Crunchy Peanut Butter & Chocolate.. Enough Said….

I decided this morning that I absolutely need to invest in a cookie scoop. It isn’t that I don’t like to get my hands dirty when I am cooking, but if I can save a few minutes it would be great. As of right now I use either my rounded measuring teaspoon or tablespoon for anything that requires being in ball form. I think that next time I place an order on Amazon I am going to add an OXO Medium Sized Cookie Scoop to my order, which should help to speed my recipes right along. The quicker I am able to produce the finished product, the faster they will be in your inbox!

I know that we still have a couple of weeks until Thanksgiving, but if you are going to be doing cookie trays for Christmas now is the time to start making your list. A plate with Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies, Dark Chocolate Truffles, Soft Snickerdoodles, Yogurt Sugar Cookies, and Crunchy Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls would make any recipient start singing Christmas Carols! When I was growing up my mom made Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls every Christmas, but like everything else I had to change it just a little bit. While each decadent ball runs 140 calories, the traditional candy weighs in well over 200! Do you need to use some discretion and self-control with these treats? Absolutely, but no one is saying you can’t enjoy one, or two. 😉 As I was saying though, when my mom made them she used wax in the chocolate, margarine in the peanut butter and 4 times the amount of powdered sugar that I used. Aside from the fact that I’m just not fond of eating wax, I felt that much sugar was unnecessary and I used light butter just like I do in all of my cooking.

Making the peanut butter mixture isn’t difficult; just make sure that it is chilled. It is the chocolate that most people have trouble with. I always use chocolate chips to dip anything from strawberries to cookie to candy, but a few weeks ago I wanted to try some chocolate specific for dipping. (Dolci Frutta)I have to give this chocolate thumbs down ZERO. I can’t even what I tried to dip, but after a few pieces the chocolate seized up. So today I thought that I would try using it again, big mistake. There must have been a drop of water on the spoon I used, or in the dish I heated it in because it seized up before it was ever done melting. I think next time if I don’t want to use chocolate chips I will use Candiquik, I’ve heard good reviews on that product, but for today I ended up using chocolate chips with the tiniest bit of coconut oil. Perfection! It was a tiny bit thick still, and you could add a little more coconut oil if you felt that you wanted to thin it out more, but not too much or the chocolate won’t want to set up. Any way you choose to dip them, make a batch, sit back relax, and enjoy!

Crunchy Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

By Angie Gouchenour

10 balls

Ingredients

½ cup crunchy peanut butter

¼ cup powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons light butter – room temperature

½ teaspoon vanilla flavoring or extract

3/8 cup mini chocolate chips

¼ teaspoon coconut oil

White chocolate (Optional for drizzling on top. Not in the calorie count.)

Directions

In a small bowl combine peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla

Chill peanut butter mixture for about 30 minutes

Using a cookie scoop, or rounded measuring tablespoon (spray with non-stick cooking spray) scoop out 10 peanut butter balls (if using a measuring spoon roll in your hands) onto a tray and put back in the fridge

In a small bowl melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave stirring every 30 seconds (It takes about 60 seconds.) Remove from the microwave and continue to stir until all the chocolate chips are melted

One by one place each peanut butter ball in the bowl of chocolate the completely coat with chocolate (You can’t use a toothpick with these because they are softer due to less sugar)

Place each ball onto non-stick foil, parchment paper, or wax paper and return to the fridge so they will set (Drizzle with white chocolate after they are set if you desire)

140 calories per Crunchy Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ball