If you thought cookie dough ended with chocolate chip, well, I’m here to tell you otherwise. There are as many different kinds of cookie dough as there are, well, cookies. And pretty much all of them can be adapted into a safe-to-eat-raw version, perfect for dipping and turning into truffles.
I’ve done chocolate chip. Mexican chocolate. Inside out (they’re in the book). The basic recipe is so flexible and open to adaptations, the possibilities are endless. I envision snickerdoodle. Chocolate mint. Oatmeal raisin (minus the raisins, of course). Peanut butter with salted caramel (absolutely brilliant).
And now, gingerbread.
Just in the (Saint) Nick of time, too.
The recipe is a simple variation on the original, with added spices and molasses and dipped in white chocolate candy coating. Considering they were headed to the annual Nashville Food Blogger holiday shindig, the festive filling wasn’t quite enough. So I pulled a jar of edible glitter out of my sprinkle drawer (or was it my sprinkle cabinet?) and dusted the tops of the still wet coating with fresh, glittery, “snow.” I think they came out looking fabulously wintery. You could use holiday sprinkles of any sort for a festive touch (because everything is better with sprinkles, obviously).
Your holiday dessert table? Check and check.
Gingerbread cookie dough is entirely underrated, in fact, I’d argue that gingerbread cookie dough is even better than the cookies themselves (as is the case with most cookies; I think even Santa would agree with me here). But in this case, the dough itself is made from sugar and spice and everything nice, without a speck of raw egg and its associated risks and worries.
Make them now. You’ll thank me later.
Gingerbread Cookie Dough Truffles
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsulphered molasses
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces white-chocolate candy coating
Directions:
- In a large bowl, beat butter, molasses, and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in vanilla. Stir in flour, spices, and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until incorporated. If for some reason your dough is crumbly at this point, simply add milk or cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it comes together. Cover and chill dough for 30 minutes or until firm enough to handle.
- Form dough into 1-inch balls and arrange them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Place sheets in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. Meanwhile, melt candy coating in a double boiler or microwave according to package directions, being careful not to overheat it. Using a fork or dipping tool, dip truffles one at a time in candy coating to cover. Tap fork on the edge of the bowl to shake off excess coating, and return truffles to baking sheets. Quickly top with decorative sprinkles or edible glitter (if desired), before coating sets. Truffles will keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, for up to 5 days.
Adapted from The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook.
All images and text ©Lindsay Landis / Love & Olive OilDid you make this recipe?
Let us know what you think!
Leave a Comment below or share a photo and tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #loveandoliveoil.
Do you think they would come out all right if I used 1:1 gluten free flour mix?
I haven’t tried it personally but since these aren’t actually baked they are a lot more forgiving, so I definitely think it should work just fine!
My 4-year-old and I really enjoyed making these. Everyone loved them; however I found them to be a bit strong on the molasses side. I will try cutting the molasses and replacing with cream on the next batch.
What kind of molasses did you use? I’d definitely recommend a mild/light molasses if you don’t want it too spicy.
En realidad me gozo en las recetas que ponen y además nos invitan a que nuestra imaginación vuele…pero cuando ponen nombres en que en los países a los que llegan sus recetas no se conocen, ¿como podemos reemplazarlos por los que tenemos a la mano? si no sabemos que son…les agradeceria que algunos de los nombres que indiquen mencionen de qué se trata para salvar la receta y así buscar el similar. Por ejemplo: UNSULPHERED, o la pimienta de Jamaica
I just spent the last two hours making these. They sounded great at first but in the end they were disgusting. We decided to add 1 egg and a half cup sugar and make cookies. Bake at 375 for 12 min.
I also wondered if these could be made with non-dairy “butter” to make them vegan? Second year in a row I will be making them–they were a big hit last year with a dark chocolate coating.
These look so delicious and just the sort of thing I’d keep eating the mixture of!
I made these for mid winter Christmas (in NZ) and they were so good! So much so I was begged to make them again the next day. New family favourite. Unique, easy, only a few ingredients and so tasty. I used just white choc milky bar and it worked great too.
These look fantabulous! Just wondering though- would margarine or reduced fat butter have a disastrous effect on the little balls of yummaliciousness?
These look wonderful, I’m going to make them for a cookie exchange but I need to make a lot do they freeze well?
You can freeze the dough balls, no problem. But I probably wouldn’t freeze them once they’ve been dipped.
Thank you!
Ho ho ho! Love these!! I love anything that is a truffle- whether it’s a legit chocolate truffle or a cake-batter thing. Oh, do I love them. Something tells me if I added these to my holiday cookie party circuit they would never make the table… :)
I made these last night, and they were so awesome! They’re one of my new favorite Holiday treats :) Thanks so much!!!
Love the solid white against the brown kraft paper – and the menu identification is awesome. Operation Post-Christmas party commences!
