Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffles

After two years of caramel apple presents, I decided to go in a pumpkin direction for Chiara's birthday present this year because honestly, I think she prefers that flavor over caramel apple. I also decided to do something I've never really done before - truffles. (I know - two quick decisions at once. Probably never gonna happen again.) Took me a while to find a recipe as most I have saved are for cookies and cakes (plus most pumpkin truffle recipes ask for just a cup or a half cup of pumpkin and I wanted to use a whole can) but I found a simple and easy recipe from The Frugal Girls. Glad I went simple and easy since truffles are apparently time-consuming.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffles (source)

Ingredients

• 1 box Yellow Cake Mix
• 1 can Canned Pumpkin {15 oz.}
• 8 oz Low Fat Cream Cheese
• 1 package Almond Bark (Vanilla) (Target didn't have almond bark so I got candy coating instead. Worked just as well)
• 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350℉.
2. Combine cake mix and pumpkin and beat on medium until well mixed.
3. Pour into greased glass dish and bake for 20-24 minutes (if cake box says otherwise, follow those instructions), or until a toothpick comes out clean.
4. Set the cake aside to cool.
5. “Mash” the cake: using clean hands or a fork, break the cake into crumbly pieces and add the cream cheese, mixing well with clean hands.
6. Once the cake and cream cheese are mixed well enough that no white cream cheese is visible, roll into small balls with your hands (about 1 inch in diameter). Set aside.
7. Melt almond bark in a deep bowl (this will make it easier to coat the truffles). Begin by heating for 90 seconds, then stir. Heat at 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted.
8. (If you would like to drizzle an additional colorful layer of coating at the end, set aside ⅛ of the candy coating).*
9. Add 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil and mix well.
10. Using two large spoons (I used a spoon and a fork, for draining excess), carefully drop each truffle into the melted coating and toss around. Remove and place on parchment paper to dry. Continue this process with the rest of the truffle balls. (I don't know if I was slow or what but towards the end the coating started to harden in the bowl. Just a few seconds in the microwave fixed that.)
11. *If you set aside candy coating for drizzling, melt the leftover coating after the initial coat has dried. Once it has melted, add a few drops of Vegetable Oil and stir in a few drops of coloring. I used Wilton’s icing coloring, so I swirled 3 toothpicks in the coloring and then the icing. Once this is well stirred, either drizzle using a fork or use a piping bag (or plastic bag) with a very thin opening. (I didn't do this because I got the idea to just add orange sprinkles on top of the truffles before the coating dried. Glad I didn't since I just about ran out of coating.)

No idea how many this was supposed to yield but I ended up making about 5 dozen. Not sure if Chiara liked them (haven't heard from her since I gave them to her) but the family members she shared them with liked them.