Peanut Butter Balls Recipe
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Peanut Butter Balls are a favorite no-bake treat! Made with smooth peanut butter and covered in chocolate they are so easy to make!
Few things go together as well as peanut butter and chocolate. It has to be one of my all-time favorite flavor combinations and one that I talk about a good bit for recipes.
Easy Peanut Butter Balls Recipe
Growing up, my Grandmother would make little peanut butter balls that looked just like little buckeyes. She’d mix all of the ingredients together and roll the peanut butter mixture around to form these little bite-sized treats. Then, she’d carefully dip them into her chocolate, leaving just a bit of the peanut butter peeping through at the top.
Now, her buckeyes were wonderful treats that I surely love still, but when Sam and I were making them when he was younger we decided not to fool around with all that special dipping for our peanut butter balls. And by request, we decided to make them a little bit bigger.
Okay, a good bit bigger.
I don’t think she’d mind and I know she’d love the changes.
How to Make the Best Peanut Butter Balls
Ingredients for Peanut Butter Balls
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full listing of ingredients, instructions, notes, and estimated nutritional information.
For these peanut butter balls, you’ll need:
- Peanut butter – creamy peanut butter is perfect in this recipe.
- Confectioner’s sugar – this is also called powdered sugar since it is of a powdery consistency. Granulated sugar will not work here.
- Butter – Use salted or unsalted butter based on what you have. If you use salted butter, reduce the amount of salt called for in the recipe to 1/8 teaspoon.
- Vanilla extract – the vanilla extract enhances the sweetness in these peanut butter balls.
- Salt – take note of the type of butter used in the recipe and adjust the salt accordingly.
- Chocolate chips – You can use your favorite chocolate chips in this recipe: dark, milk, or semisweet. The chocolate chips are melted with vegetable shortening or coconut oil to coat the peanut butter balls.
- Oil – Use vegetable shortening or coconut oil. Coconut oil can lend a coconut flavor to items, while vegetable shortening is generally flavor-neutral.
How to Make Peanut Butter Balls
Make the Peanut Butter Mixture
Mix. Mix the peanut butter, confectioners sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and salt with an electric mixer until well combined.
Scoop. Scoop the peanut butter mixture into individual balls with a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop and place on the parchment lined baking sheet.
Chill. Place in the freezer for about 15 minutes to harden.
Make the Chocolate Coating
Melt. Melt the chocolate chips and your choice of shortening or coconut oil together in microwave for 1 1/2 minutes to 2 minutes at 50 percent power.
Dip. Dip each hardened ball into the melted chocolate. Place each chocolate-dipped ball back onto the parchment-lined baking sheet to dry.
After the chocolate has dried, serve immediately or store accordingly.
How to Make-Ahead, Store and Freeze Peanut Butter Balls
These delicious peanut butter balls are always a favorite treat to have on hand and make such a thoughtful food gift to take to a friend!
To make ahead. Prepare as directed. Store in a cool place on the counter for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
To store. Place in an airtight container in between layers of waxed or parchment paper.
To freeze. Place the balls in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet and into the freezer until they have frozen, about 30 minutes to overnight. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe container and freeze up to 7 months.
To serve, simply remove from the freezer and allow to reach room temperature.
More Delicious Treats
Here’s my family recipe for these delicious peanut butter balls.
Peanut Butter Balls Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (540 g) peanut butter
- 2 cups (227 g) confectioner’s sugar
- 4 tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.65 g) kosher salt
- 1 (12-ounce) package (340 g) chocolate chips, dark, milk, or semisweet
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) shortening
Instructions
- Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Mix together peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, butter, vanilla extract and salt with an electric mixer until well combined. Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop individual balls and place onto the parchment paper. Place in freezer for 15 minutes to harden.
- Melt chocolate chips and shortening or coconut oil together in microwave for 1 1/2 – 2 minutes at 50 % power.
- Dip each hardened peanut butter ball into the melted chocolate using a spoon and then place back onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet to dry.
- Store in an airtight container.
Notes
Prepare peanut butter balls as directed. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 7 months. Vegan:
For a vegan option for these peanut butter balls, use dairy-free chocolate chips and coconut oil in place of the butter called for in the recipe.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe time includes time for chilling to firm before dipping in the chocolate as well as the time for the chocolate to dry.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
From the Add a Pinch recipe archives, originally posted 2011.
Do you store in the fridge after dipping in the chocolate?
Pat, after the balls have been dipped in the chocolate and have dried on the parchment lined pan, I place them in an airtight container with parchment or waxed paper between layers and store them in the refrigerator. I hope you enjoy!
l have seen espresso powder required in a couple of your recipes. Is this a necessary ingredient?
love your recipes
Beverly, you can omit the espresso powder if you want.
Been making them for over 50 years. I use gulf (paraffin) wax melted with chocolate chips and the shell stays hard. Melt it slowly and make sure no water gets in chocolate.
Thanks, Trish. I remember my grandmother and mother making these for years, too.
Love them!
Thanks, Linda!
I made these exactly as your recipe calls. They never got hard. Is it possible that you omitted an ingredient?
Eileen, if the peanut butter mixture didn’t harden, it could be a difference in the oil content of the peanut butter. Some contain more oil than others. I’ve never had an issue with them not hardening.
Do you use natural peanut butter or peanut butter with added sugar such as Jif or Kraft?
I make these with Jif but I think you could use the natural peanut butter, too, if you wish.
Can these be made using WOWBUTTER instead of peanut butter, for those allergic to nuts.
I haven’t tried making these with WOWBUTTER, Terry, so I can’t tell you from experience how they will turn out.
I make these with skippy peanut butter dip then In milk chocolate then in Crushed Oreos…or when I use gram cracker recipe I add the Oreo cookie to mix then dip them in chocolate and in crushed Oreos again…to die for!
I have never liked or maded peanut butter balls but some of my family wanted them so I use your recipe and they are delicious but mine never got hard and I had them in the freezer for about an hour. What could I have done wrong I’m going to try them again when these are gone which will be very soon.
Awesome recipe! Thank you for sharing! I will be making them tonight for our Holiday weekend!
Thanks so much Natalie! xo