Easy Creamy Homemade Chocolate Truffles

Easy Creamy Homemade Chocolate Truffles

Why You Should Give This Recipe a Try

I don’t think you need to go much further than the title to understand why you should give these a try. Easy Creamy Homemade Chocolate Truffles? Yes, please! These chocolate truffles boast a smooth and creamy semi-sweet chocolate middle surrounded by a crisp tempered chocolate coating. And in case you think straight up chocolate truffles are boring, there are plenty of flavor varieties you can make super easily by adding extracts or liqueurs. I made these truffles as a gift to ourselves but they would make a wonderful, personal holiday gift either alone or as part of a cookie box. Easy Creamy Homemade Chocolate Truffles are simple enough to make just because you want yummy chocolate, but fancy enough to put in a pretty package and give away.

Some of the best features of this recipe:

A simple three ingredient center that comes together in minutes.

So many flavor possibilities! Add a touch of extract or liqueur to the truffle base.

A crisp, tempered chocolate coating. Don’t have the time for tempering? You can use melted chocolate instead.

Toppings, toppings, and more toppings! Crushed candy canes, coconut, chopped nuts – whatever you imagine pairing well with semi-sweet chocolate will work great here.

As with all of my recipes, Easy Creamy Homemade Chocolate Truffles are simple to make and include ingredients you can find in any grocery store.

Recipe Ingredients

Chocolate truffles:

• 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate (2 x 4 oz bars)
• 3 tbsp butter (I use salted butter)
• ½ cup heavy cream

Optional flavorings:

• ½ to 1 tsp extract (peppermint, orange, raspberry)
• 1 tbsp liqueur (orange, coffee, Bailey’s)

Optional toppings:

• Tempered semi-sweet chocolate
• Chopped nuts
• Sprinkles
• Crushed Oreos
• Coconut (flakes or desiccated)
• Crushed candy canes
• Cocoa powder

Helpful Tools

• Large serrated knife
• Cutting board
• Measuring cup
• Medium mixing bowl
• Plate (should fit over the mixing bowl)
• Wooden spoon
• Wire whisk
• Shallow baking pan (8×8 is good)
• Small cookie scoop
• Silicone mat or parchment paper
• Baking sheet

Ingredient Notes

Chocolate is the most important part of this dish, so buy a good one! I like to use Ghirardelli, which is good quality but still reasonably priced.

DO NOT use chocolate chips or candy melts instead of bar chocolate.

DO NOT substitute any other dairy product for the heavy cream. You cannot use milk or half-and-half.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Finely chop the chocolate and place it in the mixing bowl.

2. Cut the butter into tablespoon-sized pieces and then cut in half.

3. Place the butter in the bowl with the chopped chocolate. Set aside.

4. Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until it is simmering. This means there will be bubbles around the edges and there will be a fair amount of steam rising from the surface of the cream.

5. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate. Do not stir the cream.

6. Place a plate over the top of the bowl and let the chocolate and cream sit undisturbed for 3-4 minutes.

7. Whisk together the chocolate, butter, and cream until smooth and there are no more chunks of chocolate.

8. If you are using flavoring, add it to the mixture and stir to combine.

9. Pour the chocolate into a shallow baking dish. An 8×8 glass baking dish works well.

10. Place the chocolate mixture in the fridge until firm, at least 60 minutes.

11. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

12. When the chocolate is firm, remove them from the fridge and form rough truffles using a small cookie scoop.

13. Place the truffles on the prepared baking tray. Return them to the fridge for about 15 minutes.

14. At the end of the 15 minutes, remove the truffles from the fridge. Roll them around between your hands to get a perfect round shape.

15. Return the truffles to the fridge for 10 minutes before adding any toppings.

16. While the truffles are chilling, set up shallow dishes with your toppings.

17. Roll the chilled truffles in toppings and shake off the excess.

18. NOTE ON TEMPERED CHOCOLATE

Making tempered chocolate is a bit of a finicky process, but in my opinion, it is totally worthwhile. Tempered chocolate requires heating chopped chocolate to a particular temperature in a series of steps. The result is shiny chocolate that cracks when you bite into it. Coating truffles in plain melted chocolate will result in a coating that is soft like the middle of the truffle. The contrast between crisp tempered chocolate and the soft center makes chocolate truffles even more special.

Learn how to make tempered chocolate here.

19. You can roll your chilled truffles in tempered chocolate using two forks and then add an additional topping. The truffles you see here are coated in tempered chocolate and candy canes I crushed in a Ziploc bag with a hammer.

Set up a dipping station to save yourself from a mess. I like to put a wire rack over a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat.

Storage

Store your completed truffles in an airtight container outside the fridge for 4-5 days. After this (you clearly have more self-control than I do), you can store them in the fridge for up to two weeks. 

Tips & Tricks

I have tried a lot of different knives, including a very large carving knife, to chop chocolate and find that a large serrated bread knife works best to get the small pieces of chocolate. If the chocolate pieces are too large, you will have a hard time getting them to melt.

Extracts can be fairly strong, so begin with ½ tsp, stir into the chocolate, taste, and decide if you would like to add an additional ½ tsp.

Before you begin, make sure you have room in the fridge to chill the formed truffles on the baking tray. This is always a problem for me!

If you don’t have time to make tempered chocolate or to roll the truffles in toppings, you can place them in an airtight container after the final ten minutes. Try to store them in a single layer or separate layers with parchment paper.

Try some of these other easy and delicious sweet treats:

Best French Candy Recipe: Dark Chocolate Mendiants

Easy to Make: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles