These truffles not only have big chocolate flavor packed in a cute little package, but they can be customized with festive decorations perfect for any occasion from Halloween to Christmas to birthdays and beyond! (oh...and they can even be made gluten-free too!)
Preheat, and melt chocolate: Preheat oven to 350°F. Over a double boiler or in the microwave, melt butter and dark chocolate chips together, mixing until fully combined, shiny, and smooth.**
Prep and cool chocolate: Let chocolate cool for 5-10 minutes. While chocolate cools, line an 8” square pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1" overhang on each side, and lightly grease with baking spray.
Combine ingredients: whisk together sugar, salt, vanilla, and eggs until smooth.
Add chocolate: add melted and cooled chocolate mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until fully combined.
Add flour: mix in the flour just until fully incorporated.
Pour and bake: pour batter into prepared pan and use a spatula to spread evenly. Bake for 35-38 minutes, until the surface of the brownies looks dry and fully set, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool to room temperature: cool brownies until just slightly warm to the touch or at room temperature, about 1 hour.
TO FORM THE TRUFFLES:
Un-pan and trim brownies: loosen cooled brownies from the sides of the pan. Remove the full batch from the pan using the parchment paper overhang and place on a cutting board. Trim ¼"-strip off each edge (these crispy pieces don't work well in truffle filling, so just enjoy them as a chef's treat or save for topping your ice cream!).
Cut and crumble: Roughly cut brownies into ½" pieces, then transfer into a medium-sized bowl. By hand or with a fork, break up the brownie chunks into smaller crumbs, making sure no big pieces remain.
Form truffles: using an ice cream scoop or spoon, squeeze together some of the crumbs into 1.5” dough balls, using your hands to compact and round each ball as much as possible. Place formed truffles on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
TO COAT THE TRUFFLES:
Melt coating chocolate: use a double boiler or microwave to fully melt the chocolate chips, chopped chocolate, or candy melts.**
Dip truffles: working with one truffle at a time, drop each truffle into the melted chocolate and toss around the bowl using two forks until fully coated. Use a fork to scoop the brownie ball out of the melted chocolate and gently shake it over the bowl to allow any excess chocolate to drip off.
Decorate and set: decorate as desired (see details below). Let truffles dry and fully set for a few hours, then remove from the baking sheet. Break any excess pooled chocolate off the bottoms, then share and enjoy!
TO DECORATE THE TRUFFLES:
With a chocolate drizzle: place the coated truffle carefully on the lined baking sheet to set. Repeat dipping process until all truffles have been dipped and are drying on the baking sheet. Let truffles dry and fully set for a few hours, then melt your drizzling chocolate and use a fork or a chocolate-filled zip-top bag with a very small hole cut in the corner to drizzle the tops of the truffles. Allow drizzle to fully set before serving.
With sprinkles and candy eyes: immediately after dipping roll coated truffle in a bowl of chocolate sprinkles before setting it on the lined baking tray. To apply the candy eyes, simply add a dab of melted chocolate to the back of each eye (a toothpick works well here!) and press onto the sprinkles to adhere. Let truffles dry and fully set for a few hours, then remove from the baking sheet. Allow chocolate to fully set before serving.
With candy cane pieces or sprinkles: as you're dipping the truffles in their coating chocolate, stop every 5 truffles or so to sprinkle on candy cane pieces or nonpareils. Allow chocolate to fully set before serving.
With cocoa or powdered sugar: roll the fully set chocolate-coated truffles in a bowl of cocoa powder or powdered sugar for a rustic finish, then knock them around in a sifter over the bowl to remove any excess.
Notes
*Gluten-Free Truffles: If you'd like to make these tasty truffles gluten-free, you can use gluten-free oat flour in place of the all-purpose flour in a 1:1 swap!
**Melting Chocolate: If using the microwave to melt your chocolate, set it to 50% or lower power and heat for 30-second intervals, stirring well between each round to prevent the chocolate from burning.
Chocolate Puddles: If you notice a big puddle forming under your dipped truffle a minute or two after you place it on the baking sheet, you can simply pick it up using the fork or even roll it over slightly out of the puddle so you don’t have a big chunk on the bottom of your truffle when the chocolate sets.
Double Batch: if you'd like a yield of 30 instead of 15 truffles, you can mix up a double batch of brownies and bake them in a 9" x 13" pan for about 40 minutes (just check for a toothpick to come out of the center clean). Then you can melt down 2 ½ cups of chocolate for coating and continue on with the recipe as directed.
It’d mean so much to me if you could please give the recipe card a ⭐ rating on the site and leave a comment to help others find this sweet recipe! Xo, Jocelyn @ Mint+Mallow