No-bake peanut butter balls recipe

The Hudsonian Student Newspaper Sunday, February, 16Saturday, February, 22 0 Comments Betsy, Chocolate, Food, No bake, peanut butter balls, Recipe, Stenard

The Hudsonian Student Newspaper | The Hudsonian RETRIEVED FROM FIFTEEN SPATULAS

By: Betsy Stenard

Contributing Writer

Chocolate and peanut butter: name a better duo. This treat is a true crowd pleaser, whether it’s for a holiday party or any other time of the year.

I think of this treat every year around Christmas especially since my grandmother was in charge of making all the Christmas treats whenever my family would get together for the holidays.

An optional, but delicious addition to the filling of this treat, is to mix in crispy rice cereal to give a satisfying crunch and crispiness. Feel free to get creative and make up some of your own additions too!

This recipe is a great gift for a friend or a crowd pleaser at a party. It can be easily doubled if needed. Run out too soon? Don’t worry, this easy no-bake recipe can be made quickly and no oven is required. The only wait time is allowing the chocolate to harden and cool in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes before devouring them — if you can wait that long!

Ingredients:

Makes about 28

2 cups of powdered sugar

1 cup of creamy peanut butter

6 tablespoons of softened butter

Optional: 1 cup of crispy rice cereal

1 bag (12 oz.) of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix peanut butter and softened butter together. Add powdered sugar and as an option, crispy rice cereal. Mix until fully combined and a thick, dough-like consistency is formed. It should be easily rolled into balls that will hold their shape. If they don’t seem to be holding their shape, add a little more powdered sugar.

2. With clean hands, roll the peanut butter dough into roughly tablespoon sized balls and place them on a parchment paper-lined tray. Set them in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Prepare chocolate while you wait (next step).

3. Melt the chocolate chips in a heat proof, glass bowl using either the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, or in a double boiler. Gently heat the chocolate and stir so it doesn’t burn.

4. Dip the chilled dough balls into the melted chocolate using a fork and tap off any excess before returning to the parchment paper. Chill the dipped peanut butter balls in the fridge until the chocolate has hardened. Then devour them all.

Recipe Notes:

Add a small amount of Crisco to thin out the chocolate chips when melting them.

These are best kept chilled in the fridge until ready to be eaten, otherwise the chocolate may melt and the chips may lose some of their shape.

Garnish the freshly dipped chocolate with sea salt, extra chocolate, sprinkles, peanut butter or anything else you’d like and enjoy!