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Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate Truffles are smooth and creamy chocolate truffles, decorated to look like pumpkins and packed with pumpkin spice flavor! These clever truffles have a secret–when you add them to hot milk, they dissolve and make the most delicious pumpkin spice hot chocolate!
This post is sponsored by International Delight. This year I’m pleased to partner with them to bring you a series of dessert recipes featuring their products.
On one hand, it feels a little early in the year to be posting pumpkin recipes.
On the other hand, my local craft stores have had Halloween supplies out for at least a solid month by now, so I’m just trying to keep up with the Michael’s and JoAnn’s of the world. Also, my family drinks hot chocolate year-round, so this one has been in heavy rotation at our house lately, and you deserve to have the same. Also also, pumpkin spice is freaking delicious and should be an anytime flavor.
In conclusion, we’re doing this pumpkin thing, so haters to the left. <——-
These clever little Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate Truffles are two desserts in one. They’re truffles, yes, filled with pumpkin spice flavor and decorated to look like adorable miniature pumpkins. (pause for squealing here) A whole platter of them, all lined up in cute little rows, would make a perfect fall party treat or edible gift.
But. BUT! Add them to a mug of hot milk, whisk whisk whisk, and you have a delicious cup of pumpkin spice-flavored hot chocolate. Dessert recipes that do double duty? Sign me up!
Making these is surprisingly easy, too! If you can microwave and whisk things, YOU can make them! They get those signature pumpkin ridges from a very fancy tool I call a “wooden skewer,” although a long toothpick would work just as well. No fancy-pants equipment here!
In fact, the only “specialty” ingredient I used was some broken bits of chocolate batons for the pumpkin stems, and that’s only because I had them left over from the Black Forest Cake I made earlier in the year. You could just as easily cut up a chocolate bar into small shards and use that for the stems instead.
I used International Delight’s Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer to give the chocolate truffles the warm, comforting, and unmistakable flavor of pumpkin pie spices. It’s noticeable but not overwhelming, and the best way I can think to describe it is COZY. One bite of these truffles and you’ll want to be wearing fuzzy socks in front of a fire, guaranteed. (Bear skin rug entirely optional.)
I boosted the spice flavor a little bit by adding additional cinnamon, because I just can’t get enough. If for some reason you can’t find Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer, you can use another creamer flavor (or even regular whipping cream) and add a touch of pumpkin pie spice to the mixture. It won’t be quite the same, but it’ll still taste great!
When you’re done stuffing yourself silly with the regular truffles, heat up a glass of milk until it’s hot but not boiling. Drop a truffle into the cup, make like Bob Marley and stir it up, little darling, and in a few moments you’re holding a rich mug of pumpkin spice hot chocolate! Of course you COULD just drink it plain, but I’d be a bad food blogger if I didn’t suggest you top it with a bit of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ready to make some candy magic? Check out the how-to video, then find the printable recipe down below!
Troubleshooting Tip:
Please make sure you are measuring the chocolate by WEIGHT. It calls for 18 oz of chocolate, as measured on a kitchen scale. I’m specifying this because I get a lot of questions about this, especially from Americans who are used to using cup measurements, and who have been taught that 8 oz is 1 cup.
It is true that 8 fluid ounces (of liquid) is 1 cup, but it is NOT true that 1 cup of every substance weighs 8 ounces on the scale. In fact, 1 cup of finely chopped chocolate is about 6 ounces. If you try to make this recipe by measuring the chopped chocolate in cups, using the “1 cup = 8 ounces” rule, you will shortchange the chocolate and end up with a very soft truffle mixture that will be hard to roll.
If you do end up with a ganache that is too soft to roll, you can warm it up and whisk in a few additional ounces of melted chocolate, then let it chill again. Adding more chocolate will firm up the ganache and hopefully save your truffles!
🍁More Pumpkin Desserts You’ll Love:
If you love pumpkin as much as I do, check out my collection of pumpkin dessert recipes! Here are just a few of my favorites:
Pumpkin Pie Mousse Cups
Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients
- 18 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 8 fl oz International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee Creamer, (1 cup)
- 2 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 12 oz orange candy coating melts
- Chocolate batons or chocolate shards for the pumpkin stems
Instructions
- Combine the semi-sweet chocolate, International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee Creamer, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and vanilla in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on full strength for 1 minute, then whisk well. If any chocolate chunks remain, return to the microwave and heat in 15-second bursts, whisking well after each interval, until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Press a layer of plastic wrap directly on top of the chocolate, and refrigerate the bowl for about 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop and roll.
