White Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles (Pumpkin Cookie Balls)

White Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles are very similar to Oreo cookie balls. But in this recipe, Gingersnaps and Graham Crackers get a chance to shine. Yum!

I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t be happier that Halloween has come and gone, and now we can focus on better things. More important things. Like what I’m making for Thanksgiving!

My sister hosts this food-centric holiday at her house every year, so she has to take care of the big stuff. She’s the one that gets up to clean the house, stuff the turkey, and make sure her adorable (yet very impish) dog doesn’t eat it all before we get there.

I, on the other hand, am in charge of the fun stuff. Appetizers and Desserts! Yay for me, boo for my waistline…because I like to test the Thanksgiving recipes out ahead of time just to make sure they’re perfect for the big day.

Like every family, we have some favorite recipes that must make an appearance on the big day. Even though we may have eaten them a million times before, it’s just not Thanksgiving without them. And believe you me, if we accidentally forget something, we never ever hear the end of it.

I still remember the time I forgot to make my Mom’s Crab Dip. The kids were babies. I was exhausted. And, I just forgot to make it. Well, if you could have seen the sad puppy dog look on our brother’s face when he realized he wasn’t getting any, you would have burst out laughing. But, it’s delicious. I mean it’s so good that I could snarf down the entire bowl and not even feel bad about it.

There was also the time I forgot to make Brennan’s Cookie Pie. I thought the family had seen enough of it, but boy was I wrong. It didn’t matter that I brought a beautiful Paradise Pumpkin Pie instead – they just wanted that dopey cookie pie. Now, I make four of them every Thanksgiving and just hand them out as party favors. Here’s your cookie pie, now shushamush and try something new!

So, this year, even though I’ll show up to my sister’s house with Mom’s Crab Dip and Brennan’s Cookie Pie, I’m also bringing these White Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles. I’ve always been a fan of bite-sized sweet treats and these little pumpkin cookie balls hit the spot. If you’ve ever made traditional Oreo cookie balls, you’ll see that this recipe is very similar.

But in this White Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles recipe, Gingersnaps and Graham Crackers get a chance to shine. Yum! But be warned. They are several steps involved, so I highly suggest making them ahead of time and being in a super-good holiday mood before you take on this recipe.

Just so you know, we had a few stragglers left after the initial “taste test” and they lasted about 2-3 days in the fridge before I decided to toss them. Keep these pumpkin cookie balls in the fridge until you’re ready to serve them.

WHITE CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN TRUFFLES

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups graham crackers
1/2 cup gingersnaps
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 ounces cream cheese, full fat
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 cups white melting chocolates
3 tablespoons shortening

Special Equipment

Double boiler or microwave
Handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment
Dipping tools (highly recommended for dipping!)

Directions:

Step 1: Place graham crackers and gingersnaps in a plastic food storage bag and smash to bits with a rolling pin. Or, if you’re fancy, use your food processor to finely crumble them. Mine broke and I have yet to replace it.

Step 2: In a large bowl, add cookie crumbs, pumpkin, powdered sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cream cheese. Blend with a mixer until smooth.

Step 3: Melt ½ cup white chocolate chips in the microwave, in 30-second intervals, and mix into truffle mixture.

Step 4: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill until dough is solid enough to roll into balls. This step is not optional. The dough will need at least 1 hour in the fridge or 30 minutes in the freezer.

Step 5: When your “cookie dough” is completely chilled, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a tablespoon or melon baller to scoop out equal-sized amounts of dough. Using your hands, shape the dough into tiny balls, approximately 12-14 balls. Place your baking sheet into the refrigerator to keep the dough chilled while you melt the dipping chocolate.

Step 6: Place a small amount of water into a saucepan and place a tight-fitting bowl on top of the saucepan. This creates a makeshift double boiler. Bring the water to a simmer and then place 1 cup of melting chocolates and 3 tablespoons of shortening into the bowl. Slowly stir the chocolates and shortening together until completely melted.

Step 7: Working quickly, place pumpkin truffles onto the dipping tool and dunk truffles, one by one, into the melted chocolate. You will need to cover the entire truffle in a thin layer of melted chocolate to seal in the cookie dough. Don’t worry if they have some pumpkin-colored swirls, you will cover them with the second dipping.

Step 8: Allow white chocolate pumpkin truffles to cool completely and harden. We were working with kids, so we just put them in the refrigerator to speed this step up.

Step 9: After the truffles have set, repeat steps 6-7. You need to give your pumpkin truffles a second dip in the chocolate so that they are completely white.

Step 10: Working quickly, sprinkle the white chocolate pumpkin truffles with cinnamon sugar to hide any blemishes and add some sparkle.

Step 11: Let your kids eat a warm pumpkin truffle and then place the remaining white chocolate pumpkin truffles back into the fridge to harden completely. Keep refrigerated until you’re ready to serve.

Thanks for reading,
Denine