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I can remember the first time making chocolate peanut butter balls with my Nana. I was in the third grade and a Brownie (in Girl Scouts) and we had to make a treat to take to a meeting. My grandma taught me how to make peanut butter balls. To you Yankees they are probably known to you as Buckeyes but to me they will always be chocolate peanut butter balls. There is no baking required to make these but you do have to melt the chocolate to coat the peanut butter balls in. You can do that with the microwave or double boiler method on the stove top. I use almond bark or melted chocolate chips as my chocolate coating for these and both microwaves really easily.
I taught my boys how to make peanut butter balls for Valentine's Day a couple years ago. They both were asked to bring treats to their Valentine's class parties (no restrictions on nut allergy treats). My oldest begged that I make the peanut butter balls and of course little brother had to have what older brother was having. I ended up making 144 peanut butter balls that day. 72 for each class. It may sound like a lot but 72 peanut butter balls is exactly how many I can roll out from a single batch of my recipe so I only had to make two batches to have enough for both boys.
Peanut butter balls only require four (4) ingredients. You'll need peanut butter (or soy butter works just as well), confectioners (powdered) sugar, butter and almond bark (or candy melts or semi sweet chocolate chips).
chocolate peanut butter balls
ingredients:
1 (16 oz) jar of smooth peanut butter (soy butter works just the same for nut allergy families)
1 (16 oz or 1 lb.) bag or box of confectioners powdered sugar
½ cup (1 stick) of butter, melted
1 package of almond bark (or candy melts or 2 bags of semi sweet chocolate chips)
*optional* sprinkles
directions:
In a large mixing bowl, mix peanut butter, melted butter and powdered sugar together. The best way to mix for a smooth "dough" for the peanut butter balls is to mix by hand. I put on a pair of disposable gloves for this.
Line 2 cookie sheets with wax paper, foil or parchment paper. Once the "dough" is formed you can pinch of small amounts to roll in to about one inch sized balls and place on the cookie sheets.
Once you have all the peanut butter balls rolled out and on the covered cookie sheets place the pans in the fridge or freezer for 5-10 minutes to have them firm for dipping.
Remove the pans of balls from the fridge/freezer. Melt your almond bark (or candy melts or chocolate chips) following the instructions on the packaging. If you use chocolate chips you'll need to add a bit of shortening to help the chocolate harden.
Insert a cake pop stick or toothpick into each ball to dip in the coating. I place six balls at a time in the bowl of melted almond bark and use two forks to do the coating. I slide one fork underneath the balls, one at a time, and gently shake the fork side to side which allows the almond bark to smoothly cover the balls and allows the access to drip between the slots of the fork. I use a second fork to slide the peanut butter ball off on to the wax paper on the cookie sheets. Which ever method you find works best for you.
If you want to add sprinkles you should do so as soon as you place the balls back on the cookie sheet from being dipped so that the sprinkles can stick to the coating. You can also drizzle more of the coating on to the balls for a simple design.
Allow the peanut butter balls to set either on the counter or in the fridge to finish firming up. Keep the balls in a sealed container or baggie in the refrigerator.
- 1 (16 oz) jar of smooth peanut butter (soy butter works just the same for nut allergy families)
- 1 (16 oz or 1 lb.) bag or box of confectioners powdered sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) of butter, melted
- 1 package of almond bark (or candy melts or 2 bags of semi sweet chocolate chips)
- *optional* sprinkles
- In a large mixing bowl, mix peanut butter, melted butter and powdered sugar together. The best way to mix for a smooth “dough” for the peanut butter balls is to mix by hand. I put on a pair of disposable gloves for this.
- Line 2 cookie sheets with wax paper, foil or parchment paper. Once the “dough” is formed you can pinch of small amounts to roll in to about one inch sized balls and place on the cookie sheets.
- Once you have all the peanut butter balls rolled out and on the covered cookie sheets place the pans in the fridge or freezer for 5-10 minutes to have them firm for dipping.
- Remove the pans of balls from the fridge/freezer. Melt your almond bark (or candy melts or chocolate chips) following the instructions on the packaging. If you use chocolate chips you'll need to add a bit of shortening to help the chocolate harden.
- Insert a cake pop stick or toothpick into each ball to dip in the coating. I place six balls at a time in the bowl of melted almond bark and use two forks to do the coating. I slide one fork underneath the balls, one at a time, and gently shake the fork side to side which allows the almond bark to smoothly cover the balls and allows the access to drip between the slots of the fork. I use a second fork to slide the peanut butter ball off on to the wax paper on the cookie sheets. Which ever method you find works best for you.
- If you want to add sprinkles you should do so as soon as you place the balls back on the cookie sheet from being dipped so that the sprinkles can stick to the coating. You can also drizzle more of the coating on to the balls for a simple design.
- Allow the peanut butter balls to set either on the counter or in the fridge to finish firming up. Keep the balls in a sealed container or baggie in the refrigerator.
Hannah Flack says
I’m going to finally try this recipe next week! So excited