- Dust your hands with a light coating of cocoa powder. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop a golf ball-sized ball of chocolate into your hands, and roll it into a smooth, even ball. (If you want to use a scale, each truffle should be about 1.75 oz.) You should get 14 large truffles from the batch.
- If the balls are very soft, return them to the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes before proceeding. Otherwise, use a wooden skewer, and press it into the sides of the truffles, giving the sides of the truffle ridges like a pumpkin. Refrigerate if necessary, until the truffles are firm.
- Melt the orange candy coating in the microwave, stirring until completely smooth. Press a long toothpick firmly into the top of one of the truffles, and holding it by the toothpick, dip it in the orange candy coating until the truffle is completely covered. Let the excess drip back into the bowl, and gently scrape the bottom of the truffle against the lip of the bowl.
- Place the dipped truffle on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or waxed paper, and gently twist the toothpick to remove it from the truffle. (If necessary, you can hold the truffle down in place with a second toothpick while you twist.) While the coating is still wet, break off a piece of a chocolate baton or a shard of chocolate, and press it into the hole left by the toothpick to be the pumpkin’s stem.
- Repeat with the remaining truffles, until all are dipped and decorated. Refrigerate the tray briefly to set the orange candy coating, for about 15 minutes.
- The truffles can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. For the best taste and texture, serve them at room temperature. To turn them into hot chocolate, heat 8 oz of milk in a mug. Add a pumpkin spice truffle to the hot milk, and whisk until the truffle melts and you have a mug of rich hot chocolate. For the ultimate indulgence, top the hot chocolate with a swirl of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Video
MEASURING TIPS
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Click here to learn more about baking measurements and conversion.Nutrition
GET MORE HOT CHOCOLATE RECIPES
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That’s retail for you. I remember my days working in Target… we would have back the school out in June and Halloween out in August and I would think to myself “why are we doing this again?” Lol but it makes sense to not wait till last minute I feel that correlates really well in the food blogging industry too. I have never had pumpkin anything before. I’ve always been hesitant about trying it and stuck with my traditional sweet potatoes for everything during the holidays but I told myself I’m going to give the pumpkin flavor a go… this looks good so I might as well start off with this and make some pumpkin pie to go along with it
Exactly! Always gotta stay ahead I guess. Go for it though! These will win you over for sure!
This recipe sounds delicious and perfect for the autumn which is around the corner.
It definitely felt like fall in my kitchen!
This is so creative! I’ve never seen anything like it. Perfect for fall.
Thank you!!
This is adorable! What a wonderful treat!
Thank you!
Gosh! That really extends the fun doesn’t it! Looks delicious too.
Thank you!
I love the look and the flavor but I’m going to substitute the International Coffee Creamer for a homemade pumpkin spice creamer and use real white chocolate chips colored with a powdered food color to dip with. Thanks for the great idea and double duty of the truffle!
Ooh! That sounds out of this world!! Let me know how it goes!
Could you freeze these?
Most definitely!
Are you KIDDING me?! Fall recipes?? *checks watch* You’re like 3 weeks late, I thought you were on top of things!
Seriously though, you never stop, do you? Genius creations, one right after the other. I love everything about these little balls of amazingness. The way they’re two desserts in one, the look, the flavors. Dammit, Liz, this is going on my list of things to do.
Haha there’s no time to stop when it comes to desserts! Glad it’s on your list! Let me know how it goes. Thank you so much for the comment.
Love this! I don’t like pumpkin but have friends that do, so perfect gift idea! Question, what’s the best way to store these and for how long?
Would love to make these!! Where do you get the chocolate batons?
Do it!! I found mine at worldmarket.com, but cutting up chocolate of your own would work just as well!
Sounds wonderful! Any ideas for Christmas flavors? Maybe snowballs, hmmmmm.
Sounds awesome! I think peppermint chocolate would be really good!
