GF Oreo Balls

Another holiday favorite around our house are Oreo balls, which I traditionally make each Christmas. But this being our very first gluten free holiday season, I wasn't sure at first I would be able to make these again.

Until I stumbled across these GF oreos a couple of months ago, made by Kinnickkinnick. They make LOTS of really yummy GF foods, including animal crackers too. I picked up these oreos at the local Fred Meyer, but you can also purchase their items through Amazon.

I love that these cookies are not only GF, but also casein free for people who have problems with milk and milk products, like my dad. No worries here!

The only big difference here is that like most GF products these are WAY more expensive than your ordinary Oreos,...running about $5.00 per bag! And the bags are 8 oz. of cookies and the recipe calls for 16 oz., which means you need 2 full bags of these cookies at a whopping $10.00!

So I guess this recipe will end up continuing to be a holiday delicacy!

Then it's just a matter of following the recipe instructions, which tell you to crumble up the cookies in a food processor...or if you don't have one, you use the old fashion method and get the kids involved, mine love this part of the baking process!

Dump in your mixer with an 8 oz. block of cream cheese and blend until it turns from this above...

...into this dark, fudgy consistency shown here. Then chill in the fridge until firm.

Once the dough is firm, roll it out into balls about 1-2 inches. My dough was in the fridge overnight and I wasn't patient enough to let it warm up a little closer to room temperature (but still firm) before rolling out these balls, so they weren't very nice and round looking.

But they get MUCH better looking after you coat them in chocolate!

Which of course is the next step, coating the balls in white chocolate. I like to drizzle milk chocolate over the top too.

You can also use sprinkles, or add a little bit of peppermint extract to the dough for a mint chocolate chip flavor, or sprinkle the top with crushed candy cane pieces.

Store in the fridge to keep fresh and firm. And then try not to eat all of them in the same day! YUM!!!

GF Oreo Balls

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

16 ounces GF oreos

16 ounces of white, milk, or dark chocolate, chopped (I use almond bark)

about 1/2 cup of contrasting chocolate, chopped

Directions:

1. Pulse oreos in a food processor until the crumbs are fine.

2. Pour into large mixer and combine with cream cheese until thoroughly blended.

3. Cover bowl and chill for at least 2-3 hours or until dough is firm. Scoop out with a heaping teaspoon  (or tablespoon) and roll into balls. Cover and place back into fridge to firm up dough again. Make sure the balls are very firm before dipping in hot melted chocolate or they will fall apart!

4. Slowly melt white chocolate in a double boiler, or a large pot on low heat, stirring often. Remove from heat and work quickly dipping and coating each ball. Place balls on wax paper to dry.

5. Sprinkle wet balls immediately with sprinkles, candy cane pieces, etc. or after the balls are dry you can melt milk chocolate and drizzle on top.

If you make these balls teaspoon size the recipe says you should end up with about 50-60 balls, or tablespoon size you should have about 30-35 balls. Mine were really large, more than a tablespoon size and I still ended up with 38 balls total.