Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

I know I’m being cliche here, but one of the best food combinations in the whole world is chocolate and peanut butter.  In fact, I have been known to take a square or two of chocolate and dip into a jar of peanut butter.  Lazy,  I’ll admit it, but oh so good.

This recipe is almost as easy as that, but there are a few special ingredients that make it that much better.  I made these to take over to a friend’s New Year’s Eve party, you know, before all the diets started, and they were gone in seconds.   They’re crunchy and sweet on the inside, and melty and smooth on the outside.  A perfect combination of salty and sweet.  I sprinkled some chopped peanuts on the top of some of them to add a little extra crunch.

You can make these balls all in one go, or separate it out over a few days.  If you choose to make it in two days, you can make the dough on the first day, separating the dough into 2 large discs, covering it in plastic wrap, and placing in the fridge until you are ready to coat in chocolate.  On the second day you can roll the discs into balls of any size (I like larger so I don’t have to roll 80) and dip into chocolate.  Whatever you do, just give yourself a little bit of time,  as the balls need to chill in the fridge before you dip them in the hot chocolate.

I was impatient on a few and ate them naked.

A few tricks with coating the balls in chocolate.

Have a toothpick handy.  Dip one end slightly into the ball of chocolate before placing on the peanut butter ball.  This helps with making sure that you don’t lose your ball in the hot chocolate.  It also makes it easier, as you can swirl the ball in the chocolate.

When the ball is mostly coated, take out and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Use the toothpick, once you have pulled it out of the ball, to cover the hole and any area that needs to be coated a little more.  If you choose to have chopped peanuts, now is the time, as the chocolate is hardening.

Place back in the fridge to harden up, 30 minutes to an hour, and presto! You have delicious peanut butter balls.  They will store for a week in the fridge, but I doubt it’ll last that long.  Enjoy! xoxo

Peanut Butter Balls

print recipe

Prep time: 45 minutes

Total time: 3 hours

Servings: 50-60 large golf ball sized balls

For the balls:

1 lb powdered sugar

2 ½ – 3 c peanut butter, crunchy or smooth (not all natural–I used Jif)

2 c Rice Krispies

For the chocolate coating:

2 12oz packages milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips

¼ of 1 block of paraffin wax, shaved*

½ c chopped unsalted peanuts, optional

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.  To make the balls, place the powdered sugar, 2 ½ cups of peanut butter, and the 2 cups Rice Krispies in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until fully incorporated.  Using your hands, roll a large golf ball size of dough in your hands, making the dough as compressed as you can.  If the dough doesn’t stick well to itself or falls apart, add a little bit of peanut butter until the ball will hold its shape.

Place the ball on the lined cookie sheet.  Repeat with remaining dough.  Once all the dough is rolled into balls, place in the fridge for 45 minutes to an hour.

Using a double boiler, place the chocolate chips and shaved paraffin wax (I like to use a zester) in the top part of the pan and use a rubber spatula to help melt the chocolate chips.  Once the chocolate is melted, take one cookie sheet out of the fridge.  Working with one ball at a time, coat in the melted chocolate and place back on the cookie sheet.  Place the sheet of coated peanut butter balls back in the fridge to harden, at least one hour.  (If you are going to sprinkle the chopped peanuts on top of the balls, do so once the ball is coated.  The chopped peanuts will stick to the warm chocolate.)  Repeat with second cookie sheet of peanut butter balls.

Store leftovers in an airtight container up to a week.

*If the idea of eating paraffin wax unnerves you, feel free to substitute melting chocolate or Wilton’s chocolate flavored candy melts.  You will need 1-2 bags of Wilton’s melting chocolate and shortening in lieu of the chips and paraffin wax.  (You will find paraffin wax in the canning aisle of the grocery store.)