Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Like pumpkin spice heaven with the added delight of cookie butter! It’s all your fall food dreams in each bite.
Texture: The chocolate coating is hard and crunchy, while the inside is soft and creamy.
Ease: Very easy! No baking or chocolate tempering involved!
Pros: Fall perfection.
Cons: A little messy, as with any chocolate-dipping.
Would I make this again? Oh definitely.
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Looking for the perfect unique dessert for a Halloween party or fall potluck? Look no further than Pumpkin Cookie Butter Truffles!
I adore the combination of chocolate and pumpkin. I’ll never understand why it isn’t more popular! Maybe not everyone is as obsessed with chocolate as I am. But if you’ve never tried the combination, you’re in for a treat.
Loaded with tons of pumpkin spice and cookie butter flavors, these truffles are like little bites of pumpkin spice heaven.
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These Pumpkin Cookie Butter Truffles are easy to make – and you don’t even need to turn your oven on. Get the kids involved in dipping them in chocolate and have fun with it!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Pumpkin Cookie Butter Truffles
What Are Speculoos Cookies?
If you’ve never had Speculoos cookies before, imagine the flavor of gingerbread – but better! They’re crisp, perfectly-sweet, heavily-spiced European biscuits. You can find Speculoos cookies at most grocery stores, sometimes under the brand name Biscoff.
What Type of Pumpkin Puree for Truffles?
- Be sure to use canned pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling.
- Freshly pureed pumpkin could work too, but we haven’t experimented with that in this truffle recipe to confirm how well that works.
- Check out my Fresh vs. Canned Pumpkin article for the differences between using fresh pumpkin puree, regular canned pumpkin, and organic canned pumpkin.
The Spices
This recipe is pretty spice-forward for a well-rounded pumpkin spice flavor. Note that fresh spices carry much more flavor than old spices. Check to ensure your spices are not expired. If they are expired, toss them and purchase new ones – otherwise, your truffles may be bland.
Do I Have to Temper the Chocolate?
No! Typically, to get a smooth and crisp chocolate shell, we have to temper the chocolate, which is a time-consuming process. To avoid that, I’ve added coconut oil to the melted chocolate. You won’t taste it, but the fact that it’s solid at room temperature helps to solidify the chocolate shell. If you don’t have coconut oil, you can use shortening instead. Either way, the truffles need to be stored in the fridge to avoid melting the chocolate coating (and because the truffles contain cream cheese!).
However, if you really want to try tempering chocolate, check out my How to Temper Chocolate post here!
What Type of Chocolate for Pumpkin Truffles?
Any kind you like! I used semisweet chocolate and white chocolate for a fun mix of colors, but dark or milk chocolate will work just fine, too.
The Sprinkles
I used a Halloween-themed mix of nonpareils, as well as coarse sanding sugar in fall colors. Feel free to use any sprinkles you like to match any event or theme – or opt for additional Speculoos cookie crumbs instead.
Using a Spring-Loaded Cookie Scoop for Making Truffles
A cookie scoop is one of my most frequently used kitchen gadgets – and not just for cookies! Using a stainless steel spring-loaded cookie scoop saves you so much time in forming perfectly round, evenly-sized, bakery-quality truffles. I recommend using a small 1-tablespoon-sized scoop here.
How to Store Pumpkin Cookie Butter Truffles
Stored coated truffles inside an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Pumpkin Cookie Butter Truffles
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Ingredients
For the truffles:
- 3 ounces (85 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup (75 grams) pumpkin puree
- 1 3/4 cup (175 grams) Speculoos cookie crumbs (from about 23 cookies)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
For coating:
- 16 ounces (454 grams) chocolate (any kind), finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or shortening
- Crushed Speculoos cookies or sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine all filling ingredients. Pulse until well blended.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a small 1-tablespoon spring-loaded cookie scoop, scoop the mixture into balls.
- Place the cookie balls in a single layer on the parchment-lined baking sheet and place flat in the freezer until well chilled, at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.
- Once the cookie balls are chilled, combine the chopped chocolate and oil in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between bursts, until just melted and smooth. Do not overheat.
- Drop each chilled cookie ball into mixture, coating evenly. Remove with a fork, gently tapping off excess chocolate. Place back on cookie sheet and immediately decorate as desired. Repeat with the remaining cookie balls. The truffles can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Recipe Notes
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can I use unsalted butter instead of coconut oil or shortening
I am Dutch and Speculoos cookies were a staple at home when growing up. Now in my mid 50s, I am embracing this part of my heritage. I can’t wait to make these and share with my brother and sister, and my mum who is 95!
Okay, I learned my lesson. Do NOT use cookie butter instead of the actual cookies. I could not get these truffles to harden up. If I take them out of the freezer for more than a minute they become a gooey, oozing mess. Way too soft. Also I just don’t care for the uncooked pumpkin. I know pumpkin is a big thing this time of year but I am really turned off by it. Pumpkin lattes and milkshakes, etc… Why would anyone want to drink pumpkin? I just don’t get it. I am done with pumpkin for the year – well, except for pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving – but maybe not eve then.
Sorry to hear you’re not a fan of pumpkin! However, pumpkin puree is cooked! Maybe apples are more your thing during the fall?
We live in Turkey and Speculoos are not an option. Another cookie type suggestion? I love all things pumpkin and these just sound too good to pass up. Thank you.
I’m not sure what’s available in Turkey, but cookie that is crunchy and spiced should work! Gingersnaps would be a good alternative.
Where do I find pumpkin purée?
It’s usually canned under the brand Libby’s in the baking aisle of the grocery store!
These look great. I will be making them for our Halloween potluck at work. They’ll make great little monster eyeballs.
Love that! If you snap a picture, share it with me on my Facebook or Instagram. I’d love to see!
Thanks for this recipe. It is very simple and easy. I’m from Ukraine and I like cooking, too. My children like sweets and I want to cook them.
Hi Tessa,
I love your Stories with the Recipes. My Family is not too fond of Cloves, can the 1/8 tsp be left out?
Thanks for all the Great Recipes
Thanks, Melinda! Of course, feel free to leave out the cloves! 🙂
Why not just use actual cookie butter? Wouldn’t it be easier and smoother than grinding up the cookies? I haven’t tried it yet but I’m thinking about doing it this week. Has anyone else tried with cookie butter?
Thanks!
I actually prefer the texture grinding the cookies yourself offers. Every time I post a cookie butter recipe I get tons of people asking me what it is or telling me that they can’t find it, so I try to make it easy using ingredients that are widely available (such as Biscoff or Speculoos cookies which I find in most stores). If you want to use prepared cookie butter, about 1 cup in exchange for the Speculoos cookies should do the trick 🙂
I actually have two jars of prepared cookie butter on hand… can I use that to make these truffles? If so, how would the other ingredients need to be adjusted?
Thanks!
Lucky you, Beth! Those jars wouldn’t last long in my house 😉 If you want to use prepared cookie butter, about 1 cup in exchange for the Sepculoos cookies should work.
Wow Tessa..these look amazing! I’m definitely making them for Halloween.
Yay! Let me know what you think 🙂
I should have known a genius truffle idea would come from you Tessa 🙂 I saw this combo in my bloglovin’ feed and was instantly hooked. Looks so darn good!!
Thanks so much, Heather!