Cubicle kitchen: Gingerbread Truffles

I don't have any FOs this Friday, but I do still have some catching up to do on my reporting of baked goods, so here's last week's.

This is one of those times when I feel slightly sheepish about calling this a 'recipe'.  Mostly what it boils down to is that the principles of the still-going-strong trend that is cake balls, or cake truffles (which just sounds so much nicer), can also be applied to gingerbread, with delicious results.

What's more, because of the dense nature of gingerbread, you don't need to induce any further guilt by adding a lot of extra frosting into the mix.  Just the crumbled up gingerbread itself holds together well enough to be rolled in this gingerbread-flavored candy coasting, which had a bit of a butterscotch taste to it, but still delicious.  Especially with a nice, milky chai.

Gingerbread Truffles
Makes about 30 truffles

Ingredients

• 1 boxed Gingerbread mix, and additional ingredients as called for
• 1 bag gingerbread-flavored candy melts

Optional:

• 1/4 cup frosting
• 1/2 cup crushed Pfeffernusse

Directions

1. Bake gingerbread according to directions for cakey, rather than cookie, gingerbread.  Allow to cool enough to handle.
2. In a large bowl, tear the gingerbread into pieces.  If you think your gingerbread could use some additional moisture to hold together, add some frosting.  Otherwise, just dive in with both hands and squish the gingerbread together.  Form into balls about the size of a tablespoon.  Place on a tray lined with parchment paper and freeze.  I let them freeze overnight.
3. When ready to assemble, melt the candy melts according to directions.  I prefer to do smaller batches and add additional melts as needed, just in case I don't need all of it.  Arrange your workspace so you have your chilled balls, melted 'chocolate', and any toppings you want to roll the truffles in close by.  Also: somewhere to place your finished truffles to set.  I simply used the same try that the balls had been frozen on.
4. Dip each ball in candy melt, coating completely, then roll half in topping, and place back onto the tray.  This will have to be done fairly quickly, as the coating will begin setting relatively quickly, so you need to get the topping applied and your fingers off of it before that happens.
5. Repeat until all of the balls are coated, or you are out of coating.  Allow truffles to set, then transfer to an airtight container until ready to serve.