Peanut Butter Cup Truffles

It's the end of the the school year...and for me, the end of high school. And that means thanking the people who have been there for the whole thing.

These were for my friend, as a belated birthday present. Happy Birthday Lindsey!!

Let me put this out there right now.
Peanut butter. Chocolate. Truffle.

Did you just feel super excited in your taste buds? I did. (P.S. My mom calls that "ZING" because she gets that feeling when she smells Celestial Seasonings Zinger Teas)

These are delicious. Amazing. Transcendent. So so so much better than Reece's, but incredibly familiar at the same time.

ANDDDD...

I learned to temper chocolate! Turns out it's not as fussy as I expected, and I felt remarkably at ease, compared to that time I made chocolate cookies and the chocolate seized up in the microwave.

I used Nestle chocolate for the coating on these truffles. None of that fancy pants business.

But I did use bars, which makes the whole thing work a lot better. They put stuff in chocolate chips so they stay melty in your chocolate chip cookies for longer. And while that is extraordinarily desirable when one is making chocolate chip cookies and doesn't make a whole lot of difference if you're making brownies, it does mess with the tempering process.

Tempering is important because it makes the chocolate able to fully re-solidify so you don't have to refrigerate it after you have melted it. If you don't want to take the trouble (it does take some time, especially if you've never tempered chocolate before), just keep the truffles in the refrigerator.

Have at it! Conquor your cooking fears!

Peanut Butter Cup Truffles
Yield: about 18 truffles

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (4.5 ounces) creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 plus 1/8 cups (2.5 ounces) powdered sugar
8 ounces chocolate (I used a mixture of dark and semisweet, but milk would be delicious too!)

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the peanut butter, butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Heat until completely melted and starting to bubble a little, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Add the powdered sugar a ¼ cup at a time (sift if it's clumpy), stirring until completely combined with the peanut butter mixture after each addition. Let cool, then pop in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
2. Scoop portions of the peanut butter mixture (put it back in the fridge if it gets too soft) and roll into balls. Set on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and put in the freezer while you prepare the tempered chocolate.
3. Temper chocolate. Feel the glory. Or don't and just melt it in the microwave or a double boiler.
4. Dip peanut butter insides in chocolate, completely coating. (I didn't get the coating over everything on some of them and they dripped peanut butter grease...not attractive). Let set on the baking sheet at room temperature if you've tempered your chocolate or in the fridge if not.
5. Eat and enjoy!

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker.