Holiday Challenge Day 14 - Cookie Dough Truffles

Please note that these are, in fact, chocolate chip cookie dough truffles.  Apparently

the chocolate chips were a bit camera shy, because although I bit into several trying to get

a good "cross section" to photograph, not one chip revealed itself. 

Back in the good old days of making chocolate chip cookies, no one really worried about the potential dangers of salmonella from consuming dough with raw eggs in it.  At least we never did.  So many a day my brother and I would excitedly gather 'round the mixing bowl, jockeying for the best position to claim the wooden spoons when the mixing was done.  Clutching them tightly in hand, we'd lick the spoons free of every last vestige of dough.  (If you thought Jake (the dog) could lick a bowl clean, well you've never seen Mike, me, and a bowl with the remains of a batch of cookie dough.)  Mmm.  So good!  Even to this day I enjoy eating chocolate chip cookie dough more than I enjoy the cookies themselves. 

If you, too, enjoy raw chocolate chip cookie dough, I'm pretty sure you'll adore these truffles, which perfectly mimic the texture and flavor of the real thing.   I opted to make mine without nuts, so I just increased the amount of mini chocolate chips to compensate for the difference.   And while the recipe says to roll the dough into balls immediately after mixing, I chose to refrigerate the dough until it was stiff (which made it much more manageable).  I used a small ice cream scoop to portion out the dough, rolled each portion into a ball by hand, and refrigerated them again for an hour or so prior to dipping them in chocolate.

Cookie Dough Truffles
Makes 5 dozen
Foodnetwork.com (Paula Deen recipe)

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup semisweet mini chocolate morsels
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 1/2 pounds chocolate bark candy coating, melted

Directions
In a large bowl cream butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add
vanilla. Gradually beat in flour.  Add milk. Add chocolate morsels and pecans, mixing well. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place on waxed paper; chill 2 hours.

*Cook's Note: Since the dough is sticky, roll your fingers into flour. This will make it easier to roll.

Melt chocolate bark candy coating in a double boiler. Using 2 forks, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Place on waxed paper and chill to set. Store in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.