Turtle Cheesecake Balls

By loves2bake

Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 - 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used Ghiradhelli chocolate chips)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp chopped pecans, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup caramel sauce (or melted caramel squares)

Details

Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 120mins
Adapted from dishingthedivine.com

Preparation

Step 1

Combine the cream cheese with 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs. Taste and add more graham cracker crumbs as desired. I found 1 cup of crumbs to be too much, but some people don't care for the taste of cream cheese.

Keep in mind that the chocolate and caramel add *plenty* of sweetness, so you want the cream cheese mixture to still have some tang. Use a melon baller to scoop up 1 1/4" sized balls to a wax-paper lined baking sheet. Repeat until you've scooped up all of the cream cheese. You should have about 15 balls. Freeze for 10-15 minutes.
While the cheesecake balls are being chilled, melt the chocolate in a double boiler with the vegetable oil, stirring until smooth.

Using 1 or 2 forks, dip each cheesecake ball into the melted chocolate. Let the excess chocolate drip away between the tines. Place the chocolate covered balls back on the wax paper on the baking sheet. Repeat for all cheesecake balls.

Top each truffle with pecans. Drizzle caramel over each truffle. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Best if served within 24 hours.