Chocolate Balls

Growing up I remember my mom making chocolate balls to give out to the neighbors at Christmas time. Unfortunately for the neighbors, there were many times they never made it out the door. My brother's would either a)stage a protest, or b) just eat them all when she wasn't looking. The caramels could be given out to whomever, but giving away chocolate balls was a crime.

Traditionally in our house the balls would be rolled in crushed vanilla wafers, and it never occurred to me to deviate from that until this year. I found a jar of little crunchy mint sprinkles in Christmas colors and suddenly it occurred to me that the chocolate balls could be rolled in those . I shared my epiphany with my mother and her comment was "you can roll them in almost anything- cocoa powder, chopped nuts, coconut..." Then I wondered about adding a little orange oil to the chocolate centers and seeing how that turns out... (I haven't yet)

It worked, they were very cute and festive, but the only downside was that while I was hoping the "mint" flavoring was going to more along the lines of Girl Scout Thin Mint flavor, what I got was more like crushed peppermint candy canes. The flavor starts off pretty strong, but once it mixes with the chocolate in your mouth, it's not so bad. But that's not exactly a selling point- "Just keep eating, it will get better!" That's probably why I found a couple half eaten balls.

I made about 30 each of the holiday balls, and the traditional balls, for a Christmas party last night, and by the end of the night more than half of the holiday balls were left, while only a few of the traditional ones were left.

They are so easy (if a little messy) to make- just remember 2 parts chocolate, 1 part Cool-whip. That's it. If you use those big Hershey's bars (which is what I use) you need to re-do the math every year because Hershey's is always changing the size of the bars. Last Christmas the chocolate bars were 5 ounces. This year they are 4.4 ounces. It's been going down for quite awhile. A few years ago, you could get an 8 ounce bar for $1, and I think it gets smaller every year. I'm not sure if that's just a way to raise the prices without the consumer realizing it, or what.

I read somewhere once that back when Milton Hershey started making chocolate bars he sold them for a nickel. During the depression he promised to keep the prices at a nickel, and if the cost of the chocolate went up, then the bars would get smaller, but if the cost to make them went down, he would make the bars bigger again. He made good on his promise, and sometimes the bars were big, and sometimes they were smaller, but they always only cost a nickel.

Nowadays they cost about a dollar, but I've only been seeing the sizes go down.

So I use about 24 ounces of chocolate. Both milk and dark. If you like them richer, use more dark, if not, use less. But I always put in at least a third dark, and don't worry the cool-whip lightens it up considerably. And one thing I discovered by accident when one year I forgot to add half of the cool-whip is a stand mixer with a beater attachment works the best. We had been mixing it by hand for years with a wooden spoon, and when you add the first half of cool-whip the chocolate will seize making it difficult to stir, but you keep stirring and eventually it will all smooth out. Now I just dump it all in my kitchenaid at once and it works like a charm.

Chocolate Balls

24 ounces chocolate

12 ounces cool whip

crushed vanilla wafers

Melt chocolate in double boiler (or in microwave) over low heat. Add half of cool whip and stir until well combined. Add rest of cool whip until smooth. Put mixture in freezer for at least an hour for better handling. Roll into walnut size balls in palms of hands, and then roll in wafer crumbs. Store in covered container in freezer or refrigerator.

-Note- if you stand over the sink and knock half of the minty things off, it helps alot. They are pretty good that way. I think next time I will try to mix the minty sprinkles with plain ones.