Peppermint Chocolate Truffles are 4-ingredient sweet treats perfect for an edible holiday gift that you can share with family and friends.
Homemade truffles are super easy to make, absolutely delicious, and the perfect Candy for Christmas. You’ll love these rich, chocolaty truffles covered with crunchy candy canes during the holidays. Make sure to make some Chocolate Truffles and Peanut Butter Truffles for your festivities too!
Table of contents
- Sabrina’s Peppermint Chocolate Truffles Recipe
- Ingredients
- Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- How to Make Peppermint Chocolate Truffles
- Nutritional Facts
- Tips & Tricks to Make Peppermint Truffles
- How to Gift Peppermint Chocolate Truffles
- How to Store
- Ideas for Serving
- Frequent Questions
- Recipe Card
- Peppermint Truffles Variations
- Related Recipes
Sabrina’s Peppermint Chocolate Truffles Recipe
What could be more festive than candy canes? We’re having a hard time thinking of anything except maybe these creamy truffles with peppermint flavor and candy cane coating, perfect for the holiday season. The rich chocoalte and cool peppermint come together for an extra special Christmas treat you can gift… that is if you can resist enjoying them all yourself.
Chocolate truffles are made with an easy, creamy chocolate ganache mixture. To get the fresh peppermint flavor, all you have to do is mix in mint extract with the chocolate. Once you’ve made the ganache and formed them into balls, you roll them into the crunchy candy cane bits. Easy as that, you have classic Peppermint Chocolate Truffles perfect to satisfy your chocolate cravings and provide some festive cheer.
Ingredients
- Chocolate Chips: Using chocolate chips to make the chocolate ganache is what makes the mixture extra smooth and thick. It is easier than having to try to thicken the chocolate mixture by heating and cooling it with precision. Use chocolate chips, not the melting wafers or candy making chocolate or it won’t set right.
- Heavy Cream: The other half of the chocolate ganache is the heavy cream. You want to use heavy cream because the high milk fat content is what gives the smooth, silky texture and rich flavor. Make sure you don’t let the cream boil or scald.
- Mint Extract: The mint extract is potent stuff so don’t measure it over the chocolate in case you might spill. Also, you’ll want to use regular mint or peppermint flavoring but don’t use spearmint. It’s not a good flavor for candy or baking.
- Peppermints: Crushed up peppermint candies add a crunchy coating to these rich, soft truffles. This easy candy recipe is a great way to use up broken candy canes during the holidays! Make them extra festive with colorful red and green candy canes.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
Cookie Scoop: You’ll need a small cookie scoop, preferably 1-inch, for that perfect one-bite size. You could also use the larger end of a melon baller.
Sauce Pan: You could heat the cream and chocolate in the microwave, but using the sauce pan method lets you keep an eye on the cream so it doesn’t scald or boil. Also the sauce pan of hot cream allows the chocolate to melt slower and more evenly without any hot spots.
How to Make Peppermint Chocolate Truffles
Time needed: 3 hours and 15 minutes.
- Make the Chocolate Ganache
Add heavy whipping cream to a large saucepan and bring it to a low simmer, then turn off the heat. Then add the chocolate chips, and let sit for 3-4 minutes. Once the chocolate is melted, whisk the heavy cream chocolate mixture until it’s all combined. Add the mint extract and whisk again. Pour the filling mixture into a large heat-proof dish, cover, and refrigerate for two hours.
- Set Up the Candy Coating Station
Near the end of the two hours you can make the peppermint pieces. Put peppermint candies or candy canes in the food processor and pulse them into fine powder. You’ll also want to line a baking sheet with parchment paper to have everything ready to go.
- Shape the Truffles
After refrigerating take the chocolate peppermint ganache from the fridge. Use a cookie scoop to get a 1-inch scoop of the chocolate mixture. Roll each scoop into a circle with your hands. Make sure to do this quickly or the chocolate will melt in your hands. As you finish one, you can set it on the prepared baking sheet and move on to the next.
