Truffle-Stuffed Pumpkin Treats

A decadent truffle mixture serves as both a delicious indulgence and a creative decoration.

Yield: Approximately 10 treats

Time: 1 ½ hours active; 1 ½ hours setup time

Difficulty level: Advanced

• 1 16-oz. package chocolate sandwich cookies
• 8 oz. low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel cheese), softened
• 3 T. margarine
• 1 10-oz. bag mini marshmallows
• Orange gel food coloring
• 5 c. crisp rice cereal
• 5 chocolate Tootsie Rolls
• Green fondant (optional)

Equipment: Paring knife, small leaf fondant cutter (optional)

• In a food processor, finely crush chocolate sandwich cookies. Add in softened cream cheese and pulse until completely combined to make the truffle mixture. Using your hands, form a 2-inch  ball of the mixture, then gently flatten it into an egg shape. Repeat until you have 10 egg-shaped chocolate truffles. You should have some truffle mix left over, which you will need later on to make the jack-o’-lantern faces. Refrigerate the truffles and leftover mix for 1 hour or until firm.
• Melt the margarine over low heat in a 5-quart or larger saucepan. Add marshmallows and stir. Let marshmallows melt completely, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add a few drops of orange food coloring and stir to combine. Continue adding food coloring until desired shade is reached. Pour in crisp rice cereal and stir until covered with marshmallow.
• Coat clean hands with nonstick cooking spray, butter or margarine. While cereal mixture is still warm, form a handful into a thin circle or egg shape slightly larger than the truffle. Place a truffle on top of the orange crispy treat. Add more cereal mixture to cover the truffle, sculpting a pumpkin as you go. To make the pumpkin stand up, press it down onto a hard surface to flatten the bottom.
• Insert half of a Tootsie Roll for the stem, and work cereal mixture around stem to secure in place. Repeat to form rest of pumpkins. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• With a small paring knife, cut out two triangular eyes and a mouth from just the orange layer of each pumpkin treat, so that the truffle center is revealed. Fill in the holes with the leftover truffle mix from step 1. (The easiest way to do this is to sculpt the truffle mix into the appropriate size triangle and mouth shapes before gently pushing it into the holes.)
• Optional: Roll out green fondant and cut into 10 leaf shapes. Press base of a leaf onto a pumpkin treat right next to the candy stem. Repeat for the rest of the jack-o’-lanterns.
• Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Best if served within 24 hours. Let treats sit out at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Excerpted from Super Cute Crispy Treats by Ashley Fox Whipple