These are so cute! I can’t wait to give these out to people. Thanks for sharing!
So glad you love them!!
My first time making truffles and they never got firm enough to roll in a ball I’m not sure what I did wrong but after three hours in the fridge it was still gooy I tried a few hours in the freezer too
So sorry to hear that! Usually when this happens, it’s because the ratio of liquid to chocolate is off. I would ask if you are sure the ingredients were measured properly. Additionally, milk chocolate usually sets softer than chocolate, so if you substituted that for dark chocolate, there’s a chance it set softer, though it still should have gotten firm. I would double check if there was more liquid than there should have been! Let me know if this helps at all and if you are able to make them again! If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out. Again, so sorry it didn’t work out.
Elizabeth
in slovenia we don’t have the creamer from your recipe…what can i substitut it with ? Love the recipe thoe.
Hi! You can substitute it with an equal amount of heavy cream or whipping cream! Let me know how it goes 🙂
Hi! You can replace it with equal amounts of heavy cream or heavy cream. Let me know how it works out!
I know the recipe calls for the creamer but can you sub it out for something else instead??
Yes, you can use an equal amount of heavy cream or whipping cream!
I will be making ours nut free. You don’t even mention if the orange chocolates or any of it is nut free. So many children have nut allergies and you should have been more careful in letting mothers know that this is NOT nut free or if it is state that it IS NUT FREE. I have removed so many companies from my list of products I buy. I need to know if any of this has nuts in it. My daughter would like to make these today.
Hi Debra, This recipe, as written, does not call for any nut products. The orange coating I used is Mercken’s brand, although Wilton also makes a similar product. The coatings do not contain nuts as an ingredient, although I cannot speak to whether they are packaged in facilities that also process nuts.
Nut allergies, egg allergies, gluten intolerance, and other food illnesses are all serious medical issues that I do not have personal experience with, and I would not feel comfortable including allergy disclaimers on my recipes for this reason. I trust that my readers who do have these medical issues will use their best judgment and doctor’s advice when scanning a recipe’s ingredients and deciding whether it is appropriate for them.
Are any of your recipes nut free?
My husband made them last night. They never set up…and I have melted looking goo with orange Merckens coating on them…horrid looking. I love them so much. How do you know how much to cut back on the liquid? Thank you for any help. Oh, and I did not roll them all out so what could I add to make them not so soft now? More cocoa?
Hi Debra, Thank you for all of the nut information–I’m sure there are other readers who will appreciate it! I can imagine what a struggle it is to safely feed your family while worrying about cross-contamination etc. I would feel terrible if I gave someone incorrect information about ingredient safety and they had a bad reaction, which is why I shy away from endorsing any of my recipes as allergy-friendly. It’s definitely an area I need to learn more about.
Re the texture of the truffles, I’m sorry to hear they didn’t work out for you! If the truffles are too soft, you can warm up the truffle mixture and add more melted chocolate. Whisk it in well, and it should set up harder. Did you measure the chocolate by weight and the liquid by volume?
I just wanted to clarify that Merckens is not nut free unless it comes from one retailer in New Hampshire I believe. I will get the company name and post it to you. They get the bags and repackage them in smaller bags in a nut free facility. It has been a God send. I love your ideas and hope to make more with my granddaughter. She was so disappointed in her pumpkins but we will try agan with less creamer. Thanks for being honest about your recipes…and nut issues. I can adjust here on my end…but many moms would not think of that issue…it is a hard problem for my granddaughter who is severely allergic.
Love this idea! Can’t wait to try it. I make homemade truffles every year and never thought about this application. I have a few family members that are lactose intolerant though.. I don’t think water would be a good sub for the milk…maybe almond milk…let you know how it goes.
Update: so like I said previously…i make truffles all the time. I followed this recipe to a tee and now all I have is a gooey mess that is impossible to clean…
Think I’m gonna try my own truffle recipe and see if I can get this to work.
I’m sorry to hear this didn’t work out for you. What did you sub for the milk? What kind of chocolate did you use? This recipe uses approx a 2:1 ratio of chocolate:liquid by weight (about 3:1 by volume) which is fairly standard for truffles and shouldn’t produce a “gooey” texture, but depending on the specific ingredients it’s possible that was the culprit. Did you measure the chocolate by weight? It sounds like not enough chocolate or too much liquid.
