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There are certain foods that, although perfectly delicious in their own right, become a whole other force to be reckoned with when combined. Peanut butter and jelly. Ketchup and fries. Cookies and cream cheese.
Wait… what?
Here’s the part where I kindly ask you to lower your slightly raised eyebrow and stop looking at me like I’m crazy. I realize that cream cheese isn’t exactly the first thing that pops into most people’s minds when they think cookies (I’m pretty sure milk holds that right), but I can guarantee that a few cozy moments spent with these truffles will have even the biggest skeptic changing their tune.
When I think December, I think cookies. Well, okay… I think Christmas first, but thoughts of Christmas eventually lead to thoughts of cookies. This might have something to do with the fact that I always have food on the brain, or it might simply be because cookies seem to be everywhere around this time of the year.
In gift boxes. At Christmas parties. Pouring out of my kitchen by the dozen. Mmm hmm.
I tend to go a little cookie crazy at this time of the year (and end up in a cookie coma by January), but it’s not my fault that cookies make the perfect gift and that my allergies basically force me to volunteer to bring dessert to Christmas parties. I’m happy to pick away at the vegetable platter if there’s nothing else that I can eat, but this girl is not willing to go without her dessert.
Over the years, I’ve managed to put together a pretty impressive collection of Christmas cookie recipes, but this year called for a little more experimentation. I mean, you can only give Santa (or anyone, for that matter) the same kind of cookies so many years in a row before your name makes its way from the Nice list to the Naughty list — and no one wants to wake up on Christmas morning to find coal in their stocking.
Unless you’re into that sort of thing, in which case… I don’t even know where I was trying to go with that thought. Back to the cookies!
So because I wanted to maintain my comfortable position on the Nice list, rather than turning to my usual sugar, snickerdoodle, white chocolate cranberry, or gingerbread cookie arsenal this year, I decided to play around with something new… which is where the cream cheese came in.
I know, I know — here she goes with the cream cheese again — but hear me out because this simple formula will change your Christmas cookie life. The secret? Cookie crumbs + cream cheese = oh.holy.WOW.
And the best part is that you can totally cut corners and use store-bought cookies to save time, while still ending up with a pretty darn impressive finished product. I suppose you could go ahead and use your own favorite gingerbread cookie recipe as the base, but I think I speak for us all when I say that any chance to save time around the holidays is a gift in and of itself.
Almost as good of a gift as these Chocolate Gingerbread Truffles…
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1.5 cups of chocolate gingerbread/gingersnap cookie crumbs
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3.5 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
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3.5 oz white chocolate chips
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sprinkles of choice
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Use a blender or food processor to process your cookies until they become very fine crumbs. Add in cream cheese and mix until fully combined. The dough should be moist enough to hold together when you press it into a ball.
- Using a tablespoon, shape the dough into 1-inch balls and place onto parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze for about 30 minutes.
- When balls have set, prepare the coating by melting your white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring periodically to ensure no clumps remain.
- Using a toothpick, dip each ball into melted white chocolate, gently tapping side of bowl to remove any excess. Place back onto parchment-lined baking sheet and immediately top with sprinkles. Repeat until all truffles have been coated.
- Refrigerate for ~15 minutes, or until the chocolate has set. Store truffles in an airtight container in the fridg