Peanut Butter Balls from my Grandmother’s recipe.
If you are a member of my family, you probably (just fainted from happiness seeing this photo) received these little beauties in a care package from our grandmother at some point in your life.
No one called her Grandma, she was always “Mom” to the grandkids and eventually Grandmother Mom to the great grand kids. And she was famous for these peanut butter balls. (A photo of her is forthcoming once I figure out why the scanner won’t let me save to the computer.)
You knew you had scored big time when you opened up your college mail to find a little box (the kind that your bank checks come in) with the top decorated in wrapping paper. Inside, were balls of pure peanut butter and chocolate heaven.
One of my favorite possessions is this recipe written out in her own handwriting. It even came in a little plastic sleeve complete with a chocolate smudge.
Even though I’ve had this recipe for years (she gave it to me a few years before she passed away), I’ve never made them UNTIL NOW!
Judging by the reaction from my peanut butter obsessed husband, this will become more than an annual event.
Here’s what you need:
Rice Krispies, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chips, Crisco, Powdered Sugar, and Butter.
Click here for a Peanut Butter Balls Shopping List
I’ve made only one minor change to the recipe — the original recipe called for paraffin (wax) to be added to harden the chocolate. Crisco works just as well, makes the chocolate nice and shiny, and isn’t…well…waxy.
This is a no bake recipe. Fun and easy to make. Good for the kiddos too…although the adult will obviously want to do the melting chocolate part.
Place 2 cups of Rice Krispies in the blender and crunch them up.
Just pulse them a few times, no need to pulverize them into dust. You could also do this with a rolling pin and ziplock baggie.
Place the crushed rice krispies in a large bowl. Add 1 cup of creamy (smooth, not crunchy) peanut butter and 1 1/4 cups of powdered sugar (also called confectioner’s sugar).
Melt 1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) of butter and add it to the mixture. Mom used margarine but I’m a butter girl.
Mix the rice crispies, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and butter together until well combined.
I started mixing with a spatula but eventually had better luck just getting right in there and mixing with my hands.
Pull off a small pinch of dough (about 2 teaspoons) and roll it into a ball. You should have 25 balls about the size of a big gumball or superball when you are done.
Place the peanut butter balls on a foil lined baking sheet and refrigerate them for 2 hours.
The hard part of this recipe is not eating the balls out of the fridge before you finish the recipe.
After 2 hours of chilling we can coat the balls in chocolate.
Make a double boiler by placing an inch or two of water in a small sauce pan. Put an unbreakable, heat resistant bowl on top of the water filled pan being sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.
Place the pan over medium high heat so that the water comes to a simmer. This will provide gentle heat for the chocolate to melt.
Melt 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 Tablespoon of Crisco in the top bowl of the double boiler.
Note: in the photo above I already have some melted chocolate in my pan that was for another recipe. I didn’t see the point in washing out the bowl and wasting any chocolate.
Stir the chocolate chips over medium high heat (turn the heat down once you hear the water simmering and bubbling) until they are melted and smooth.
Once the chocolate has melted, take the peanut butter balls out of the refrigerator and dunk them one by one into the chocolate to coat on all sides.
The one-handed peanut butter and chocolate covered photographer apologizes for this blurry image.
It helps to use a fork to lift the peanut butter balls in and out of the chocolate. Put the chocolate dipped balls on a baking sheet covered with waxed paper.
Chill in the refrigerator to help the chocolate harden.
Eat.
Think of your lovely grandmother.
Be Happy.
Here’s the recipe!
6 Responses
GOOD GOLLY I LOVE YOUR GRAMMA 🙂 I have tried diff recipes along these lines before, I like this idea the best, with the crunchy aspect. I always loved reeses pb cups, but they have, well, kinda unhealthy ingredients, whereas this is like, all natural, sort of 🙂 Yes. Soon I will try a vegan version of this…
I could make these vegan! They look so good.
Absolutely! And they can be gluten free. Hooray!
Claudia, I have made many cookies and candies in my years of baking and cooking but I have never gotten such rave reviews for anything as much as I did these Peanut Butter Balls! I did modify the recipe just a little, adding 1/4 cup of honey and an additional 1/2 cup Rice Krispies to compensate for the liquid in the honey. I also found that dusting your hands with powdered sugar as your rolled out the balls made it much easier and prevented the candy from sticking to my hands. My highest praise to you and your grandmother! Everyone should grow up with a grandmother who is a good cook. You’re lucky to have her recipe.
Thank you so much for the kind words. ALL of the credit goes to my lovely grandmother. She was famous for these peanut butter balls for good reason. Glad you liked them!