Recipe : Truffle Mice

This is not a garden recipe, but is a great rainy day no-bake recipe, and kids (maybe 5 yrs and up) can even participate. I got it from my friend, Jan, and she got it from the Pied Piper Preschool Cookbook (submitted by Linda Giles).

Ingredients:
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate baking square (don't substitute chocolate chips, they don't melt well)
1/3 Cup sour cream
1 Cup chocolate wafer crumbs (Oreo crumbs or finely crushed Christie Chocolate wafers)
1/3 Cup icing sugar, sprinkles or chocolate wafer crumbs (I use the wafer crumbs)
silver ball decorations
almond flakes
thin black licorice ropes (red ones work fine, too)

Melt chocolate over hot (not boiling) water and remove from heat. Blend in sour cream and mix well. Stir in 1 cup of wafer crumbs and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Roll mixture into 1" balls that are pointed at one end. Roll balls in icing sugar, sprinkles, or if freezing, wafer crumbs.

Insert silver balls for eyes and half an almond flake for each ear. Use small slices of licorice for tails.

Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. These can be stored in the fridge for about 1 week. Makes about 2 dozen.

The hardest part of this recipe may be tracking down the licorice ropes. I found mine in the candy section of London Drugs. There were no black ones, only strawberry and grape (which I chose for its darker colour). My daughter thought this was great, since she doesn't like black licorice.

Preparing and assembling the mice is surprisingly easy, and the result is great. If you have young helpers, you may even get some creative variations, such as three-eyed mice and ones with wierd expressions - it's all part of the fun.