How tight are you with salt?

‘Cause me and salt, we’re (holds up crossed fingers) like this! Like, I really love salty stuff. I think it runs in my family or something. I’ve seen some of my relatives put salt on all kinds of crazy stuff. My grandpa even eats his watermelon with salt on it, something I was never brave enough to try but now, surprisingly, it sounds kind of good. I also seem to recall someone telling me that my great grandma used to salt her coffee. Hmmm, I’m not sure about that one.

I remember a few years ago someone told me that salt is really bad for you and mentioned all of these horror stories that were supposed to prove it will make you fat and kill you young if you eat too much. I don’t really remember the details but it must have been enough to scare the daylights out of me because I went for a while trying not to eat it.

This is the part of a conversion story where I tell you that it changed my life, I felt so much better, or I learned something amazing. But….um……. I think the only thing I learned was that I really like salt. I know, epic failure. I’m clearly not cut out for life as a health consultant. Fine, so salt may be the death of me at some point but at least I’ll go happy, right?

If there was ever a cookie that could change your life then this is it. Have you ever heard the expression one is too many and eight is not enough? Well, just add a few zeros after that eight for these cookies and you’ve got it about right. I’m telling you, these are dangerous!

They do require a tiny bit of patience to let the truffle part chill out, but that just gives you time to dance around the kitchen like no one’s watching! Or, more realistically, do the dishes. It’s all worth it though because the result is this pillowy soft brownie cookie that is somehow super fudgy at the same time and, not to mention, is stuffed with melty ganache!

I spent almost an entire day testing different versions of these. I did one with peanut butter, then one with nutella, then one with a cocoa powder based ganache because I was low on chocolate bars, and then this one with the ganache truffle inside. I think they were almost all tied but these scored slightly higher on a few small points so they won the right to be today’s star, but since they were all so good I’ve included the alternate versions in the recipe notes section if you want to try them all!

P.S. These are best straight from the oven when they’re still hot and gooey!!!

Chocolate Brownie Truffle Stuffed Cookies

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Chilling Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

Truffle Center: (*see notes for alternatives)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
120 g about 3/4 cup dairy free semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup coconut oil melted
2 tablespoons coconut cream **see note
1/4 teaspoon salt
cocoa for coating
Cookies:
1/4 cup coconut oil melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup applesauce or pumpkin puree
1/2 cup coconut cream **see note
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup cocoa powder
3 cups all purpose flour

Instructions

First make the truffle center. Stir melted chocolate and melted coconut oil together in a medium bowl. Add cream, salt, and powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. Scrape into a bowl or container, cover, and place in freezer for about 30 minutes while you make the cookie dough.
Mix coconut oil, oil, and sugar together in same mixing bowl (no need to wash after truffle). Scrape sides of bowl, then add applesauce and coconut cream and mix until combined. Add vanilla, baking powder, salt, and cocoa until mixed well, then add flour one cup at a time and beat just until combined after each addition. Cover bowl and place in fridge.
Put a few tablespoons of cocoa powder into a small bowl. After it has been close to 30 minutes remove truffle mix from freezer and use a small spoon to scoop out little teaspoon sized balls then roll quickly between your palms and dip in cocoa, then place on a plate or tray. You should end up with 32 to 36 balls. Cover tray with plastic and place in freezer.
Now while those are getting cold, remove dough from fridge and roll into medium sized, about 1 1/2 tablespoon, balls and place about 2 inches apart on parchment or silicone lined baking sheets. (If you have OCD about these things you can match the number of dough balls to how many truffles you have, or you can obviously just eat the extra!)
When the truffles have been in the freezer for about 25 minutes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 C) and remove them from freezer.
Use your thumb to make a well in the center of each dough ball and stuff a truffle inside. Squish the sides up a little and roll the dough around the truffle to cover. Place cookie back on tray and push down slightly to flatten (try to smooth out any cracks that form on the sides because the truffle center might bubble out while baking) then repeat with all cookies. Top with sea salt and bake for 7 - 9 minutes until the edges start to look done but the center still looks slightly doughy (it will finish cooking as it cools).
Then.....devour!

Recipe Notes

*Truffle Alternatives:

Cocoa Powder Truffle Version:

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Nutella/Peanut Butter Truffle Version:

1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut butter (such as Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter OR Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Butter (Nutella)) or Peanut Butter
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
**If you have trouble finding coconut cream at your local grocery store it's completely fine to use full-fat coconut milk and scrape the cream off of the top. Just be sure that it's cold enough to separate.

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D750 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. You can find out more in my INTRO POST.

Also, a huge shoutout to @rigaronib for designing my logo!

If you're looking for more recipes check out some of my other recent posts!

1. Caramel & Pecans Sticky Buns
2. Creamy Fettuccine Alfredo Primavera Pasta
3. Sweet Potato Pecan Streusel Spice Muffins
4. Cheesecake Brownie Cookies & Cream Bars
5. Pesto Pizza Monkey Bread

Also, I've been starting to vlog in case you missed it.

1. Travelicious: Disneyland at Halloween Time 2018 + 77,000 Steem Power reached
2. Silverwood Theme Park Rollercoaster On Rides POV (Front Seat)
3. Montana Travels Glacier National Park
4. Vlog #4 Grocery Shopping with Gringalicious at Trader Joe's
5. Hiking to Snow Creek Falls + I Hit 17k Followers!
6. Vlog #3: Looking for a New Gym + Meet My Baby