Feel free to reach out by email if you’d like help troubleshooting further. I will also be demonstrating it on Facebook Live this Sunday!
These were PHENOMENAL! I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bother tracking down the creamer just for this recipe, but I’m glad that I did! I used Lindt chocolate bars and the truffles were perfect. I ate one plain, and am saving the rest for hot chocolate for family night. Thank you for the recipe!
I think either the milk chocolate is making my batch stay softer or maybe I should have added more dark chocolate to account for that. Either way these are going to be great! Can’t wait to try!
Yes, milk and white chocolate behave very differently than dark chocolate in recipes! The dairy elements make them set softer, and as a result the ratio of chocolate to liquid needs to be different when using milk chocolate. Hope you still enjoyed them!
Or you can buy 2 12oz bags of chips and use one and a half bags. No actual measuring necessary. For a hot chocolate I’d make them big. But for eating, especially at a party, I’d make them 1 or 1.25 oz balls. I think I’ll give this a go for a Halloween party I’m attending next weekened.
You can definitely estimate that way. I’ve gotten some comments about the texture of the ganache being too soft, so in an effort to help people troubleshoot and avoid problems, I like to err on the side of precision. 🙂 Please let me know how they turn out if you give them a try!
I’ve tried making these twice and followed the recipe to the letter but the resulting truffle mix was way too soft! They tasted great but did not turn into those cute pumpkins. Instead they looked like orange colored jagged blobs!
Hi Melissa! I’m sorry to hear the truffles didn’t work out for you. To be honest, I’m a little baffled. I’ve had a few other readers report similar things, and I haven’t been able to get to the bottom of it. I’ve tested this recipe a LOT (like, a ridiculous amount of times) and never have a truffle mixture that’s too soft. I even made them on FB live last month, to show all the steps and the texture at each stage and to try and help people troubleshoot. You might be interested in checking it out if you haven’t seen it already:
https://www.facebook.com/SugarHero/videos/1617841504954851/
My only thought is, if you’re positive that all of the ingredients were measured properly, is that differences in the brand of chocolate might account for the different texture. You didn’t use milk chocolate by any chance, did you? Did you measure by weight or by volume? One of the problems is that people rarely respond to my follow-up questions, which is fine, but it means I have a hard time figuring out where they (or my recipe) might have gone wrong. You’re also always welcome to email me and I can try and help troubleshoot in further detail that way!
Ok first of all, this is freaking DELICIOUS and I cannot get enough of this hot chocolate. But I too experienced a majorly soft truffle.
I used about three cups (I don’t have a kitchen scale and three cups seemed like the right math using your troubleshooting tip) of semisweet chocolate (Nestle brand) and one cup of the creamer. After about two hours in the freezer they did mostly hold their shape, but as soon as I picked them up to put the indents in the sides it started melting in my hands. And after I chilled the ones that were still sort of spherical they started melting as soon as I put them in the orange chocolate. It fell off the skewer too which was a little bit of a panic moment for me. I would love some advice if you have any! I have pictures I can send you if that would help.
Again, it’s DELICIOUS and I’m going to melt these dudes down again and add more chocolate cause I want it to work, but I would love any help you could offer! 🙂
Becky, thank you for the comment, and I’m sorry that the truffles turned out soft for you. I’m guessing you might have read my previous comment about this, but I really want to get to the bottom of this! Since it sounds like you did everything right, I am thinking it is an issue with using chocolate chips. I have been testing with a chopped 65% cacao bar instead of chips. Chips are typically thicker when melted, since they don’t have as much cocoa butter, and I didn’t think that substituting chips would have a big impact on the final texture, or if anything, that they would make the truffles stiffer, not softer.
I am going to test these with chocolate chips asap, because I am truly baffled why they work for some people and not for others. I’ve made them a LOT, including on FB Live, and haven’t been able to reproduce the soft issue. Stay tuned! And the good news is that you should definitely be able to add more melted chocolate to get them to firm up. 🙂
Live demonstration, if you’re curious:
https://www.facebook.com/SugarHero/videos/1617841504954851/
I’ll second Becky’s experience above . . . accept I used a scale to measure the (Nestle Semi-Sweet Real Chocolate) chips (and the creamer as well – Mom used the old “Hanson Cook O Meter” for measuring just about everything).
