peanut butter balls party!

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Don’t you just love how a recipe can recreate memories of the past . That is one of the things about cooking that brings me joy. Peanut butter balls are a Christmas tradition that I’m passing on to my daughter. Make these once & they will become a tradition at your house too.

Who doesn’t love peanut butter and chocolate? These have a smooth rich center and chocolate coating just like Reese’s peanut butter cup. They are no-bake so your little ones will love helping.

This delicious holiday treat will disappear fast! We like them best COLD from the fridge! Crank up the Christmas carols & go make these!


Peanut Butter Balls

makes 4 dozen

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar, see * in step 1
12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening

directions:

1. Using electric mixer, cream the peanut butter, butter & vanilla together. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time & mix well after each addition. * BEFORE adding the last half cup of powdered sugar, test the mixture. You want it to be stiff, not too sticky, and NOT CRUMBLY. It needs to hold together in a ball. You may need more or less powdered sugar depending on how creamy your peanut butter is.You may not need the last half cup of powdered sugar, depending on how creamy your peanut butter is.

2. Roll into balls. I use my smallest cookie dough scoop to measure, which holds about 2 teaspoons. Place balls on wax paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate or freeze for about 30 minutes to firm up.


3. Melt chocolate chips & shortening. I melt half the chocolate/shortening to start & melt the rest as needed . I use the microwave on medium power, cooking for 1 minute & stirring, repeating until melted and smooth. I use a small plastic bowl. You can use a doubler boiler instead of the microwave.


4. Take pb balls out of the fridge & dip into chocolate. I used to have THESE TOOLS, which I loved when I first started dipping chocolates. Now I've found that a fork is just as easy for me. I put a pb ball into the chocolate & scoop some chocolate over the top of it. Then lift the chocolate covered ball out with a fork, tap the fork on the side of the bowl to allow excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. You can also carefully scrape the bottom of the fork on the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. Then use a toothpick to carefully scoot the chocolate covered pb ball off the fork & onto the wax paper.

5. Allow to sit for an hour or pop them in the fridge to set up quicker.