These homemade chocolate truffles are extra creamy with the addition of butter. After mixing the 4 ingredients together, let the mixture set in the refrigerator, then roll into balls. Follow this homemade truffles recipe and the helpful video tutorial below!
Making homemade chocolate truffles couldn’t be easier and after watching the video tutorial below, you’ll agree with excitement! They come together faster then even homemade peanut butter eggs. Homemade truffles are the perfect quick & easy treat for holidays and I’m right here to guide you along. Ditch the boxed chocolates!
Chocolate lovers, rejoice. 🙂
Chocolate truffles are a deeply indulgent chocolate treat made from chocolate and cream. They’re essentially balls of chocolate ganache. And great news: they sound so much fancier than they are to make!
If you’re making these around Valentine’s Day, I love coating them in pink and red sprinkles. Pair with Valentine’s Day cookies and Valentine’s Day cupcakes for a trio of epic February 14 treats!
Only 2 Ingredients in Chocolate Truffles
Chocolate and heavy cream are the only ingredients in homemade chocolate truffles. However, I add 2 extra ingredients for texture and flavor. These extras will turn your regular truffles into the BEST CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES. And after writing an entire cookbook on truffles and candy recipes, I know that’s a fact!
- Chocolate: 8 ounces of quality chocolate is the base of chocolate truffles. Do not use chocolate chips because they will not melt into truffle consistency. Chocolate chips are great for recipes like chocolate chip cookies where we want the chips to stay mostly intact, but here want to reach for quality chocolate bars which are sold as 4 ounce bars in the baking aisle. Use milk chocolate for sweeter truffles or semi-sweet/dark chocolate for extra rich truffles. If using milk chocolate, reduce the cream to 1/2 cup as milk chocolate is much softer than dark chocolate.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream is also a base ingredient. Do not use half-and-half or any other liquid because the truffles won’t set up properly. See recipe note for a non-dairy alternative.
- Butter: 1 scant Tablespoon of softened butter transform these into the creamiest truffles you will ever taste. You will never go back!
- Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract adds exceptional flavor to your chocolate truffles.
With so few ingredients, it’s imperative to follow the recipe. After years of candy making, I find the ratio of 8 ounces of chocolate to 2/3 cup heavy cream is the most favorable. Truffles are too firm with less liquid. Stick to this recipe for truffle success!
How to Make Chocolate Truffles in 5 Steps
- Warm Cream: Pour warm cream over chopped chocolate.
- Do Nothing: Before stirring, let the warm cream and chocolate sit in the bowl for a few minutes. Don’t touch it!
- Stir: Stir until the chocolate is melted.
- Refrigerate: Refrigerate until the mixture is set, about 1-2 hours.
- Roll: Roll into balls and coat in toppings like sprinkles, cocoa powder, or crushed nuts. You can also dip the truffles in melted or tempered chocolate. See my dark chocolate coconut rum truffles post for a video on how to do so. And I have an in-depth explanation for tempered chocolate in Sally’s Candy Addiction if you have a copy.
Sticky Situation: These are extra creamy truffles, which are the most delicious variety. The downside to creamy truffles is that they’re sticky to roll. You can wear rubber gloves or coat your hands in cocoa powder, but here is my #1 trick and it makes rolling SO MUCH EASIER. Scoop the truffle mixture into mounds on a lined baking sheet. (Pictured above.) Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes so the mounds “dry out.” After that, they are a little less sticky to roll. You can watch me do this in the video tutorial.
Troubleshooting Truffles
Even though there are so few ingredients and steps, a couple mishaps can happen. Let me help you troubleshoot through the chocolate truffle recipe.
- The chocolate won’t melt: One trick for successful truffles is to chop the chocolate into very small pieces. The finer the chocolate chunks, the quicker they’ll melt. Additionally, the chocolate might not melt because the cream is not hot enough. Make sure it is simmering warm before pouring over the chocolate. If the chocolate still isn’t melting, place the heat-proof bowl over a pot of 1 inch of simmering water and stir until melted. I usually do this.
- The ganache won’t thicken: Make sure you are using quality chocolate, not chocolate chips, and heavy cream. You can also pour the mixture into a shallow dish so it thickens quicker. And finally, keep it in the refrigerator until thickened.
- The chocolate is greasy and separating: If the truffle mixture is greasy or separating, the heavy cream was too hot.
