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If its hot and humid enough, even the staunchest coffee drinker will look for alternative ways to enjoy coffee. This weekend some friends provided such an outlet for my coffee cravings – Espresso Truffles.This being my first experience with the Seattle Chocolates Company, I was not sure what to expect. If the presentation was any indication of the chocolate inside (the ribbon is nice touch), I was in for a treat.
Opening the box revealed individually wrapped candy, I quickly opened one of the truffles and found something I love — Dark Chocolate. Things were starting to look promising!
Now there are two types of candy eaters in my opinion, those who take several bites to extend the enjoyment time of the candy, and those who take more of a neanderthalian approach and pop the entire treat into their mouth.
Since it was an espresso truffle I threw decorum out the window and popped the entire piece in my mouth. As my teeth breached the dark chocolate exterior I quickly discovered the espresso infused milk chocolate interior.
Unlike lesser creations that simple add coffee flavoring to their chocolate, these truffles contain actual espresso coffee. The espresso flavor is clearly evident along with hints of vanilla and coconut. I could eat an entire box of these truffles they are that good.
I thought I quite possibly had found the perfect melding of chocolate and coffee until to my horror I read on the ingredient list…
Decaffeinated Espresso Coffee
Who am I kidding, its hard to split hairs about something like this when you are talking about fine chocolate. I will be buying these for my coffee loving friends soon.
Well at least there’s some caffeine in the chocolate.
Prepare Coffee Crunch Cookies
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup shortening
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons hot water
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
Directions
Into a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugars and shortening. Dissolve coffee granules or powder in hot water; blend into creamed mixture along with the egg.
Stir in coconut and sifted dry ingredients. Drop dough but rounded teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes.
Makes about 3 1/2 dozen coffee cookies.
Now that sounds mouth watering! Thanks for the recipe Mark!