I tried to hold out on the cookie dough truffle craze. I really did. But all the cookie dough recipes floating around blogs these days and now a whole cookie dough cookbook wore me down.

Anyone who’s tried gluten-free baking knows that—while the baked result may be delicious—gluten-free flours make the raw dough taste horrible. That’s a problem for truffles where the whole point is to be eating raw dough. Thankfully, almond flour has virtually no flavor and works perfectly in this recipe.

You can use almond flour or almond meal interchangeably in this recipe. You could even get away with 1 cup of almond butter in a pinch if it’s not too oily.

Gluten-Free Cookie Dough Truffles

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 24 truffles):

For the dough:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups almond flour or almond meal
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips or chocolate shavings

For the coating:

• 1 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil(butter or shortening would work, too)

Method:

1. Cream together the butter, brown and powdered sugars.
2. Mix in the vanilla, salt, and almond flour.
3. Fold the chocolate chips into the batter.
4. Roll ounces of dough into 1-inch balls and put them into the refrigerator or freezer to chill.
5. Melt the chocolate chips for the coating in your microwave or over a burner.
6. Add in the coconut oil and stir until smooth and runny.
7. One by one, dip the chilled dough balls into the melted chocolate and turn them to coat.
8. Place the truffles onto a non-stick surface to cool.
9. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Serve at room temperature.

Now I get what all the fuss is about.

One of my favorite Trader Joe’s products is their chocolate covered almonds; once I start eating those, it’s hard to stop. Chocolate and almonds just go so well together. Just as good are their chocolate covered almonds with sea salt and tubinado sugar. Again, there’s no way you can have just one handful.

I’ve tried to make chocolate covered almonds before and they never come out as good as the ones from Trader Joe’s. But then I figured if you could make peanut puppy chow, who says you can’t do the same with almonds?!

A touch of salt really makes the flavor of these. If(but really “when”) I make these again, I plan on using a higher quality baking chocolate rather than Trader Joe’s chocolate chips since it really makes a difference in the flavor.

Almond Puppy Chow

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 cups roasted almonds
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2-1/4 teaspoon sea salt(depending on how salty you want these)
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar(optional)

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave or over a double boiler.
2. Stir the almond butter into the melted chocolate to make a smooth and uniform coating.
3. Pour in the almonds. Move them around to coat them completely in the peanut butter and chocolate.
4. Scoop the almonds into a large sealable bag. Add in the powdered sugar and shake the bag until the almonds are completely covered.
5. Add in the salt/brown sugar if using and shake again for 10 seconds
6. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

If you like this recipe, you might like puppy chow peanuts, too. When I made these I made another batch of those and gave the recipe page a much needed face lift.

There are few things better than fudge or candy, except maybe fudge that tastes like candy.

Coconut tends to be one of those touchy flavors; people either love it or hate it. Alone I think it’s pretty good—nothing special. Combine it with chocolate and sugar, though, and you’ve got a clear winner. This fudge has a standard chocolate base but with a layer of coconut-white chocolate fudge on top, topped with an almond. If you omit the almonds it’ll taste just like a Mounds bar.

The best part about this dessert? It can all be made in the microwave so you can enjoy it any time. OK, maybe that’s not such great news…

Almond Joy Fudge

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 16 servings):

• 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons coconut milk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
• 16 almonds

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave or over the stove.
2. Mix into the melted chocolate 2 Tablespoons of butter, 3 Tablespoons of coconut milk, and 1/4 cup of sifted powdered sugar until the chocolate is smooth.
3. Pour the fudge into the bottom of a non-stick 6×6 pan. Put the pan in a refrigerator temporarily to cool the chocolate.
4. Melt the white chocolate using the same method, keeping an eye on it making sure that it doesn’t burn.
5. Mix in the remaining butter, coconut milk, powdered sugar, and coconut until smooth.
6. Take the pan out of the refrigerator and spread the coconut layer on evenly(It won’t be runny but shouldn’t be too solid to spread either).
7. Place each almond about an inch apart in a 4×4 square pattern.
8. Refrigerate the fudge for 20-30 minutes until it’s solid. Cut into 16 squares with an almond at the center of every square and serve cold.

By itself the top layer tastes too much of white chocolate(I wasn’t aware that was even possible) to be like the coconut center of a Mounds Bar. But eaten together the chocolate and coconut fudge taste eerily similar to the candy joy. You might want to use an even larger pan such as 8×8 for flat rectangular pieces of fudge.

And as long as we’re on the topic of coconut and chocolate, recently I updated the recipe page for Homemade Mounds Bars with better pictures and easier to read steps. It’s one of the most pinned dessert recipes I have so I can’t be the only one who thinks they’re amazing.

After Friday’s post you might be a little sick of hearing about bark but hopefully this recipe will change your mind.

White chocolate has been slowly but surely growing on me over the past few months. It’s so sweet and smooth; I don’t love it on its own but with other flavors it’s the perfect touch. Of course you can’t beat dark chocolate and cherries together, but there’s no reason white chocolate can’t join in the party, too.

I added some almonds to this, too, since it felt like it needed something sort of neutral and crunchy. Plus, almonds make this healthy, right? If you don’t have shaved almonds, you could use slivered, crushed, or even whole ones.

White Chocolate Cherry Almond Bark

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound white chocolate
• 1/2 pound semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup sweetened or unsweetened dried cherries
• 1/2 cup shaved almonds

Method:

1. Start by melting either the white or dark chocolate—whichever you want to be the base of the bark(I started with the white)—in a microwave or over a double boiler. Melt until completely smooth.
2. Lay the chocolate out in a thin layer on a non-stick surface like parchment paper.
3. Melt the other chocolate and carefully spread it on top of the first layer, gently swirling the two together with a utensil.
4. Sprinkle on the cherries and the almonds all over the chocolate and press them in lightly with your hand.
5. Refrigerate the chocolate for about 20 minutes until it has completely hardened.
6. Break the chocolate into 16-20 pieces. Store for up to 2 weeks.

This isn’t going to last long; I can taste feel it.

The last time I made chocolate peanut butter, I meant to use it for making cookies. But before I knew it the jar was licked clean and that was that. Oh well—tasty food is never a loss. But since I recently had a jar of dark chocolate dreams, I was determined to make cookies out of it before eating the whole thing.

Peanut butter cookies were an obvious choice since they’re so easy and gluten-free. But why stop there? Adding chocolate chips makes them that much chocolatier and that much better. You could also try adding salted peanuts, and even chocolate covered peanuts if you have some on hand.

You could use any type of peanut butter for this recipe as long as it’s the no-stir kind, even homemade chocolate peanut butter.

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies):

• 1 cup chocolate peanut butter such as Dark Chocolate Dreams
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 6 Tablespoons chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat together all of the ingredients until it forms a batter.
3. Take pieces of cookie dough and roll it into 1-inch balls in between your hands. Put the balls on a lined cookie tray and press them down with a fork in a criss-cross pattern.
4. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely before moving them.

When I took these out of the oven, they were very fragile. But as the cookies cooled to room temperature, they could be moved and lifted without cracking at all. Just be careful not to move them around too quickly fresh from the oven or you might end up with crumbs.