Bidding farewell to the red KitchenAid

Once upon a time a pretty little shiny red appliance came to live on my counter top.  We'll call her Red.

Red was a Christmas gift my MIL bought for herself when she sold her home and also received a small inheritance when her Dad passed away.  She was living in a town home at the time.  Eventually due to some tough times she decided to move into my BIL's home.  BIL's wife already had a fancy Bosch mixer, and therefor Red was not welcome in the new home.  That is how Red came to live with me.

Oh the times we had together.  Trying new recipes, making old favorites with so much less hassle than in my pre-Red days.  It was a match made in foodie heaven.

But alas, as we all know, all good things must come to an end.  And so it was with Red and me.  At the end of last year my MIL qualified for some really nice, new senior housing that is near her work and moved out of  BIL's house.  And heartbreakingly, she called for Red to return to her.

We had one last hoorah, Red and I.  Making a new recipe that I discovered over the Holidays.  And it seriously might be the best thing I've made in my life.  Ever.  And so I'm going to share it with you.

I found the recipe here via Pinterest.  And I made a slight change.  Because I'm cool like that.  I'll post the recipe at the end, and tell you the change I made along the way.

We mixed up the ingredients for some rockin' egg-free cookie dough.  It seriously tastes amazing.  Like I could totally just sit down and eat this stuff with a spoon. (And may have.  A little.  I'm not admitting anything.)

And it always helps to have a beautiful young assistant for this step.

You cover that stuff before you can eat it all gone, and stick it in the fridge to chill for an hour.

Next, you roll it into little 1 inch balls and place them on waxed paper on your cookie sheet.  You stick those in the freezer for 20 minutes.

I totally used foil instead of waxed paper because I was out of the WP.

The next step is the fun/messy part.  Melting some almond bark and dunking those tasty little suckers.  The recipe calls for dark chocolate, but since the mini chocolate chips were already semi-sweet, I used milk chocolate, and also some white chocolate.  Dip them, and then let them set for a few.

I promise you, you will NOT be able to stop eating these.  They are soooo addicting.  My faves are the milk chocolate, about half my family prefers the white, but we all agree that both are muy delicioso.  Also, for the record, my mom made some with the dark chocolate coating, and they totally weren't as good as the milk or white, in my opinion.

With that, we unplugged and cleaned Red for the very last time.  Here she sits waiting for MIL to come take her away.

I miss her - but I have my eye on a couple of new cuties:

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Which do you like better?

Here's the recipe for the amazing cookie dough truffles.  Go make them right now!  They will change your life.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

YIELD: 3-4 dozen

PREP TIME: 1 hour

TOTAL TIME: 2 1/2 hours

ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk or soy milk
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

14 oz dark chocolate candy coating

directions:

Beat butter and sugars and in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add soymilk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.

When dough is firm enough to handle (it may help to lightly flour your hands), form dough into 1" balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place sheets in freezer and let chill for 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate candy coating in a double boiler or in microwave according to package directions. Using forks or a dipping tool, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Tap fork on side of pan to remove any excess coating, and return to waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until set. Store, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 1 week (though good luck making them last that long).