I get excited for Christmas when September arrives, so I’ve been craving a Christmassy dessert lately. Peanut Butter Balls are my holiday go to, but my recipe makes a zillion and calls for an entire pound of butter (no wonder I start every new year with muffin top). After a little experimenting I’ve found the perfect peanut butter/butter/powdered sugar ratio to make only THREE peanut butter balls! It takes 5 minutes, and they’re perfect for when you’re craving a super rich dessert, but don’t want a bunch of leftovers hanging around to tempt you later.
A plastic fork with the center two prongs snapped off is the perfect chocolate dipping tool. It allows the excess chocolate drip right off.
The chocolate isn’t nearly as shiny and smooth as it is when I melt it in my double boiler with a little paraffin wax, but it really doesn’t matter what they look like…
because I’m going to promptly eat every last one of them.
Just for the record, dear Ohioans, these are not buckeyes. To be a buckeye a peanut butter ball must have part of the peanut butter center left un-chocolate coated, and I think that is a wasted opportunity! ;)
Here’s the recipe!
4 teaspoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon softened butter
1/4 cup (slightly heaping) powdered sugar
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Stir together the peanut butter and butter until they are well combined and smooth. Stir in the powdered sugar. Roll the dough into three balls. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, and coat the peanut butter balls in chocolate. Let the chocolate set and harden a bit (stick them in the fridge if you’re impatient), and enjoy!
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Oh yum! My grandma (an Ohioan) makes buckeyes every Christmas. For a little added goodness she adds very finely crush graham crackers to the peanut butter.
Lindsey, my mother-in-law makes peanut butter balls (sans the buckeye; she’s from Illinois). I believe she uses crushed grahams too. They’re always my most favorite :)
*GASP*
(these look positively scrummy!)
ohhh my goodness! I love peanut butter balls, but hate making a full load of them, primarily because my boyfriend and I are sweetaholics and they will be devoured in a day.
I am so happy you have provided the recipe for a few at a time.
Haha – before I finished reading your post I was going to comment, “those aren’t peanut butter balls, those are buckeyes!” but I am from Ohio after all. In btw. love your idea with the two prong fork dipping, it looks so much simpler than my usual toothpick version. :)
Haha! Oh, you Ohioans. ;)
How simple, practical and delectable – I just havvvvve to try these.
Only problem, my boyfriend is sure to steal them all (he is a massive PB fan)!
Kate
I am thanking both you and the gods of portion control! This is so perfect! And Gluten-free with the right chocolate!
Thanks!
OMG i have to try this! like, right now?
love your pictures and i have to disagree: those sweet things sure do look really pretty! great job.
xo
scarlett
oh dear me! you just don’t know how happy this post has made me today… i always have the quandry: “make too many? give them away… nah, don’t have time to mess with it…”
THIS IS PERFECT!!! thanks!!!
This has elevated you to my favorite person of the day. Thank you for this dangerous recipe :)
you are my hero.
Hmm. I don’t see the link which would allow downloading a sample.
Hah! I’ll see if there’s a wordpress plugin for that. ;)
I made these with almond butter (all I had on hand), so delicious!!! A great sweet treat after a long day
Those look so yummy!…and Gluten Free! I’ll be making some very soon. :) Thanks for sharing
I don’t know whether to thank you or curse you. I share your feeling about peanut butter balls and Christmas and the saving grace has been that I only eat them once (at most) a year. Until now …
This is the first thing my mom and I make for Christmas goodies. We’ve added a couple thing variations over the years. We now crumble up Golden Grahams (cereal) into the mixture. So good!! we also do white chocolate ones now.
K, now I’m craving them already.
-Michelle {LiveLoudly}
I’m so excited that you took the time to perfect this. I’m not even THAT huge of a fan of peanut butter (I know, I know – something’s wrong with me), but I kind of want to try this now just because it looks so practical for “those” dessert nights. Thanks for sharing!
Oh my! These taste exactly like the Peanut Butter Daisies from Purdy’s! :)
I’ve never eat something like that, but I’ll try, it seems yummy !
Yummy! I just made these but being lazy and a chocolate lover that hates to waste, I tried something a tad different… I roughly chopped the chocolate chips and mixed them in with the sugar…very yummy, I can imagine with them chocolate coated they are probably better but these are delicious!!
Buckeyes are the best! And… yes, I”ll make them with a little bit of peanut butter sticking out.
Hey…. how did you know that I lived my first 22 years in Ohio?!? :)
Thanks for the individual recipe!
I love this! Must go out and buy chocolate chips and pb soon as this would be a perfect cure for when i have a chocolate craving!
Mine did not turn into a consistency that could be rolled…idont know what I did wrong.
If your butter was melted instead of softened that could be the problem, or if you are using natural peanut butter that is runny that would make them too soft to roll. You could try refrigerating the dough for a bit to solidify it before rolling.
Amanda – these look immense! Thanks for the recipe! xx
This looks soooo delicious! Peanut butter is my favorite, and your plastic fork trick is so genius! I’m going to have to try this (: