Mmm... Bon Bons!

So every Christmas I used to make Oreo Cookie Bon Bons...Tragically they were replaced with Buckeyes this year. But I am making up for not making them last Christmas by making them for Valentine's day this year! And to sweeten things up just a little more I am sharing the recipe with you! (FYI, I plan on sharing more recipes- Part of my 2011 resolution!)

Oreo Cookie Bon Bons a la Keira!

Ingredients:
1 Package of Oreo Cookies
1 Package of Cream Cheese
1-2 Bags of your choice of chocolate (I love using milk chocolate and white chocolate)
1 Package of white chocolate morsels or milk chocolate morsels (Optional)

Directions:
Process the Oreo cookies in your food processor until finely ground (You may need to split the cookies up and do this in a few batches). Remove the mixture from the food processor and place in a bowl with cream cheese and combine together by hand. Yes, this will get messy, but it's totally worth it, I promise you!

After the cream cheese and cookie mixture is completely combined, roll the mixture into little balls and place into freezer until completely frozen (I usually keep them in there overnight). When working your balls (wow that sounds dirty), make sure you're not making them too big- Bite sized balls (no pun intended) work best as these tasty treats tend to be very rich!

After the bon bons have been frozen through melt the chocolate of your choice in a double boiler (Sometimes I add a square of paraffin wax to the chocolate as it's melting. The wax helps the bon bons set nicely. You can also use a table spoon or two of vegetable shortening as well. Or you can skip using either, they'll still be just as yummy!)

Once your chocolate is done melting you can start dipping your balls (yeah, I am all kinds of dirty today)! Now I used to use tooth picks for this, but recently I experimented with wooden skewers and found out they worked even better and were much less of a mess!

Set up a cookie sheet covered with wax paper close to where you will be dipping the bon bons.

Place the skewer into one of the bon bons and dip into the chocolate until completely covered. Tap the skewer on the side of the double boiler until the are no more "gobs" of chocolate on the bon bon. (This usually takes around 10 taps.)

Place your bon bon on the wax sheet and use another skewer or toothpick to help get the bon bon off your skewer. There will be a hole in the top of your bon bon where the skewer came out (duh). This is where the optional white or milk chocolate morsels come into play. You can either use one of the morsels to cover up the hole, or you can wait until the bon bons are cooled and drizzle a chocolate heart over the hole. If you dipped your bon bons into the white chocolate you would use milk chocolate to drizzle the heart, or white chocolate if you used milk chocolate (you get the picture). If you are pressed for time and just want to get them done quickly the morsels work great and look just as cute!

Repeat this process until your cookie sheet is full of bon bons, then refrigerate until they have set- Then you can transfer them to the container of your choice (you will still have to keep them refrigerated until you serve them though).

FYI- If some of your un-dipped bon bons soften while you are in the dipping process, you may need to put them back in the freezer to harden them up and make them easier to dip, otherwise they will slip off the skewer when you're dipping them.

Some other fun variations on this recipe: You can use the bon bon mixture to wrap around fresh strawberries or raspberries for fruit bon bons, or you can be adventurous and inject a fruit filling into them before you freeze them!

Enjoy!