Cinnamon Chocolate Truffles

I’m sure I got my love of cinnamon from my mom.

She may not use a full teaspoon (or more) in her oatmeal like I do, but her favorite candies have always been red hots and fire balls.

I used to be a wuss when it came to fire balls. I would let them soak in a cup of water for a few minutes before eating them so the really hot layer would melt away.

Is that weird? Gross? Both? Probably.

She never did that. She loved them – burn and all.

And I grew to love them, too. Even though the burn made my nose run, they were so good that I didn’t mind.

A week or so ago, I ended up walking down the candy isle in Kroger and saw a bag of red hots. I have not had red hots in years and couldn’t help but pick them up. After a handful, I knew I wanted to make something cinnamon + pink for Valentine’s Day.

Lucky for my mom, I made them early and her and the rest of my family got to try these truffles when they were visiting a few weekends ago.

I always thought truffles would be hard to make.

Or, really, I just expected my kitchen to end up looking like the I Love Lucy chocolate episode with truffles flying everywhere and me, sick of chocolate at the end of the day.

Fact: Truffles are super easy to make.

And there is no way – ever, I think – that I could ever ever be sick of chocolate.

If you can melt, roll, and dip, you can make truffles.

I promise it’s no harder than that.

Melt your filling, let it chill.

Roll it into your truffle fillings.

Dip them in more chocolate.

Let them sit for a few minutes before attacking.

After polling you guys on Facebook about whether I should dip this filling in white or semi-sweet, I took your suggestions and did both.

That was the best idea for these truffles, for sure.

The filling is pink and has just a hint of cinnamon flavor, melted into sugary sweet white chocolate.

My family was split on which dip they liked better – my older sister loved the white chocolate shell; I was – and usually am – a sucker for the semi-sweet.

Dip it in whatever chocolate you love the best! The filling is the most important part, anyway.

Cinnamon Chocolate Truffles

Makes: 30-40 truffles

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup cream
• 2 Tbsp red hot candies
• 8 0z. white chocolate (good quality – I used Ghirardelli chips)
• 4 oz. white chocolate or semi-sweet, for dipping (or a mix)
• sprinkles

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan, heat the cream and red hot candies for a few minutes until the cream is warm and the candies are beginning to melt. Once the cream is a rich pink color, remove from heat and strain the candies from the cream.
2. Place the cream in a double boiler (bowl set over a pot of simmering water) and add 8 oz. of white chocolate, stirring slowly together until the chocolate is melted into the cream.
3. Once the chocolate mixture is smooth, place it in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes.
4. When the chocolate and cream filling mixture is chilled, remove from the fridge and roll into 1-inch rounds.
5. Melt the white or semi-sweet chocolate for dipping (either in the microwave or a double boiler) and set aside.
6. Drop the truffle center into the melted chocolate, roll it around to cover the filling completely, and shake off the excess chocolate before placing the truffle onto parchment paper or foil. Add sprinkles before the chocolate sets. Repeat with remaining truffles.