I was asked by OREO to come up with a personal twist on their classic OREO Cookie Balls Recipe.  I have enjoyed OREO cookie balls several times and was excited to create my own recipe.  I absolutely love pairing chocolate and fruit, so I decided to create OREO cookie balls with a raspberry in the middle and adding a slight hint of raspberry flavoring to the OREO mixture and the candy coating as well.  This was a simple variation on the original recipe, but the results are amazing!   I shared some with some friends and they could not stop eating them…they are seriously sooooo yummy!  

White Chocolate Raspberry Oreo Cookie Balls

36 OREO Cookies, finely crushed (14.3 oz. pkg)

8 oz. brick cream cheese, softened

1 lb almond bark or baking chocolate, melted (I used vanilla almond bark but you could use milk chocolate or semi-sweet instead)

48 raspberries

1/2 tsp raspberry flavoring/extract, divided

Crush the OREO cookies.  I used my blender, but you can place the cookies in a sealed plastic bag and smash them with a hammer also!  I found that the blender worked best when I did half the cookies at a time, rather than trying to crush all 36 at once.  Mix the crumbs with the cream cheese until well blended.  I also added 1/4 tsp of raspberry flavoring to add a slight raspberry flavor to the mixture.  You will need to shape 48 (1-inch) balls, forming them around each raspberry.  Use your fingers to shape the mixture around the raspberry and then roll them between your hands to make a nice, round shape.  Freeze the balls for about 10 minutes before dipping.  Melt the candy coating or baking chocolate in the microwave according to package directions and add 1/4 tsp of raspberry flavoring to the chocolate.  Dip each ball in the chocolate and place on waxed paper.  I had a little bit of candy coating left so I added red food coloring to the remaining amount and drizzled it onto the balls to make them look pretty!  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Enjoy!

*OREO provided me with compensation for the main ingredients, but I provided the rest of the ingredients and all opinions are 100% mine!