Terry Odell's Apricot Brandy Balls

I just love when my Mystery and Chocolate worlds collide. This holiday season I've invited several mystery writers to send a guest post with their Chocolate Holiday Recipes. Be sure and go back to check out some other great chocolate treats. Today I welcome Terry Odell. 

Terry Odell writes mystery and romantic suspense (although she prefers to call the latter "Mysteries With Relationships.") Her romantic suspense series include the covert ops team of Blackthorne, Inc., and the Pine Hills Police series, set in a small Oregon town. Her newest book, Deadly Secrets, is her first non-romance mystery. Somehow, cooking sneaks into all her books. Her current project is another Pine Hills Police romantic suspense featuring a heroine who is struggling to open her own bakery, featuring...of course...chocolate. You can find more about her at her website: http://www.terryodell.com or her blog, Terry's Place: http://www.terryodell.blogspot.com

Terry Odell's Apricot Brandy Balls

6 squares semi-sweet chocolate
½ c. brandy
3 T. light corn syrup
2 ½ c crushed Wheat Chex cereal
1 c. finely chopped dried apricots
½ c powdered sugar

Cocoa powder and/or powdered sugar

Melt chocolate; stir in brandy and corn syrup. Combine cereal, apricots, and ½ c sugar in large bowl. Add chocolate mixture; stir until well blended. Let stand about 30 minutes. Form into ½ inch balls. Roll in cocoa powder or powdered sugar (or a mixture of both, depending on your taste.) Place in candy cups in a covered container. Let mellow several days.

A few notes. I use the microwave to melt the chocolate. Took about 2 minutes. It might not look melted, but stir it, and it'll come together.

I used some of the cereal and a little of the powdered sugar and chopped the apricots in my food processor. They're sticky little critters, and the cereal & sugar provided a little extra friction so it wasn't just a gloppy mass. I also used my hands to make sure the cereal, sugar & apricots were well distributed before adding the chocolate.

Forming the mixture into balls can be messy. It's more of a 'squeeze' than a 'roll'.