Too soft and sticky, rolled in cocoa to keep them off my hands, put in freezer for 3 hours.
Used Ghirardelli melting wafers / food coloring to make the orange dip . . . the first one or two worked ok – not great, but pretty soon the balls were getting soft, and toward the end, essentially melting in the dip . . . second to the last one is just a jagged blob, last one went straight into my mouth with a spoon because it was too much a mess (and there wasn’t nearly enough dip left to dip it into).
I thought it tasted way too sweet, but I’m not big on chocolate. We’ll see what the fam says tomorrow night when we have our party.
I’m so sorry you had trouble with this! Because of the feedback from you, and Becky and others I did a lot of testing. I had always made this recipe with chopped 65% chocolate. I tried it with the nestle chocolate chips and I found it was much sweeter and significantly softer. My first recommendation would be to use chopped chocolate bars, but if those are not available to you I think 24oz of chocolate chips is a better quantity to get the right texture. I also found that after several days in the fridge the ganache stiffened up quite a bit. So if you did find it too soft you can either melt it and add additional melted chocolate to it, or let it sit several days in the fridge. Let me know how it goes!
Planning on doing these with heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk, flavored with rum extract and nutmeg.
Shaping like boxes and turning into presents for eggnog hot chocolate!
Sounds cute and delicious!
Where do you buy the chocolate batons? Thank you!
I found them at cost plus world market, I haven’t looked online. My suggestion would be to just chop up a chocolate bar if you don’t have any luck. Thanks so much!
when people share their recipes, they tell you exactly what they used in order to do make it. i’ll never understand why people say, “i swapped this for this and this for this and it didn’t work out! UGH!” use the exact things that elizabeth used and they will come out perfect! mine did. also, it’s not elizabeth’s job to include food allergies and that comment was more than unnecessary. i’m always baffled when i read comments that people leave on such a lovely post.
elizabeth, thank you for sharing a great recipe!
Hey Ashleigh, Thanks so much for following along!!
I made these, but instead of pumpkins I did ornaments! I replaced the pumpkin spice with peppermint mocha, the orange candy coating with white, and used Christmas sprinkles for decoration. I gave them as gifts to family friends. Easy, fun, and taste great.
Hey Kylie, that sounds perfect. I am so happy you made them, and were able to do your own thing with it! I appreciate your feedback!
I can’t wait to try these! But do you use Baking chocolate?
Hey Kelly, I have not used baking chocolate for this recipe. I typically use pound plus from Trader Joe’s. It has 72% cacao which is less than baking chocolate. If you plan to use them just for the hot chocolate I think baking chocolate would be fine, if you plan to eat them as truffles as well I wouldn’t suggest it. I hope that helps, I would love to hear how it goes once you give it a try!
Have you ever tried these as an addition to coffee rather than just hot chocolate? Kind of like converting a plain coffee to like a pumpkin spice mocha? Do you think you would just adjust the size of the truffle to a smaller version? Or maybe keep the same size?
Can you use regular cream and a pumpkng spice syrup instead of the creamer? I can’t get hold of it in the UK
I’m having trouble getting the chocolate to set. It’s been in the fridge for two days now and I think I did something wrong. I put it in the freezer and it didn’t even freeze one bit. I need help. What should I do now?
Made these this week, the truffles never got firm enough to dip. I started with 2 hrs in fridge, nope. Four hours in fridge, nope. Finally left them in for two nights and today tried my best to shape and dip them. Nope. Epic fail.
Just too soft to do anything with them. Not sure what to do with them now. The flavor was wonderful, but could not make balls or truffles or anything else with them. What can I do with the chocolate now?
I used a bag of Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips, weighed at 18 oz/finely chopped. I even used a scale to make sure they were 1.75 oz. I can’t figure out what I did wrong.
Less than 1 star actually, as the chocolate will not set and you cannot make any balls. Total waste of time and ingredients on this one. Something is wrong with the recipe.