Hmm, this is my third post in a row featuring pumpkin and I have a couple more pumpkin recipes all ready to go! Sorry for the lack of variety – I’ll try to mix it up and refrain from posting the others for awhile, but I have to get this one in before Halloween!
For my sweet Halloween treat, I wanted to make truffles that tasted like pumpkin pie and looked like cute little mini pumpkins. I think I’m at 90% of the way there with this recipe. The taste is right on (pumpkin pie and white chocolate – yum!), but my pumpkin shaping skills need a bit of work…these are supposed to be pumpkins, not basketballs! Anyway, this was actually my third attempt at getting the truffle filling right, so I was glad to have finally nailed it! Canned pumpkin puree is a tad watery, so I was having consistency issues, until I realized that the best solution was to simmer the puree for awhile to remove some of the water. I also colored white chocolate for the first time with my gel food coloring kit, which worked surprisingly well. If I can successfully cover truffles in chocolate, anyone can! I was planning on cutting up chocolate for the pumpkin stumps, but then I saw pecans and decided that was the way to go. These little guys are RICH, so you only need one to satisfy your sweet tooth craving!
Pumpkin Pie Truffles
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups white chocolate chips
Several drops of orange gel food coloring
15 small pecan pieces
Directions:
Mix butter, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice in a small nonstick pan and heat over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup.
Mix cooked pumpkin, brown sugar, flour, and salt in medium bowl until well combined. Chill dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Shape chilled dough into 15 1-inch balls. Place on waxed paper on a cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator while preparing chocolate.
Melt white chocolate chips in a shallow bowl on High 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds; stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Mix orange gel food coloring with the melted chocolate until smooth. Using 2 spoons, dip pumpkin balls into melted chocolate and cover evenly. Place on waxed paper and top each truffle with a pecan piece “stump”. Serve after chocolate sets, about 5 minutes. Makes 15 truffles.
Nutrition: 141 calories, 7.5g fat, 1.2g fiber, 1.2g protein per truffle
Cost: $0.19 per truffle