Dough Boy Truffles

Oh me oh my…is it true? Is the most magical time of the year upon us?! Indeed. It’s December 1st and we are diving head first into the Christmas season. Making Christmas cookies, candies, and other treats has always been an integral part of preparing for the holidays, though last year I was stopped dead in my tracks. The week before Christmas, with just two types of cookies baked, we were handed down the news of Buddy’s food allergies. And, or course, neither of the cookies I had made at that point were “Buddy-safe,” as I like to say. I packed up the cookies I had baked, and any and all of the offending ingredients and shipped them off to family. I remember (after emerging from the initial stress and panic of the diagnosis) frantically trying to figure out what I could do to salvage this holiday tradition on such short notice. I got one batch of cookies made. They were delicious. Buddy devoured them. And that single batch of cookies (which I’ll share the recipe for later this month) single-handedly brought a little bit of peace to my heart amidst all the chaos.

This year, I’m armed and ready with new, Buddy-safe cookie recipes and am so excited to share them with you! It’s gonna be epic. Let’s start this thing off right…

Dough Boy Truffles

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened (I use unsalted)

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

12 oz bag chocolate chips

1 Tbls shortening

Throw first 4 ingredients in a bowl.

Stir well (or let your kid stir…it’s Buddy’s favorite thing to do next to pouring ingredients into the bowl).

Add flour and chocolate chips and stir some more.

Chill for several hours in the fridge. Here’s what we’re working with at this point.

Feel free to eat a spoonful, or two…or six. Whatever moves you. Roll into small balls (think two-bite-sized) and place on a cookie sheet.

Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Melt additional bag of chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave in 30 second increments until smooth, stirring after each 30 second period. Be careful not to overheat.

Drop each ball into the chocolate, spoon chocolate over top, and pick up with a fork. Tap fork on side of bowl to remove excess chocolate.

Place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with festive sprinkles if you’d like. I also gave this job to Buddy. He LOVED it…but there were sprinkles EVERYWHERE! Ha!