Do you enjoy making candy around the holidays?
Although I’m not a huge sweets person, I get more excited than I should when December rolls around because I know everyone is going to pull out their peanut butter ball recipes.
I even pulled mine out this year. If you haven’t made peanut butter balls, you’re missing out. It’s a straightforward type of candy to make.
The main ingredient it requires is patience. They do take time, but the few steps required are easy to do.
If you’re interested in having delicious and creamy peanut butter balls, here’s how you go about making them:
You’ll need:
- ½ cup of peanut butter, creamy
- 3 tablespoons of softened or melted butter or margarine
- 1½ cups of powdered sugar
- 8 ounces of baker’s chocolate or chocolate chips (to be melted)
- 1 cup of coconut
- Wax paper
1. Create the Base
I have to be honest with you, I love peanut butter balls, but they’re extremely rich. Therefore, when you eat them don’t be surprised if you can only handle a few at a time.
Which is why they’re great for making in smaller batches. Realistically, you probably couldn’t handle a larger quantity without having sugar issues.
With this little warning out of the way, start making the peanut butter balls by placing the peanut butter, melted margarine or butter, powdered sugar, and coconut into a mixing bowl.
Use a wooden spoon to mix all the ingredients. Make sure the mixture is smooth. You’ll still see the coconut mixed in, but you shouldn’t have any clumps.
2. Chill Out and Melt
Once the mixture is smooth and well blended, it’s time to place it in the fridge. I recommend chilling the mix for approximately one hour.
You don’t want it to be rock hard because you won’t be able to spoon it. However, it should be firm enough you can spoon and handle the mixture without it falling apart and becoming little blobs of peanut butter.
Keep an eye on it. I grew impatient while making them this year (imagine this, right?!) and chilled them for 30 minutes in the fridge and put them in the freezer for about 10 minutes until it firmed up enough for me to carry on with the process.
It’s up to you, but make sure the mixture firms up or you’ll have a mess.
While you’re patiently (or impatiently) waiting on your peanut butter mixture to chill and firm, start melting the chocolate.
There are multiple ways to melt chocolate, but I prefer to use the homemade double boiler method. I put water in a small pot and place the chocolate in a bowl which will hover over the boiling water.
Stir the chocolate while it’s sitting in the bowl until melted. Once the chocolate has melted, you’re ready to start dipping.
Be sure you use baking chocolate. Certain kinds of chocolate won’t melt appropriately for dipping. Also, be sure not to melt the chocolate too soon because it may firm up before your peanut butter mixture does.
3. Roll and Dip
After the peanut butter mixture firms up, dip a small spoon into the mixture. Take the quantity which comes out on the spoon and roll it into little balls.
Dip the balls one at a time into the melted chocolate. Use a fork to toss them around in the chocolate until they’re fully coated.
I won’t lie, I usually feel like I’m in the episode of I Love Lucy where she and Ethel work in the candy factory while completing this step. Especially if someone is helping me and moving too quickly. Don’t start stuffing peanut butter balls in your apron to keep up, and you’ll do fine.
Place each ball on a baking sheet which has wax paper on it. Don’t dip more than one ball at a time in the chocolate because they’ll stick together.
Also, watch the size of the peanut butter balls because if you make them too large and dip them into the chocolate, they’ll flatten as they sit on the cookie sheet.
When you’ve gone through all the mixture, be sure to wash the bowl with chocolate in it quickly because when chocolate firms up, it can be difficult to remove from a glass bowl.
4. Chill a Little More
When the balls have all been dipped in chocolate, they should be placed back into the fridge for approximately one hour to give them time to firm up.
You’ll know the balls are done when they can easily be picked up from the cookie sheet in a solid piece. If your chocolate balls have excess chocolate on the outside, you can either break those edges off or enjoy the extra chocolate.
I store my peanut butter balls in the fridge to make sure they don’t melt.
5. Enjoy or Share
Once the peanut butter balls are hardened, you can pull them out and enjoy them, or you can place them in a festive tin to share with those around you.
Because peanut butter balls are considered a homemade candy, it’s a good idea to make sure they’re kept in the fridge until time to be enjoyed.
This will ensure they don’t become soft or melt. Again, don’t be surprised if you can only enjoy a few peanut butter balls at a time unless you have an extreme sweet tooth.
6. A Few Added Tricks
You don’t have to include coconut in your peanut butter balls. Many people don’t. However, I like to do things a little different.
If you’d prefer to add your own ingredients for a non-traditional peanut butter ball consider some of the following options:
- Graham crackers, crushed
- Vanilla wafers, crushed
- Chopped nuts
- Candied fruit
- Chopped chocolate pieces
- Marshmallows
- Sprinkles
If you prefer a crunchier peanut butter ball, you could also choose to go with crunchy peanut butter instead of the creamy. It would add the crunch without additional ingredients.
You can also add more to the outer coating to make them more festive. Before chilling the peanut butter balls after they’ve been dipped, add festive colored sprinkles or even powdered sugar to get your candy into the holiday spirit.
There are many different ways to enjoy peanut butter balls. As you can tell, they’re delicious and inexpensive to make.
Whether you make candy every year or you haven’t before, this could be a great recipe for you. It’s easy to follow, and anyone who loves the mixture of peanut butter and chocolate will appreciate this gift.
Hopefully you’ll find great success when making peanut butter balls and use it as a way to spread a little cheer during this time of year.