- Coat with Peppermint Candy
Finally, roll each truffle in the peppermint candy powder, and place them back on the baking sheet. Then put the cookie sheet back in the fridge and wait to serve the Peppermint Chocolate Truffles for an hour. Once they’re done, you can eat them fresh or package them up as gifts.
Nutritional Facts
Tips & Tricks to Make Peppermint Truffles
Use Good Chocolate
Since chocolate truffles are a special candy, use the good stuff and a flavor of chocolate you like. The semi-sweet chocolate is the perfect balance of sweet for some folks but you can swap in milk or dark chocolate depending on how sweet you want them.
Chill them Properly
The ganache needs time to set so you have a thick, scoop-able chocolate mixture and then they need another round of chilling to hold their shape. However, you don’t want to use the freezer until after they’ve set or it could make the chocolate grainy.
How to Gift Peppermint Chocolate Truffles
These are the perfect treats to give as gifts to relatives, neighbors, friends, teachers, and anyone else on your list. Just make sure you give the truffles time to set in the fridge. Then you can package the chocolate-pepperminty treat up in a gift box. Wrap the truffles in a compact container between sheets of wax paper. That way they don’t roll around or stick to each other. You can also add colorful tissue paper for a festive look.
To make the edible gift even better, package it up with your other favorite candy recipes. Classic Chocolate Truffles, Gingerbread Bark, and Crunchy Chocolate Saltine Toffee are all great recipes to start with. Then you can just make a few recipes and divide them amongst multiple gifts so there’s enough for everyone.
How to Store
Serve: You can keep this Peppermint Chocolate Truffle recipe at room temperature, covered in a cool, dry place for 1-2 weeks.
Store: To keep them cool, you can transfer the truffles to an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for about a month.
Freeze: Frozen truffles can stay good for up to a year. For the best results, place the Peppermint Chocolate Truffles on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze for an hour. Transfer them to a freezer bag once they’ve hardened so that they won’t stick together.
Ideas for Serving
Chocolate Dipped: For a more chocolatey flavor, you can add a coat of chocolate over the truffles. Use your choice of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate. Melt the chocolate and stir until smooth. Dip each chocolate peppermint ball in the melted chocolate, and let excess drip off before rolling them in the peppermint.
Coatings: There are lots of other ingredients you can use to coat the Peppermint Chocolate Truffles. Try rolling them in cocoa powder, coconut, crushed nuts, sprinkles, or sanding sugar for a different look and flavor.
Frequent Questions
You only need four simple ingredients to make Peppermint Chocolate Truffles. For the chocolate filling, you combine heavy cream and chocolate chips to make a creamy chocolate. To add minty flavor to the chocolate, just mix in mint extract. Then each of the peppermint chocolate balls are coated in fine peppermint powder made from candy canes.
What makes chocolate candy a truffle versus just a piece of molded chocolate is the chocolate ganache filling and the round shape that looks like a mushroom truffle. The ganache makes the filling softer and creamier than a regular chocolate candy.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
- 1/2 cup peppermint candies , pulsed into a fine powder
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, heat the heavy cream to a low simmer then turn off the heat.
- Add the chocolate chips, stir and let sit for 3-4 minutes.
- Whisk well, for about 1 minute, until the chocolate and cream have fully mixed.
- Add in the mint extract and whisk well.
- Pour the mixture into a heat proof dish, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Using a 1 tablespoon sized cookie scoop, scoop the ganache into balls.
- Roll into a circle quickly (the heat of your hands will melt them).
- Roll in the peppermint candy powder and place them onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour to set them before serving.
Nutrition
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Peppermint Truffles Variations
Dark Chocolate: If you prefer a more bittersweet chocolate taste, then you can replace the semisweet chocolate in the recipe with dark chocolate.
Orange: Instead of peppermint, another holiday flavor you could make is chocolate orange. Swap the mint extract with orange. Top with a little orange zest and a sprinkle of sea salt.
Related Recipes
More Easy Creamy Truffle Candy
These are so easy to make a delicious! Just the right amount of peppermint flavor. A perfect addition to my holiday cookie tray!