 1 x 2" piece and store in an airtight container up to 1 month.

Enjoy!

This recipe was adapted from allrecipes.