Mayan Chocolate Truffles

I found this recipe on one of my favorite recipe sites - Tasty Kitchen! It is run by one of my favorite people - Ree Drummond! So you know it can't be bad! You can find the original recipe here!

Here's what you need-

8 oz dark chocolate

1/2 cp heavy cream

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp coffee liquor (or just coffee)

Optional Coatings:

Confectioner Sugar

Cocoa Powder

Sea Salt

Crushed Pistachios

(Crushed nuts of any kind)

Toasted Coconut

Almond or Chocolate Bark

Festive sugar

The chocolate needs to be chopped as fine as possible.  I just threw it in my mini Ninja!  While I was doing this, I had the cream heating on the stove.  Remove the cream from the stove just before it starts to boil. 

Pour the cream into the bowl of chopped chocolate and let it sit for a minute. 

 After sitting for a minute, stir it up until it's well incorporated and then add the vanilla, pepper, coffee and cinnamon and stir.

It should be nice and smooth like this! If it still has chunks, put it in the microwave and heat in 10 second increments.  Then allow the mixture to sit out for an hour.  I let mine sit out for a few hours while I went for a run! 

 Then it looked like this!

  I scooped it out and formed it, as best as I could, into small balls. Then I covered it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.

Once it was firm, I formed them into smooth balls with my fingertips.  Then you get to be creative with your coating! (If you decide to use a coating!)

Here's what I used....

 I sprinkled Sea Salt on some of them...

 Cocoa Powder

 Toasted Coconut

and crushed pistachios!

These were a hit with the fam! I am going to attempt to mail some to my lovely aunt and uncle in Knoxville for Easter!  I'll let you know how that goes!