Peppermint Chocolate Truffles

These peppermint chocolate truffles are melt in your mouth creamy, delicious, refreshing, and easy to make. And they’re perfect for gift giving too!

How to make classic peppermint chocolate truffles that are perfect for the holidays!

Peppermint and chocolate are my favorite flavor combination ever. As a kid, I loved eating After Eights (and still do!).

I previously shared a detailed guide on making classic chocolate truffles. So I won’t go into detail here about the base recipe.

What you need to make chocolate peppermint truffles

Couverture chocolate

I use chocolate with a cocoa content of 55 – 70% for these peppermint truffles. Higher the cocoa content, the more bittersweet your truffle will be. Here I used a 55% chocolate from Callebaut callets, which is couverture chocolate chips. You can also use good quality chocolate like Lindt.

Heavy cream

Heavy cream or whipping cream with 35% fat is essential to make the chocolate ganache for these truffles. If you prefer, you can use coconut cream instead (not coconut milk), but it will of course add coconut flavor to the truffles.

Butter

I use a little bit of unsalted butter because it adds a lovely buttery texture to the ganache. You can use salted butter too, but you will need to adjust the salt level to compensate.

Peppermint extract

This is where much of the flavor for these decadent peppermint chocolate truffles comes from. I have used peppermint extract and peppermint emulsions with comparable flavor results. So you can use whichever you have at home, or is easier to find.

Salt

Salt brings out the flavor of chocolate. So it’s a crucial ingredient. You don’t want the truffles to be salty of course, so you will only be adding a pinch.

How to make peppermint chocolate truffles

Since these truffles will be made into balls, you can use one of two methods to do so.

1. Use a small cookie scoop (or melon baller) to scoop out ganache portions for the truffles, OR
2. Pipe the ganache into truffle portions.

Making the chocolate ganache

Making the ganache is very easy.

1. Chop the chocolate and place it in a large bowl.
2. Heat the cream, along with the salt, in a small saucepan until the cream is simmering.
3. Pour the cream over the chocolate. Cover for 1 minute.
4. Whisk until the chocolate and cream are emulsified (smooth).
5. Add the softened butter and peppermint extract and mix them in.
6. Allow the chocolate ganache to cool down (refrigerate if you’re using a cookie scoop to shape; or cool until you get a pipeable consistency for piped ganache).

Shaping the peppermint truffles

Using a small cookie scoop / melon baller

Cover the chocolate ganache with plastic wrap (making sure it touches the whole ganache surface), and let it set. You can refrigerate it, but it needs to be soft enough to scoop balls.

Scoop portions of the chocolate ganache and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Roll each portion into a ball and allow it to harden on the baking sheet. If the weather is warm, you can let the truffles set in the fridge.

Piping the ganache for truffles

Stir the ganache occasionally to prevent a skin from forming on top. Allow the ganache to cool until thick but still pipeable.

Transfer the ganache into a piping bag with a round piping tip (at least 1/2 inch). Pipe equal amounts of the ganache on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Allow the ganache to slightly harden, and roll each portion to shape them into balls. Place the peppermint chocolate truffles back on the baking sheet and let the surface harden.

If the weather is warm, you can let them sit in the fridge instead.

Coating the peppermint chocolate truffles with chocolate

The first step for coating or dipping peppermint truffles in chocolate is to temper the chocolate.

Remember to use couverture chocolate. You can use white chocolate, milk chocolate or dark chocolate. Use this guide to learn how to temper chocolate.

If you’re not comfortable tempering chocolate, then you have two other options,

1. Use chocolate candy melts that do not require tempering. However these don’t have the same “snap” as regular chocolate.
2. Skip the chocolate altogether, and coat the truffles with cocoa powder instead. This is easier and hassle free.

Dipping peppermint chocolate truffles

Using a dipping fork or a regular fork, dip the peppermint truffle in the melted chocolate. Tap the fork against bowl to let the excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.

Transfer the truffle onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Repeat with all the truffles, and then transfer them to the fridge to let the chocolate harden.

Hand rolling to coat peppermint chocolate truffles

Place some of the tempered chocolate in your palm, or on a smooth surface. I prefer to use my hand (with gloves), as it keeps the chocolate warm too.

Place a truffle on the chocolate and roll it to coat it with a thin layer of chocolate. Then place it on the parchment paper lined baking sheet and repeat with all the truffles.

Repeat this process one more time for all the truffles (for a second coating), once the first layer is hardened.

Decorating the chocolate truffles

You can decorate the truffles by sprinkling some crushed candy canes on top of the coated peppermint chocolate truffles, before the chocolate sets.

You can also drizzle a different type / color of melted chocolate on top as well.

Final notes

It’s that time of year when chocolate and peppermint are the flavor combo of choice, but these little morsels of deliciousness are so decadent, me thinks they deserve love all year round!

These are also perfect for gifting during the holidays and for special occasions. These melt in your mouth, peppermint flavored bites are always a hit when I gift them to friends and neighbors.

I’ve provided all the different methods and techniques for coating and decorating these chocolate peppermint truffles, so choose what’s easiest for you and have fun! 🙂