Oreo Balls {Christmas Recipe}

UPDATE: There is a newer (and much prettier!) version of this blog post: HERE.

I will be taking this one down soon, so for the recipe go on over there!

It's oreo ball time, friends. How many of you have seen oreo or cake balls floating around on blogs and/or Pinterest?! I know I have. These little guys and I didn't exactly start off on the right foot though. Let me break it down for ya....

At first I was going to make the lovely Gingerbread cake balls I had been eyeing all over Pinterest, but after 3 (count 'em...3) failed attempts at finding Gingerbread in the 30 degree weather, I decided to move on to my 2nd best option: Oreo balls. Oh, I can't forget to mention that I decided to go get the ingredients after a 2 hr nap/food coma and was still slightly unsure of how much of each ingredient I would need to make 9 dozen cookies. I silently told myself that I'd just wing it and they would turn out perfectly. I mean who am I? Martha Stewart?! Not in this lifetime....

Looking back, I know the oreo balls had it out for me from the beginning since they were my 2nd best option. Who wants to be 2nd best? I digress. Anyways--since I had never made Oreo cake balls before and didn't have the recipe on me {someone tell me when the Pinterest app ACTUALLY works on the iPhone when you need it?! Yeah.}, I ended up having to call Ashley {Billy was at hockey} to have her pull up the oreo cake ball recipe I originally pinned and give me the ingredients. Bless her heart. I was about to kill someone in Walmart at this point because I had already been walking through each aisle aimlessly for an hour...like someone was going to put all the ingredients I needed in my cart for me. Well, girlfriend helped me out and set me up on the right path. I gathered up my things and was finally on my way.

Things were going wonderfully since the actual making of the oreo balls is very simple, until I realized I was way short on the candy melts to dip the balls in. It's 10pm and back to Walmart I go. Not fun. So....long story not cut short, I finally finished them around the midnight mark. But please--don't let this story defer you from baking these.....if you are at least somewhat awake and plan ahead of time, you will be fine. These are super easy to make and I'm happy to report that they were a crowd pleaser!

Oreo Balls

adapted from this recipe

-1 package Oreo cookies

-1 8 oz cream cheese, softened

-1 package Wilton Candy Melts or Almond bark

-6 Candy Canes {optional}

(I used 4 packages of Oreo cookies, 4 cream cheese, and 4 candy melts to make 9 dozen)

Directions:

-Place Oreo Cookies in a large plastic bag and smash until it is the consistency of dirt

-Mix softened cream cheese into smashed cookies {I actually mixed them together with my hands because it was easier}

-Form into 1" balls and place on wax paper on cookie sheets. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

-Melt chocolate in microwave according to package directions.

-Cover the balls in chocolate {I found the best way to do this was to use 2 forks and dip them}.

-Once all the balls are covered, refrigerate for 1 hour.

Voila. Time to ENJOY! :)

About halfway through the process, I got somewhat creative. I decided to smash some peppermint candy canes and mix some into the cream cheese/cookie mix and also sprinkle it on top of the balls right after dipping them in the chocolate! Makes them look a little cuter, I think. I do recommend using the red or green candy melts over the white chocolate...it looks thicker and prettier ;)

Note: This will make roughly 50 balls...

All bagged up and ready to be sent out!

Have you made oreo balls or cake balls before?!

What was your experience like?