Kissing Up

And of course, by kissing up, I mean with these babies:

I know, aren't they awesome?? And addictive!

I know that Hershey's chocolate is no Amedei, but I know a good handful of people that will admit to stashing a bagful of these in their desk at the office. I know even more people who can relate to the often used technique of the "drive-by grab" of some of these from the communal candy dish, especially at Christmastime (oh sorry... the Winter Festival Season) when they're all decked out in their pretty foil wrappers. I know that even though I actually hate the plain Hershey's Kiss (it's a tad grainy to me - am I alone?) I didn't mind the caramel-filled ones, and really... any chocolate is better than none.

I happened to have a mixed bagful of caramel and almond-filled Kisses in my "crap to add to cookies" drawer and figured they probably should get used up before they got that oh-so-appetizing "bloom". Knowing that the whole cookie season was coming up, I figured I'd get a jump on things with a spin on the thumbprint cookie. But those Kisses are sweet - too sweet for my tastes - and the caramel ones even more so. Most cookies are the same. So I figured I'd play on the whole savoury/sweet fad from a couple years back and pair sea salt in a toothsome oatmeal base with the caramel centres of the candy. A little extra nutrition (perish the thought - in a cookie!), but more importantly flavour, came from flaxseed and whole wheat flour, and I was equally happy that I had precisely the amount of caramel chocolates I needed!

Salted Oatmeal Caramel Kissers

Serves 16
1/4 cup low-fat milk, warmed

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

1½ cups whole wheat flour

½ cup rolled oats

½ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp Kosher salt

½ cup shortening
2/3 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp vanilla

16 Hershey's Kisses with Caramel centres, unwrapped

1. Preheat oven to 325°F and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or SilPat.
2. In a small dish, whisk together milk and flaxseed, set aside for 10 minutes.
3. In a bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar.
5. Gradually beat in milk mixture, egg yolk and vanilla.
6. Stir in flour to make a soft dough.
7. Roll dough into 16 balls and place 1" apart on the sheets.
8. Press a deep impression into the center of each ball about the size of the base of the Kisses (you can even use a Kiss to do this).
9. Bake 8 minutes, then place an unwrapped Kiss in each indentation and return to oven for a further 5 minutes.
10. Cool completely on the sheets.

 Amount Per Serving

Calories: 165.8

Total Fat: 8.4 g

Cholesterol: 14.1 mg

Sodium: 80.0 mg

Total Carbs: 21.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.0 g

Protein: 2.7 g

But to use up the almond Kisses, I had a different idea. I'd never made truffles before - truffle ganache, yes, but that got poured over a cake, and cake truffles, but they're a totally different animal. I wanted to make chocolate truffles. And I wanted to shove a Kiss right into the centre of each of them.

Knowing I was using almond flavoured chocolates in the filling, I turned to almond milk instead of the cream for the ganache, and combined ground almonds with a cocoa-y crushed bowl of Rice Krispies for a crunchy coating. It was an almond trifecta - and won the heart of my mom (who I think is hiding it from her coworkers!).

 

Triple Almond Truffles

Makes 10

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 tbsp butter

2 1/2 tbsp vanilla almond milk

1/2 cup coarsely crushed Rice Krispies cereal

2 tbsp ground almonds

2 tsp cocoa powder
10 Hershey's Almond Kisses (or chocolate covered almonds are good!)

1. In a microwave-safe bowl (or a double boiler over low heat), melt together chocolate, butter and almond milk until smooth.
2. Cover and chill 2 hours, until firm.
3. Meanwhile, whisk together cereal crumbs, almonds and cocoa powder in a shallow dish.
4. When chocolate mixture has chilled, take roughly 2-tsp sized portions of it and flatten into a disc between your hands.
5. Place a Kiss or almond in the centre of the disc and wrap the edges around it, rolling and squeezing if necessary to completely cover the filling.
6. Place completed ball in the dish with the cereal mixture and repeat with remaining ingredients.
7. Roll each ball in the cereal, ensuring to coat all sides.
8. Place coated balls on a wax paper-lined plate and chill. Remove from the fridge 1 hour before enjoying.

Amount Per Serving (takes into account all the coating - I didn't use it all)

Calories: 106.8

Total Fat: 7.0 g

Cholesterol: 4.2 mg

Sodium: 24.7 mg 

Total Carbs: 12.5 g

Dietary Fiber: 1.1 g
Protein: 1.3 g