- The truffle mixture is too sticky: See “Sticky Situation” above.
- Rolled truffles are too dry for toppings: Mash the truffle between your palms and re-roll so it’s sticky enough for the toppings.
By the way, if you love chocolate truffles, you will flip for these peanut butter balls, rum balls, and Oreo balls.
See Your Recipe Success!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge!
PrintHomemade Chocolate Truffles Recipe
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 20-24 truffles
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Shaping
- Cuisine: American
Description
These homemade chocolate truffles are extra creamy with the addition of butter. After mixing the ingredients together, let the mixture set in the refrigerator, then roll into balls. You can coat in your favorite toppings and add lots of fun flavors, too! The mixture gets a little sticky, so refer back to my tips in the blog post above.
Ingredients
- two 4-ounce quality chocolate bars (226g), very finely chopped*
- 2/3 cup (160ml) heavy cream*
- optional: 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- optional: 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- toppings: unsweetened cocoa powder, sprinkles, crushed nuts, melted or tempered chocolate
Instructions
- Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Set aside.
- Heat the heavy cream until it is simmering. You can heat it on the stove or in the microwave.
- Add the butter, if using, to the chocolate and pour the heavy cream evenly on top. Let the warm cream and chocolate sit for 5 minutes minutes. Add the vanilla extract then stir until the chocolate has completely melted. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface (to avoid condensation) and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Tip: Pour into a flat shallow dish, such as a 8-inch square baking pan, so the mixture evenly and quickly sets.
- Scoop the set truffle mixture into 2 teaspoon-sized mounds. This small cookie scoop is the perfect size. For larger truffles, 1 Tablespoon size mounds. Roll each into balls. This gets a little sticky, so see my tips above.
- Roll each into toppings, if desired. Truffles taste best at room temperature!
- Cover tightly and store truffles at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, freeze up to 3 months with or without toppings. Thaw in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature, if desired, before enjoying.
- Make Ahead Instructions: Prepare the truffle mixture through step 3. The mixture must chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours or up to 3 days. If chilling for longer than 4ish hours, let the mixture sit on the counter for several minutes to soften into scoop-able consistency.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Small Cookie Scoop | 8-inch Square Pan (optional but helpful when chilling the chocolate mixture)
- Chocolate: Use quality chocolate, the kind sold in 4 ounce bars in the baking aisle. Do not use chocolate chips. The higher quality chocolate you purchase, the better your truffles will taste. I love Baker’s or Ghirardelli brands. If you want to splurge, Scharffen Berger is exceptional! Semi-sweet or dark chocolate make a very intense chocolate truffle and milk chocolate yields a sweeter truffle. If using milk chocolate, reduce the cream to 1/2 cup as milk chocolate is much softer than dark chocolate. Do not use white chocolate in this recipe because it’s too thin. Here is a white chocolate truffles recipe to use instead. You can leave out the lime flavoring.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream is the only liquid that will melt the chocolate into the proper truffle consistency. Do not use half-and-half or milk. The only non-dairy substitute is canned full-fat coconut milk (not the refrigerated kind). Shake it up and use in the recipe as you would heavy cream.
- Butter and Vanilla Extract: Both are optional, but butter makes truffles extra creamy and vanilla extract adds wonderful flavor.
- Flavors: Instead of vanilla extract, use 1/2 teaspoon or 1 teaspoon (depending how strong of a flavor you want) raspberry, coconut, orange, peppermint, or strawberry extract. Or leave out the extract and add 1-2 Tablespoons of your favorite liqueur. I also have hazelnut truffles and key lime truffles recipes too!
- Halved/Doubled: Recipe can easily be halved, but I do not recommend doubling. Instead, make 2 separate batches.
If I want to make these into coffee truffles, what should I add to make them so? Do I need to take out anything else?
Hi Eliza, add some espresso powder to the cream that you simmer on the stove. 2 teaspoons would be excellent.
I’ve been making chocolates for a while now. I have some new truffle molds I want to try. Can I let the hard coating chocolate set then pipe this into the trays ? I’d wait for this ganache to cool to room temperature first. Would I need to let it set again in the fridge/freezer before adding the final coating chocolate that will become the bottom ?
Hi Blaise, This mixture is going to be too thick to pipe well. I would follow the instructions to make round (or whatever fits your molds) shapes, refrigerate them, and then place them into your molds and cover with the remaining chocolate. Let me know if you try it!