Absolutely gorgeous!
I’m pretty sure I could eat 450 billion of these! I love how crisp and white they are too! So gorgeous and perfect for this time of year!
So I tried to make these tonight since they looked so delicious! But my dough never turned… doughy? I just ended up with really dry crumbly stuff. Not the fudgy look of yours at all. \
I’m looking back at your other cookie dough truffle recipes, and I’m just wondering whether the amount of butter is off on this recipe?
The chocolate chip version called for 2.5 c of flour and 1 c of butter, whereas this one is half the flour but only a quarter cup of butter. Thoughts? Is there any way for me to revive these crumbly bits by adding more butter at this point? Thanks!
The molasses adds extra liquid to the dough that the chocolate chip version doesn’t have, hence the reduced butter. I’d try adding a little more molasses to it or milk or cream, a tablespoon at a time, just until it comes together. That should work for you!
I ended up just melting a bit more butter and it came together perfectly, just like in the pictures! My molasses must just be reallllllly thick!
Thanks for the recipe, these are officially my new favorite holiday cookie. :)
Same issue here – dough is crumbly and not sticking together. Thanks for the tips!
I also had the dry crumbly problem, but I think I know the culprit–my brown sugar was hard and I should have softened that up before using it. I didn’t want to add more molasses, since it was already so sweet, but instead melted some more butter and added that in. I think it looks good now.
The moral of the story: use fresh brown sugar!
(Thanks for the otherwise wonderful looking recipe.)
Your dessert table is brilliant!
oh man…gah, now I wish I lived in Nashville even more…
I really do love your gingerbread cookie dough recipe – I used it to make your fudge and thought it was an amazing festive treat! So thanks for your inspiration. :-) http://wp.me/p2xEEX-qO
So elegant!
Bettie Landis would be so proud of you!!!!
This really does take gingerbread to another level.
The dough is so much better than the cookies. I can’t wait to try these. “Just in the Saint Nick of time!”
So going to be making these this weekend!!!!
p.s. love your website!
These are adorable! They’d make such lovely edible gifts, too.
those look so perfect!! and delicious…and I just made that peppermint bark…can not wait to cut a slice and try it.
Your truffles are gorgeous! They look like little snowballs!!
I really love that you left them blazing white! So gorgeous and snowball-like…
And doing gingerbread cookie dough is obviously genius.
Beautiful! Perfect for a white Christmas themed holiday party.
HOLY YUM!! Gingerbread anything is enough to make me drool. Then you go ahead and make soft cookie dough truffles and that alone sends me running into my kitchen to whip up a batch!
These look so yummy. I’m going to make some for xmas. Thank for sharing!
Great recipe, Lindsay! I love gingerbread anything and I would have no problem gobbling up a few of these… or more! Thanks for the great recipe. I’ll have to give it a go.
What a great idea for truffles and for Christmas! Anything with gingerbread wins in my home for the holidays!
I agree, these look amazing! I have a hard time believing I could get them into the truffle form, though, as I believe I’d just be eating the dough straight out of the mixing bowl!
Yum! So festive :)
Just in the (saint) nick of time! ha!! ?
amazing!!! love these :)
I ADORE gingerbread cookie dough.
I love that these are in truffle form! I was thinking of making gingerbread cookies, but truffles would be a welcome change.
I seem to remember seeing a variation/suggestion for gingerbread balls in your book when I read it like a novel late spring :) And remember thinking oh gosh, come the holidays, these will be perfect. And now, you made them. Oh, and how I love gingerbread cookie (dough) ! :)
I would dig right into these. I can totally see how the dough is way better than the cookies.
the texture of the gingerbread looks perfect in that beautiful white ball. almost too pretty to eat. :)
I just love the color contrast between the white chocolate and gingerbread dough ball. It’s something you wouldn’t expect to be on the inside and the texture looks perfectly doughy. Since they’re no bake, I bet using oat flour would work to make them GF!
These look delicious – and what a great gift idea! Love it!
I love the look of these – the texture looks so dense and fudgy and delicious! Putting these on my ‘edible gift’ list now!
This is a great gift idea!
LOVE this idea and recipe!!
Great recipe!! I love how innocent these truffles look, and then you bite into a swarm of spiced deliciousness … Mmmmmm
Not only are you a divine baker, the girl is witty too! Just in the St. Nick of time…good one! And good recipe too, sweets!
These sound so yummy… and they look so perfect! What a fun dessert for Christmas day!
I LOVE the idea of a gingerbread truffle! I’ve got a Paul A Young recipe for chocolate gingerbread truffles (as in ginger flavoured chocolate) but love this cookie dough version too.
Oh Lindsay, these sound amazing! Gingerbread cookies are my favourite at this time of year and cookie dough truffles just sound even better (although I would have a hard time not sneaking some little chocolate chips in there too…)