Halloween is on a Wednesday this year. I had some of the best memories of Halloween while growing up in Brooklyn. The best part about Halloween as a child was being able to dress up as any character I wanted and go trick or treating with my friends on the night of Halloween. I always looked forward to picking a creative costume around August or September of each year in anticipation of Halloween. It is always a joy to see how creative people can get with their costumes. The streets of Brooklyn were always packed with people of all ages dressed up in costumes. Seeing all of the people dressed up in costumes inspired me to do the same. I loved dressing up for Halloween and continued to dress up for Halloween throughout college and the first couple of years after college. After moving to Ohio, I shifted to making treats and staying in during Halloween. One of the treats I experimented with making this weekend was a very simple and delicious pistachio chocolate dessert ball. It uses just three ingredients and includes an optional fourth ingredient. When I made these treats today, the taste of the balls reminded me of the Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolate I used to indulge in during the holidays at home in New York City. Each piece is filled with pistachio pieces, melt in your mouth cocoa powder, and chunks of semisweet chocolate chips. I had intended to make a pistachio chocolate spread, but while experimenting with the ratios of pistachio to chocolate in this recipe, the consistency was better suited for dessert balls. The treats were quick to make, tasted absolutely amazing, and made for a decadent treat for Halloween. I loved these so much that I may or may not have had 5 pieces myself.
Pistachio Chocolate Balls:
· ¾ cup pistachios, shells removed
· ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
· ¼ cup European Dutch processed cocoa powder
· (Optional) confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Directions:
1) In a food processor, pulse the pistachios, chocolate chips, and cocoa powder about 2-3 minutes or until desired consistency. Use a spatula to stir the mixture occasionally between pulses for even blending.
2) Roll the mixture into about 1-inch balls. As an optional step, dust the treats with confectioners’ sugar.
Takeaways: The pistachio chocolate treats can easily be customized by adding crushed peppermint candies, swapping out the pistachios for peanuts or almonds, or coating the truffles in chocolate ganache. Feel free to customize the treats to your liking.