My mother made these for us when we were kids. Happy sigh. I believe they're still a favorite treat of my littlest brother, but then maybe I just have the poor man frozen forever in childhood.
In addition to being hopelessly nostalgic, these are a quick dessert staple around here. In fact, if you have a look at my food journal often enough, you'll notice them popping up quite frequently. They're the perfect treat when your kids come in at 7:00, needing to get ready for bed, but telling me they're starving and begging for dessert. I also like that they give a little calorie/protein punch in the evening. This is not the type of thing middle aged women need, but kids who eat at 5:00 and then play for a couple hours are sometimes getting hungry just before bed.
So why the heck haven't I posted the recipe before? Recipe? Who said anything about a recipe? I throw some peanut butter in a bowl, add some chocolate chips, then some powdered sugar. Oh, and I rarely actually roll them into balls (though I'm pretty sure my apparently-more-loving-than-I mother did). I just plop them down, a la raw cookie blob.
For you, Savannah and I rolled them up nice and neat. Oh, and I measured out the ingredients too.
Want to get fancy?
-Add some cream cheese to the peanut butter. This will give them a more grown up flavor. (Have a look here for an idea of how much.)
-Dip them, entirely or halfway, in melting chocolate.
-Include white chocolate chips.
-Add nuts, raw or lightly toasted.
-Add coconut. Yeah, I love it in everything. You can also add dried cranberries or raisins to good effect.
-Add a dusting of confectioner's sugar or cinnamon on top.
Peanut Butter Balls
Makes about 20 small balls
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cost: $.75
(PB: .30, sugar: .25, chocolate chips: .20)
1/3 C peanut butter
2/3-1 C powdered sugar (I try to keep these healthier--not healthy mind you, but healthier--by adding less sugar. Of course this results in a much looser ball, one you might even be inclined to refer to as a blob. My kids don't care. However, if you want them to look neat, pretty, and to roll easily, you'll need more sugar.)
3-6 Tbsp chocolate chips (depending on how very generous you are; I'm stingy)
Put peanut butter in a bowl. Add chocolate chips and mix. Add sugar. Start with the smaller amount and continue adding more as needed to get it to a consistency you consider firm enough. Roll into balls if you're a proactive person. Whether you're proactive or not, make sure the toddler doesn't shove them all into her mouth at once and choke.
PRINTABLE RECIPE
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