When I was a little kid I absolutely loved peanut butter balls. Since the recipe is no bake I could make them myself with no adult help needed for the oven. Shaping the balls was also a lot of fun for me and I would make all sorts of variations like hearts and cubes. As much fun as making them was, eating peanut butter balls was even better. In my world peanut butter + chocolate + sugar = delicious any day of the week. 
As I've grown older the amount of sugar in the original recipe became a little too much for me so I have reduced it to accomodate my tastes. Don't worry, though, they are still plenty sweet!
The recipe is fast and easy to make. Using the mini chocolate chips is nice because it is super quick unlike some other recipes that call for dipping peanut butter balls in melted chocolate.
The recipe also freezes well so I like to keep some unformed dough in ziplock bag in my freezer. After a little bit of thawing I form as many as I need and then pop the rest back in the freezer. As a word of caution, these can be terribly addictive so be careful!
Ingredients List
- 1 cup butter (softened)
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar (about 1 lb.)
- 2 cups miniature chocolate chips
Directions
- Cream softened butter and peanut butter in a bowl until smooth
- Mix in powdered sugar one cup at a time and stir until thoroughly mixed
- Stir in chocolate chips
- Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to chill
- Roll teaspoon sized amounts of the dough into balls and place onto cookie sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper
- Place in refridgerator to chill
- After balls have firmed up stack in a container and store in refrigerator until ready to eat
Tips and Tricks
- If you would like the peanut butter balls sweeter, feel free to add more powdered sugar. I wouldn't recommend using less, however, since the dough might not be stiff enough to form into balls anymore.
- When you are forming the balls if the dough starts getting sticky you can either dust your hands with powdered sugar or pop it back in the refrigerator for a bit
- The balls are fine at room temperature but they can get a little sticky if it is hot out so I like to store them in the refrigerator until they are ready to be eaten
- This recipe makes a fairly large quantity so I like to put about half in the freezer. You can either put the unformed dough in the freezer or put already formed balls in the freezer.
