gingersnap white chocolate cream cheese truffles with salted caramel

Last night, I found the movie One Magic Christmas from 1985 on Disney + and stayed up until 11 watching it with my two oldest kiddos.  11 is late for this early bird....very late.  I'm typically more lively at 4:30 AM than 11 and my babies follow suit and get up early no matter what was on the schedule the day before.  This was a movie that my brother and I used to watch all.the.time as kids, especially during the Christmas season.  It took me way back and was interesting to watch now that I'm a parent.  I love the beauty of the movie but I have to admit that the 5 or 6 year old girl constantly running out of the house at night and talking to a stranger who happened to be a Christmas Angel named Gideon made me nervous as a mom and resulted in all sorts of commentary from me to the kids like "don't you ever run out of this house" and "remember, no talking to strangers without a trusted adult with you." I don't think I overshadowed the Christmas spirit of the film. Hopefully.  Safety first.

Anyway, moving forward to this recipe I have for you, these little truffles could make adorable little gifts or fancy up any dessert buffet table.  I am really excited about this recipe and had to put them in the freezer so we would stop constantly eating them.  Even my husband, who is not a sweets guy (except for lemon bars) threw down three or four of them with high praise. I think I might be onto something when that happens.

These are a no bake treat and can be made ahead of time and stored.  I also like that the recipe has breaks in the steps because I was able to get part of them done, leave them and get other things accomplished, return to them, move onto other things etc.  Aaaannnddd....this was my first time making salted caramel for the drizzle.  I always though caramel was this complicated, "I need a candy thermometer" and an afternoon type confectionary.  It wasn't thanks to Sally's Baking Addiction Salted Caramel recipe. Four ingredients and about 15 minutes.  Done and so delicious that I might start putting it on everything.  Thank you Sally.  Now, I include another "finishing" option for these truffles if you're really tight on time and don't want to deal with the caramel drizzle.  Here we go!

Ingredients

For the truffles:
-2 x 8oz packages of cream cheese (softened by sitting at room temperature for approx. 1 hour)
-1 x 14 oz package of Gingersnap cookies
2 x 11oz packages of white chocolate chips (I used Ghiardelli)

For the Salted Caramel
- follow Sally's Baking Addiction recipe

​Alternative to Making Caramel for the Finished Topping
-mix 3-4 TBS equal parts cinnamon and sugar

Directions
Process the entire bag of Gingersnap cookies in a food processor until fine crumbs.  Place the 2 packages of softened cream cheese into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the Gingersnap crumbs and mix together on low speed until fully combined.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

Line a cookie tray with parchment paper.  Using a small cookie scooper and your clean hands, scoop out the Gingersnap/cream cheese mixture and roll into a ball.  Place each ball on the parchment paper lined tray.  This recipe makes approximately 40 truffles.  Loosely cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1-2 hours.  In a double boiler set up, melt 1 package of white chocolate chips.  You could use a microwave but I prefer the double boiler set up for two reasons: 1) I don't have a microwave.  It burned out about a month ago and we've learned we don't really miss it. I'm not sure if we're going to get another one.  Time will tell; 2) The double boiler method keeps a steady heat on the chocolate so there is less consistency change in the chocolate from the cool temperature of the Gingersnap/cream cheese mixture being dipped into the chocolate. Prepare another tray with parchment paper and roll each truffle into the chocolate until completely covered.  Place on the parchment paper lined tray to set. 

If you are going to drizzle with caramel, you can place the chocolate covered truffles in the fridge to set for 1/2 hour-1 hour once the first package of chocolate is used up and repeat the same process with the second bag of chocolate.  If you're using the cinnamon sugar dusting for the finish on the truffles, sprinkle this on top of the truffles before you put in the fridge to set.

While the truffles set, make the salted caramel and allow it to cool.  Using a spoon, drizzle the caramel across all of the truffles and voila! Done! I challenge you to enjoy only one!

Merry Christmas!