Yum! I made these with coconut milk and dark chocolate In the exact measurements given. They came out perfectly! Not too sweet, beautiful rich flavor, and so easy. I rolled them in shredded coconut and put an almond in the middle of each. Look forward to trying different variations! Thanks!!
I would like to make truffles without sugar using unsweetened chocolate and a sugar substitute. I have Swerve and liquid stevia. Would I put the sweetener into the cream or with the chopped chocolate? My grandmother was a candy maker and I am really looking forward to these!!
Hi Lynne, I have never tried truffles using Swerve or stevia. If you wish to try it I would start by adding the sweeteners to the warm cream to make sure it dissolves so you don’t end up with a grainy texture. Let me know if you try it.
Sally, I just want to commend you on the research and level of detail you dig into to bring tried and true recipes. I’ve been baking my whole life but left my Corporate career 3 years ago to start a bakery out of my basement. We are moving into our first commercial space in the next year. With the exception of a couple restaurant school courses, I am completely self taught. When I’m chartering new recipe territory (like truffles – haven’t made them since I’m a teenager), you are one of my go-to resources. I appreciate your time saving tips and tricks and know that if I try one of your recipes and something doesn’t turn out right – it’s usually because of something I have done or not done to get that outcome. Thank you for making my new career journey just a little bit easier!
Wow!! Congratulations on all of your success, Steph! How exciting to be moving into your new space soon! Thank you so much for trusting my recipes – I can’t wait to hear what else will be on your menu 🙂
Thank you for your reply! I used dark chocolate. I will be making again in February so I’ll see if perhaps maybe it was the butter or not. I did make two batches and only one of them turned out that way. Thank again 🙂
So, when I made these they were so creamy that unless they were cold they were like almost liquid…. what did I do wrong?
Hi Kandie, What type of chocolate are you using? If using milk chocolate you will need to reduce the cream to 1/2 cup as milk chocolate is much softer than dark chocolate – see recipe notes for details.
Unsweetened chocolate, when I had a bite I almost gagged. Terrible tasting. Can you use Nestle sweetened coco.
When I made them for catering I threw them all away. I poured heavy cream over the chocolate and then I put them in the refrigerator for 2 hours. I took them out and tried to roll them, I could not form a ball and each piece I got chocolate on my hand.
The unsweetened was so bad, I had to put 1 part of coco and 3 parts of confectionary sugar. But I couldn’t roll them.
Joan
Hi Joan, I use semi-sweet or dark chocolate, not unsweetened! See recipe note #3 for your options on different types of chocolate to use (note that you can use milk chocolate also but you will need to reduce the cream as explained). And yes, they are very sticky! See the paragraph above called “Sticky Situation” for my best tips to make rolling them easier 🙂
Just made my second set of truffles. I got the process down a little better than the last time. I’m still not sure if I should completely let them cool and then put them in the fridge since I’m taking them to my friends house for Christmas tomorrow and she lives an hour away.
Hi Sally,
I made the recipe exactly like you said but even after over night my chocolate never hardened.
What did I do wrong?
The chocolate is delicious but I can’t roll them at all that is how squishy they are.
Any suggestions?
Hi Diane, What type of chocoalte are you using? If using milk chocolate, reduce the cream to 1/2 cup as milk chocolate is much softer than dark chocolate. Do not use white chocolate in this recipe because it’s too thin.
I’m wanting to make these, but the only high quality chocolate I have on hand is Ghirardelli squares with caramel filling. Do you think this could work, maybe by reducing the amount of heavy cream?
Hi Sarah! That would require some testing, but you could try reducing the heavy cream to make up for the gooey centers.
So far so good making these except I mixed bittersweet and semi sweet chocolate which had made them more bitter than I would. Is there any sugar toppings or melted chocolate topping I could do to sweeten them up a bit?
Hi Rachel! I recommend rolling in powdered sugar or coarse sugar.
I’ve recently decided to make cookies for people in my neighborhood. Thank you so much for the inspiration!
I need to make a living ad of truffles this weekend to give as presents for Christmas. Your recipe etc. is great and so well written. One question – can I use white chocolate for white truffles? Thanks again.
Hi Glenys! No, white chocolate is much thinner. Here is a white chocolate truffles recipe. You can leave out the lime flavoring.
