I am so excited to share this recipe with everyone. One of our fantastic readers shared this with me and I love it!! I made these last night and they are amazing.

I made a few changes and alterations to the original recipe to adapt to what I had in the house.

Peanut Butter Balls – Original Recipe

Ingredients 

2 cups (500 grams) creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 – 2 1/2 cups (230 – 290 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar

Chocolate Coating

9 ounces (255 grams) semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons (25 grams) shortening

Directions

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the peanut butter, unsalted butter, and salt in a microwaveable bowl, and heat in the microwave for about one minute or until just soft (check and stir the ingredients every 20 seconds). Stir in the vanilla extract and confectioners sugar and mix until it has the consistency of a dough (add more sugar if necessary).

Roll the dough into 1 inch (2.5 cm) round balls. Place on the cookie sheet and refrigerate for about one hour, or until firm.

Melt the chocolate and shortening in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Dip the balls, one at a time, in the melted chocolate, making sure the entire ball is coated with chocolate. Then, with two spoons or a dippingfork, remove the peanut butter ball from the melted chocolate, allowing any excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. Place the chocolate covered balls back on the baking sheet. When all the balls have been dipped in the chocolate, place in the refrigerator until the chocolate has set. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. To serve: place in small fluted candy cups.

Note: If you want to make Buckeyes: place a toothpick into each peanut butter ball and dip, one ball at a time, into the melted chocolate, leaving the top quarter of each ball undipped.

Makes about 40 pieces, depending on size. Preparation time30 minutes.

My Alterations to the recipe

I ended up changing this recipe a little bit. I had a ton of chocolate left over from Halloween and I have a husband who loves Nutella in everything.

The first set I made I used Hersheys Milk Chocolate Halloween Bars. I used the double boil method and melted the chocolate in a bowl. I added a touch of milk to make the chocolate more pliable to dip the peanut butter balls in.

The 2nd set I made with Nutella and Hersheys Dark Chocolate bars. I used the same double boil method. The Dark Chocolate Nutella mixture worked really well. The peanut butter balls have a really nice thick coating of chococlate on them.

I will definately be making these again. I think they will be great holiday gifts and surprises for friends and family.