Peanut butter balls are a treat that my family would make every Christmas. I haven’t made them for a few years, so I decided to have a shot at it. I saw this recipe online and I thought I’d give it a try, even though it wasn’t my family’s recipe. Basically you just mix everything together, make balls, and dip them into melted chocolate. I used a dark chocolate to try to counter balance the sweetness of the sugar. Also, I had some peanut butter chips in the cupboard leftover from something else, so I added one to each ball before the chocolate dried. We used to make bigger balls (ha!) but I like to have them small and bite sized.
Note to self: Put lotion on your hands.
The verdict? Too sweet! My family’s recipe uses granular sugar and crushed graham crackers and less butter. I think I like the flavor and texture of those ingredients better. Also, sometimes I would use crunchy (or part crunchy) peanut butter to give them a little bit more snap. Next time… For now, here’s the recipe that I used, if you’re into sweet balls!
Peanut Butter Balls
From: Sweet Anna’s
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (Note: I did not use oil)
In a large bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, butter & vanilla until smooth. Dump in the powdered sugar and stir until too stiff to stir with a fork… then comes the fun part.
Dig in with your (clean!) hands and stir & knead until a smooth stiff dough forms. Roll into small (teaspoon-full size) balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Once you are done rolling all the dough, place the sheet in the fridge to chill and set for a few hours, until very firm.
In a small, deep bowl… microwave the chocolate chips and oil together in 30 second intervals – stirring well between each time – until smooth.
Using a fork, dip each ball into the chocolate, tap off the excess and set it back on the parchment; repeat. Again, once the pan is finished, place it back in the fridge to set completely for a few hours!
If you have excess chocolate, reheat it in the microwave for a few seconds and then scrape it into a ziploc bag. Cut off a tiny bit of the corner of the bag and drizzle the chocolate over the partially cooled chocolate balls.
*Alternately – and much more time-efficiently, especially great if you have littles running around!:
Instead of dipping the balls, place all of the melted chocolate in a ziploc bag and drizzle generously over the peanut butter balls. A little less chocolate to peanut butter ratio, but still great and much quicker & cleaner… and in my opinion cuter!!
on TV. After a couple hours of sampling all the cookies and candies, we each voted on the one we liked best. 
) with her 