Just made these for the second time! First time they were delicious but a bit tricky to work with. Second time, I used gloves and a melon baller dipped in boiling water; total game changer! Perfect size and shape with minimal handling. Made dark choc with choc sprinkle coating, dark choc orange with milk choc orange coating, and milk choc with hazelnut coating. Perfect Xmas presents! Thanks so much!
Used 2 bars (8 oz total) Bakers Milk Chocolate, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1 Tbsp butter, 1/2 tsp vanilla. Followed the directions but these never firmed up despite leaving in the refrigerator a couple hours to “dry out”. Even left them overnight in the refrigerator and they’re still very squishy. If I ever try this again, I guess I’d use dark chocolate, but I’m not a fan of dark chocolate so I’ll probably just stick with buying See’s milk chocolate butters. 🙁
Hello Sally,
just a question – I took way too much cream for the truffles (used milk chocolate – didn’t see that only 1/2 a cup of cream is necessary), that’s why they’re too sticky to roll. Do you have a tip on what to do with the ganache? It’s super tasty and I just don’t want to throw it away. Thanks in advance! Teresa
Hi Teresa! You can melt the ganache down/heat back up and use in any of the ways listed in my chocolate ganache post!
I made the truffle mixture and put in the fridge in air tight container overnight. Today, the chocolate mixture is solid. If I leave it at room temperature will the chocolate become soft and able to form into balls?
Hi Miriam! The chocolate mixture does harden in the refrigerator, but letting it sit at room temperature will soften it up so it’s easier to scoop.
These are so delicious and easy to make. They make beautiful gifts!
Thank you!!! I have a Christmas cookie exchange and I’m sure they will be a hit!
Putting them in dollops on a tray really helped!
And wetting my hands helped too!
These were amazing! Just a couple of notes for anyone:
– I used homemade vanilla extract which gave a very slight boozy flavor that was great!
– I added orange zest which slowly added more and more flavor as they set up, and added a very nuanced orange flavor (almost aftertaste) that was delicious!
– I did double the recipe (only read that you shouldn’t double after the fact) and they still turned out great. I did have to warm it up slightly more after I added the cream because that amount of chocolate was hard to fully melt. I did also add a bit of salt to offset the sweetness.
– This base is great for adding whatever flavors in.
Oh Yum!!!! After sampling truffles in a high end store I knew I could make them myself instead of paying $$$ for one little truffle. I found your recipe online and made them myself today. I added the butter and vanilla AND I added some dark roast instant coffee to the mix and not to pat myself to much on the back, but they were better tasting than the high dollar truffles I had sampled at that store
Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipe !!!
These chocolate truffles are super easy to make and taste soooo good! I rolled some in chocolate sprinkles, others in granulated sugar, and others in cocoa powder… actually this was not such a good idea, because I only had unsweetened cocoa powder and it tasted a bit bitter – -‘ Next time I will try to mix the cocoa powder with some confectioners sugar.
Anyway, it’s nice to try different toppings, and I also liked how they look when you mix the truffles all together.
Hi sally!!
Could you use sea salt siree Ghiradelli chocolate bars?
If you like salty and sweet treats I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! Let me know if you try it!
Hello, I may be confused but where is the sugar in this. You say use 100% chocolate bakers bars but these do not have any sugar nor does your recipe…. So no sugar is needed?
Hi Kathie, The recipe calls for milk chocolate for sweeter truffles or semi-sweet/dark chocolate for extra rich truffles, but both of these are made with sugar so no need to add extra!
Hi Sally, would it be possible to use 1 block of dark chocolate and 1 block of milk chocolate? I tried using 2 blocks of 70% dark chocolate, and the result was a little too rich for me, I’d prefer something slightly sweeter and less rich.
Absolutely! You can use a combination of chocolates.
Hey sally! How can we store the chocolate truffles? Do we have to refrigerate it? Thanks. Waiting for your reply
Cover tightly and store truffles at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. For freezing instructions see recipe note #1. Enjoy!
Sally,
How long will these be good for once made since there is cream in them? Thinking of making them for a wedding but could not make them the day of.
Thanks,
Hi Shayne! Cover them tightly and store truffles at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
This recipe is so easy to follow and they look delicious. I can’t wait to try out this recipe. Thank you Sally for sharing such a simple and wonderful recipe. Love the tips and photography, as usual!
Sally, thank you for your generosity in sharing this recipe. I made the truffles for our anniversary and I’m sure she is going to love them.
Thank you.