Chocolate balls, a casual variation on truffles made with tea biscuits, butter, milk, and melted chocolate, are a popular Israeli dessert and birthday treat. They’re typically made at home, often with help from children. My good friend from high school spent part of her childhood in Israel, where she learned this recipe from a friend’s mom. “The recipe is just known in Israel,” my friend said. She’s made dozens of these for me over the years, and they are absolutely divine.
Israeli Chocolate Balls
200-gram tea biscuit package (I used Bahlsen’s)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3.5 oz high-quality milk or dark chocolate bar
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Note: I made two extremely slight changes to the original recipe, using a 3.5 oz dark chocolate bar instead of a 3 oz milk one, and a stick of butter (113 g) instead of 100 grams. In addition, I rolled slightly larger balls than suggested in the original recipe, but include both options here.
1. In a large bowl, crush the tea biscuits until small crumbs form. Stir in the sugar.
2. Break chocolate bar into pieces. Place butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave until melted.
3. Pour butter and chocolate mixture over the tea biscuits and mix thoroughly. Add milk and vanilla extract.
4. Using your hands, roll mixture into teaspoon- or tablespoon-sized balls.
5. Store in a container, and refrigerate. (These are best eaten after refrigerating for several hours.)
Yield: 30-32 teaspoon-sized balls, or around 22-25 tablespoon-sized balls
Baker Without Borders 