Bacon & Beer Chocolate Truffles

Inspired by last weeks Oreos and wanting to play with beer and chocolate again, I decided to add one more ingredient to the party: Bacon. As a good Jewish girl, I don’t have all that much experience working with bacon, so thanks to my roommate I learned a few things, like don’t crowd the pan. Keep the heat low so it can cook evenly and have some patience. Otherwise, this recipe is quite easy. And it’s even more fun working with beer, chocolate and bacon when the football game is on in the background. Not that I know too much about it, but The Giants won. And there’s going to be a lot of hoopla over a NYC team playing in the Superbowl. These treats might be a fun one to bring to the party!

Ingredients

• 9 Ounces of Dark Chocolate
• 1/2 Cup of heavy Cream
• 3 Tablespoons of Dark Beer (I used Brooklyn Brewery Dark Chocolate Stout)
• 1/2 pound of bacon, crisp and smashed to bits 
• 1/2 cup of Unsweetened Dutch Cocoa Powder

 Instructions

1. Cook the bacon in large frying pan until its quite crispy. Drain, place in a plastic bag and smash to bits
2. Place cream and chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water
3. Stir until incorporated and remove from heat
4. Stir in beer until fully incorporated
5. Stir in Bacon until fully incorporated
6. Pour into a ceramic or glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap to protect from moisture and let it set for 3 hours
7. Pour cocoa powder in to a bowl
8. Use your hands to roll the chocolate into small truffle sized balls
9. Cover with cocoa powder, tap off excess and transfer into another bowl for serving

photos and styling by Amy Wilkinson

Homemade Oreos with Chocolate Beer Ganache

Searching for what I was going to make for a potluck I wanted to do something traditional with a twist. So, I added beer ganache to Oreos. How did I come up with that idea? Well, I have a cute neighbor and I wanted an excuse to text him and see if he had any beer. I ended up chickening out and my roommate (and food Stylist - Amy Wilkinson) grabbed some Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout from our neighborhood deli while walking Rue. (photo of the glorious dog below!). 

Starting on Thursday, January 26, find additional potluck dishes from fellow Gojee contributors. Simply go to gojee.com and enter “gojeepotluck” into I Crave. You can also follow #gojeepotluck on Twitter. 

Homemade Oreos (as found on Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

For the chocolate wafers:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [see recipe note]
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
• 1 large egg

For the cream filling:

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Beer Ganache

• 9 oz. dark chocolate, 65% cacao
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons of beer

Instructions

Make the Chocolate Wafer:

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In stand mixer mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While on a low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. The dough stayed crumbly for me but when I rolled it into balls it came together.
3. Round small circles of dough and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately with some good space (they expand a lot.) With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 8 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

To make the cream:

1. Place butter and vegetable oil in a mixing bowl
2. At low speed, beat in the sugar and vanilla. 
3. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

To make the ganache,

1. Place chocolate and cream in a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. 
2. Let the chocolate and cream heat up for 3 minutes and then begin to stir. 
3. Whisk until fully incorporated.
4. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  
5. Stir in beer and incorporate fully (I like working with the ganache while its still liquid, but you can also cover, chill and make truffles)

To assemble the cookies:

1. Pair the cookies into similar sizes
2. On one of the cookies dab chocolate ganache in center of cookie.
3. Grab a small bit of the cream and roll into a ball.
4. Place the cream on the other wafer and spread out to the edge of the wafer
5. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. 
6. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with ganache and cream. 

Photos and Food Styling by: Amy Wilkinson