BlogOween Day 9: Dairy Free Oreo Truffles

Reblogging my Oreo truffles that I literally post every season. Sorry, they’re that good! I had intended to make some cute spiders today, but as luck would have it, Kroger in our new ‘hood did not have: dairy free cream cheese, dairy free chocolate chips, or Halloween sprinkles. Last week they also didn’t have hamburger meat, but I digress.

Same process as always! If you’re not dairy free, replace the tofu cream cheese with Philadelphia cream cheese and the DF chocolate chips with candy coating.

I’ll add steps to make spiders in bold italics!

What you’ll need:

1. One package of Single Stuffed Oreos (double will ruin the consistency!!)

2. One 8 oz. container of dairy-free cream cheese. I used Tofutti Milk Free Cream Cheese from my local Fresh Thyme supermarket.

3. One 10 oz. bag of dairy-free chocolate chips. I used Enjoy Life Semi-sweet Mini Chips from my local Kroger.

4. Pretzel sticks

5. Eyeball sprinkles

6. Toothpicks

7. Parchment paper

8. 9”x13” cookie sheet

9. Small saucepan (1 quart)

10. Food processor, blender, or large ziplock bag and a rolling pin/mallet. I am the lucky owner of a food processor, and this is by far the easiest method.

11. Large mixing bowl

Okay let’s make some delicious treats:

1. Use your food processor, blender, or ziplock bag and rolling pin to crush the entire package of Oreos into a fine sand-like texture. Do not waste time scraping the icing out of the cookies, as the icing is the most delicious part, duh. (In my food processor, I blend one ‘row’ of Oreos at a time, and this seems to be the most effective way to handle it!)
2. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine all of the crushed Oreos with the entire 8 oz. container of df cream cheese. This is more easily done if you use a butter knife to cut the df cream cheese into smaller slivers. I find the hand mixing method to be the quickest way to combine these two ingredients, as well as the messiest. Also, it is weirdly satisfying.
3. Once you’ve combined the crushed cookies and df cream cheese into something that looks like a giant Oreo covered rock, place the bowl into your freezer for 30 minutes.
4. Place a sheet of parchment paper onto your cookie sheet, covering it entirely. Remove your chilled Oreo boulder from the freezer and use your hands to mold into small ball shapes. You’ll be able to make 25-35 Oreo balls depending on size, number of mishaps, and the will power to not eat as you go.
5. Break four pretzel sticks in half and stick four into each side of a truffle like spider legs!
6. After you’ve molded your mixture into spiders, return them all to the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes.
7. Toward the end of this chilling time frame, you’ll want to begin preparing your chocolate chips. I’ve used a bunch of different methods and was formerly convinced a coffee mug was the easiest way to make pretty truffles, but I’ve since started melting my coating in a very small saucepan and not only is the coating much quicker, but I also waste less. To melt, fill the bottom third of your small sauce pan with chocolate chips, and melt slowly on your lowest heat setting on the stovetop, stirring frequently. Be sure that you don’t overhead the chocolate, as it will burn.
8. Once the coating is melted, I remove the balls from the freezer 5-10 at a time and place a toothpick in each. **If you let them sit out in room temperature while you’re coating, they will inevitably become soft and make the process that much more difficult! Use the toothpick for some control while dipping the ball into coating in the saucepan and roll the ball around to cover as much surface as possible. This part will require a little more attention with spider legs in the mix! Return coated truffles to the parchment paper covered cookie sheet, and add two sprinkle eyes before the coating is dry. I’m usually able to get 12-15 balls covered per saucepan of coating, and I will go through the melting process anywhere from 2-3 times per batch.
9. Let coating cool, remove toothpicks, and voila!

**Keep these chilled before serving! Because we used df cream cheese, this isn’t the best snack to leave sitting out.

If I can find my missing ingredients, I will make some spiders and post pictures on my instagram, @laughingatleighann! In the meantime,  enjoy photos of last year’s black cat Oreo truffles.

xoxo dairy free and spooooooky

P.S. most of my awesome feature photos (today’s included!) are taken by my dad, @kenny_107 on instagram!