Peanut Butter Balls
Peanut Butter Balls are Christmas candy perfection. A peanut butter mixture dipped in chocolate that are a favorite recipe my family loves.
Servings: 20
Ingredients
- 3 Cups of Peanut Butter Use traditional peanut butter, not a natural one
- 2 Sticks of butter, room temperature
- 5 ½ Cups Powdered Sugar. This is about 1 ½ pounds.
- 1 12 oz. Bag of Chocolate Chips, Milk or Semi-Sweet
- 2 Tablespoon of Vegetable Shortening or Coconut Oil, plus more if needed.
Instructions
- Mix softened butter and peanut butter together until smooth.
- Slowly add powdered sugar mixing until it is completely mixed in.
- Chill in the refrigerator for an hour or so to allow the mixture to firm back up.
- Once chilled, using a small cookie scoop, scoop out the mixture and place onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper or parchment paper.
- Return the peanut butter balls to the fridge to chill again.
- Once chilled, remove the peanut butter balls and roll them in the palms of your hands to shape into balls
- Melt chocolate chips and shortening over low heat in a double boiler.
- Dip each peanut butter ball into the melted chocolate and return to the cookie sheet for the chocolate to set.
- Keep the peanut butter balls refrigerated in an airtight container.
Notes
- Use Regular Creamy Peanut Butter, Not Natural – You want the inexpensive creamy (or crunchy if you like) peanut butter for peanut butter balls. This peanut butter has ingredients that keep it creamy so the peanuts don’t separate from the oil.
- Use Room Temperature Butter – Room temperature butter will mix more thoroughly with the peanut butter and powdered sugar.
- Let the Peanut Butter Mixture Chill – Peanut butter, butter, and powdered sugar becomes a sticky mess when it’s warm. Chill your mix in the fridge for a couple hours to firm everything back up. I’ve chill mine in an airtight container anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on when I have time to make and dip them.
- Use Parchment Paper or Wax Paper on the Cookie Sheets – Parchment Paper or Wax Paper keep the peanut butter balls from sticking to the cookie sheets throughout the candy making process.
- Scoop the Peanut Butter Balls and Chill Again – Use a cookie scoop to make all of the balls the same size. I scoop them onto a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet. Then, I chill them again before rolling them between the palms of my hands to shape them into a better ball shape.
- Roll the Balls Quickly – The warmer the mixture gets, the more you’ll get on your hands. Roll the scooped mix between your palms quickly to form into balls and refrigerate them once more. They will dip much easier when they are chilled because they tend to fall apart less.
- Use A Double Boiler for Melting the Chocolate – A double boiler method is a more fool proof for melting chocolate than using a microwave. Place a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water. Do not let the water touch the bowl. If the chocolate and shortening starts to thicken too much return the bowl to the simmering water and mix until it thins out again.
- Add Shortening as Needed – For a 12 oz bag of chocolate chips, melt about 2 Tablespoons of shortening into the chocolate. If you find the chocolate is thicker than you want, add more shortening a little bit at a time (think 1/8 tsp increments) until you reach the smoothness you want.
- The Right Dipping Tool – I’ve tried multiple tools for dipping the peanut butter balls. One of the easiest ways I have discovered is by using corn holders! My corn holders have two prongs on them so they hold the peanut butter ball better than a toothpick or wooden skewer does.
- Use a Dip then Cover Method – I think the peanut butter balls last longer if they are better completely covered. I do this as a two step method. Dip them as you would buckeyes by leaving a little peanut butter exposed on the top. After dipping a tray of them, use a teaspoon and cover up each one with a little bit of melted chocolate.