Cheese Cake Balls and Sandwhiches

Sad thing is this is the best picture I got, I was in a bad mood from them not working out how I wanted.  Oh well, there you go. 

  So I have been wanting to make these for ages.  I promised them to a friend at work like 5 months ago, and like everything else in life, I just didn't get to it.  I actually made these a lot a few years back.  They are a sort of mix up and it was not how I used to do it because I forgot how I used to do it. 

  I am going to let you in on a little secret here.  You ready?  So when you are making something and you have it turn out totally wrong, just add more chocolate and it will be all good.  

 Mind blown!  Right?  

 Well see these were supposed to be cheesecake pops, like I had made them all those times before.  But unlike those times before, where I would add lots of extra icing sugar to make them nice and thick, these were all soft and stuff.  So I worked with it, because there was no way I was putting it all back in the bowl and mixing it again.  I am stubborn some times.

  So you will get two different versions out of this, which really if you think about it, works in your favor.  

  Your welcome.

  Anyway, these cheesecake balls are no bake, which is awesome if you are super lazy like me, or just don't want to turn the oven on when it is like 1 million degrees out.  All you need is some cream cheese and stuff and you are all good to go.

I could eat this whole bowl! I would then probably have to go to the hospital, but it might be worth it.

This recipe is actually a cheese ball desert, so you can make it and serve it like that too, with fruit (yuck!) or cookies (oh yeah!)  And that right there, made this post a three way.  ( That's what she said)

 So I will share the original cheese ball version then let you know how I altered it.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Ball

From All Recipes

-1 8oz block of cream cheese

-1/2 cup butter

-3/4 cups icing sugar

-2 TBSP brown sugar

-1/4 TSP vanilla *

-3/4 cups mini chocolate chips

-3/4 cups chopped pecans** 

*I used vanilla bean paste because I have it

**you can use any kind of nut, or for a nut free option use crushed graham crackers or more chocolate chips 

Just blend it all together, except you add the chips last, and leave the nuts out, seriously you cannot screw this up.  Well you could if you were me, but I have faith in you.  Then you line a small bowl with plastic wrap, put the good stuff in there, then using the wrap sort of fold it up to make it a ball shape.  Then you chill it for a few hours, then when you are ready take it out, you unwrap it and roll it it the nuts or whatever.

  Can I just say, the phrase "roll it in the nuts" should be like a "aw go %^$ yourself" like phrase.  Like if someone is pissing you off, tell them to "go roll it in the nuts buddy!"  I don't know, I may need to get out more, but that really sounds like a good phrase to me.  Try it out, let me know how it goes over.

  Sorry, anyway this is the basic recipe. To make these into the sandwiches you don't need to change much. 

Cheesecake Sandwiches 

Altered from All Recipes.

-1 batch of Cheesecake ball mix

-whole graham crackers

-candy melts

I put mine in a cake pan, makes it easier to work with.

  So once you have your mix ready, take a graham cracker and put some mix on it, then take another cracker and put it on top, pressing down to spread out the mix.  You can put as much or as little as you want.  I used about 1 1/2 scoops of my little ice cream scoop.

Another picture of the blobs of goodness.

 Then place them in the freezer for at least 45 minutes.  You can also cool the filling first then fill the sandwiches and what not, not a big deal either way.

  Then you melt your candy melts and taking one sandwich at a time, dip it and fully cover it.  Take it out with a fork and tap the fork to ensure the chocolate drips off making sure it covers it all and that there is not too much extra. Then place on parchment.  If you want to top it with some nuts do so as soon as you finish dipping it.  I did nut free as I was too lazy to get them out of the freezer in the basement.  

  So that is one way, this is the way I did it because I was too lazy to add more sugar and the mix was just too thin to hold up to dipping. I even tried to freeze it over night, but no luck. So my cake pops will look like crap, they will taste great, but they look like crap.  And since I'm telling you how to do it right, do as I say and not as I did.  You will thank me.

Cheesecake pops

-1 batch of Cheesecake ball mix

-more icing sugar 

-candy melts

See how puddle like my cheese cake looks, well it was worse as soon as it hit the warm candy melts.

 So you do the basic mix, but do not add the chocolate chips until the end.  So take your mix and add icing sugar, like you will need a few more cups, and add it until your mix is stiff and able to be scooped and hold its shape better.  It will be sticky.  But once you scoop, you chill for about 30 minutes then roll it again, then chill then dip.  I know, lots of words that is basically just babbling, sorry.  So once the mix is thick as you want, add your chocolate chips and form and chill them.

The sad thing is that these are the good looking ones, it was all down hill from here.

  Then like with any other pop you melt your candy melts and dip them.  These ones melt faster, so make sure you are only taking 2 or 3 out of the freezer at a time.  That way you will not have a gloppy mess like I did. Also I covered mine in graham cracker crumbs, just to add the crust to them like a real cheese cake.  Yum!

  I also like to make these as just truffles, you know without the stick.  But they are tricky as they are gloppy, so you know, be forewarned they could get messy.

I think the sandwiches were my favorite it is like portable cheese cake. I should patent that!

I am linking up HERE!