Fruity Chocolate Truffles

Fruity Chocolate Truffles? Well, yes, it does sound a bit strange doesn’t it? When my mom sent the recipe along with a package of vanilla wafers for my daughter’s birthday, I have to admit I wasn’t sure I’d like the finished product, but we figured it was worth a try – and Emilie was certainly excited about it. (One thing I have found with letting children cook, is it works best to have just one at a time be the little helper and the rest be watchers. )
Recipe for Fruity Chocolate Truffles
1pkg 8oz cream cheese softened
1 c semisweet chocolate chips
1 c crushed vanilla wafers
1/4 c strawberry preserves
1 1/4 c chopped almonds

Children love so much to be able to really make something in the kitchen, and there’s so much of the process that they *can* do. Emilie starts by measuring out a cup of chocolate chips. (You can guide little hands so that the chips get into the measuring cup and help them stop at the right time. Of course, a few extra chips don’t matter all that much. Just dig them back out and enjoy them as is!)
A big person melts the chocolate chips in the microwave.

“Frying pans, who knew, right?”
What could be more fun for a little girl than smashing up vanilla wafers?

By now, the chocolate is all melted. Emilie’s big helper takes the bowl out of the microwave and she gives it a stir to make sure it’s all smooth. (Be careful, as the bowl might be hot.)

Emilie dumps the cream cheese (out of the mostly opened for her package) into the mixing bowl.

The cream cheese is beaten, and Emilie pours in the crushed up vanilla wafers. (Yes, a few didn’t quite make it into the bowl. That’s ok.)

The strawberry preserves are added at this time too. And finally the melted chocolate.

And it all gets mixed up until it looks like this!

The chocolate mixture is scooped out (Emilie’s big helper used a pampered chef cookie scoop, but a spoon would work nearly as well.) and rolled into little balls. Emilie rolls these in the chopped almonds to coat.
The finished truffles are refrigerated until it’s time to eat them. They were actually pretty yummy – and Emilie loved making them!
What do your children like to cook?