If there was one recipe in the entire Sweet Melissa Baking Book that screamed “Tracey” it would be this recipe. The peanut butter/chocolate combination is my favorite flavor combo (with salted caramel being a close second). Ever since I was little I have loved peanut butter cups, chocolate and peanut butter ice cream, peanut butter and nutella sandwiches (those were the days – I’d never eat one now!) or just dipping chunks of chocolate into peanut butter. My palate has changed, and maybe even become a bit more sophisticated, but I will always go back to this flavor combination. It’s a classic.
I was even more excited to make these after reading the recipe and discovering they are gluten free (or can be made gluten free with the right chocolate and peanut butter choices). My nephew is on a gluten free diet, not because he has celiac, but because he has some sort of gluten intolerance. I was babysitting him last week so the timing was perfect.
I’ve never made truffles before but have made plenty of ganache. There really isn’t a big difference. I used 6 oz of bittersweet chocolate and 6 oz of milk chocolate because I love milk chocolate with peanut butter. I just divided the peanut butter infused cream in 1/2 to make the two batches. The milk chocolate ones were definitely more difficult to roll into balls. They were very soft, even after sitting in the fridge overnight. Maybe because of the milk fat? I have no idea. I do know that the milk chocolate flavor brought out the peanut butter flavor more so than the bittersweet chocolate did. The bittersweet chocolate really overpowers the peanut butter flavor.
Since I live with some nut haters I rolled 1/2 of them in cocoa powder and the other 1/2 in crushed peanuts. The peanuts give the truffles a nice texture. Had I not been babysitting a 2 1/2 year old I would have tried to dip these in melted chocolate. I think a crunchy outside would really go nicely with the creamy soft inside. Next time.
Thanks to Mara of Love Your Mother for hosting this week. For the recipe visit her blog or go buy the book!
14 comments
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May 2, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Flourchild
Wow your truffles look terrific! How sweet you thought of your nephew in that they were glutten free and he could enjoy them too! I think your so right about the difference the chocolate makes the texture. I used somje bittersweet and some semi sweet chocolate and had some issues with it settting up right. Oh well they tasted good and thats what counts!
May 2, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Julie
These look beautiful!! Great pictures.
May 2, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Candy
Your truffles look great! I agree that the bittersweet chocolate overpowered the flavor of the peanut butter and wished I had used milk chocolate too.
May 2, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Mara
Wow, they look really good!!! I think they would be even more amazing with milk chocolate. Thanks for baking this week!
May 2, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Gloria
Beautiful truffles Tracey! I agree with you milk chocolate being a great companion to peanut butter. I would like to try rolling these in milk chocolate shavings or dipping them in melted milk chocolate. Nice job!
May 2, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Donna
Those look yummy!!!
May 3, 2010 at 9:03 am
chayacomfycook
I like these in cocoa or nuts but I was making them for my class so I went with colored sprinkles and others with chocolate sprinkles and a few with peanuts to see how the original recipe worked out.
I would use more peanut butter next time.
By the way, I left mine with bittersweet chocolate, over night and they were easy to roll. Leaving them for two hours, they were too soft. Maybe even more time would make the milk chocolate more manageable.
http://sweetsav.blogspot.com/
May 3, 2010 at 9:33 am
rebecca
Your plating looks beautiful and enticing.
May 3, 2010 at 6:00 pm
zx6karen
Great looking truffles! I, too, agree that the bittersweet chocolate overpowered the peanut butter.
May 3, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Leslie
These are so beautiful! I think you’re right about the milk chocolate. While the bittersweet is good, it does have a distinct flavor.
May 3, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Tessa
Beautiful truffles! It’s cute that you adapted them for your nephew 🙂 I would love to try one of your milk chocolate-peanut butter truffles. The bittersweet ones were just a little off for my personal tastes.
May 4, 2010 at 1:55 am
Katie
Ahhh, they look great! I was super excited to make these too 🙂
Katie xox
May 4, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Baking is my Zen
Wonderful photos….
Carmen
May 4, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Tracey
How fantastic that you made half of them with milk chocolate! That’s definitely the route I’d go next time, along with upping the amount of peanut butter. Your truffles look gorgeous Tracey 🙂 I’m so glad you were able to share them with your nephew!