- A Christmas Recipe
By J'Quellan Clare from Lunacy Crystals
Since I was just 7 years old, I’ve been whipping up these delightful Peanut Butter Balls to kick off every Christmas season. It’s a tradition I’ve held close to my heart, and now that I have kids of my own, it’s become even more magical. The joy of seeing their faces light up as we create these sweet treats together is priceless. Over the years, this recipe has been my closely guarded secret, that I hope will be passed down through generations like a cherished holiday heirloom. It’s the taste of Christmas and the warmth of tradition, all rolled into one delicious, chocolate-coated ball of joy.
Peanut Butter Balls
Ingredients:
- 1 cup smooth Peanut butter
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 125g butter
- 1½ cup Coco Pops
- 2 scorched Peanut bars, crushed
- 450g milk chocolate
- Optional for decoration:
- White chocolate
- Red and green food colouring
Instructions:
1. In a mixing bowl, melt the butter and smooth peanut butter together. You can do this by heating them in the microwave or on the stovetop until they are fully melted. Once melted, add the icing sugar and mix until the ingredients are well combined and form a smooth mixture.
2. Stir in the crushed peanut bars and the Coco Pops cereal. Ensure they are evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Leave to cool in the fridge until the mixture hardens up a little, usually 10 minutes is enough.
3. With clean hands, take portions of the mixture and roll them into small balls, typically about a tablespoon. Place these balls on a baking sheet or tray lined with parchment paper.
4. Place the tray of peanut butter balls in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes. This will help the balls firm up.
5. While the peanut butter balls are chilling, melt the milk chocolate. You can do this by placing the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heating it in short 20-30 second bursts, stirring in between until it's completely melted.
6. Once the peanut butter balls have chilled, use a fork or a toothpick to dip each ball into the melted chocolate, ensuring they are coated evenly. Let any excess chocolate drip off.
7. Place the chocolate-coated peanut butter balls back onto the parchment paper-lined tray.
8. If you'd like to decorate them as Christmas puddings, you can melt white chocolate in 3 bowls and add red and green food colouring. Use the uncoloured chocolate to create a white drizzle over each peanut ball, then coloured chocolate to create three small balls of red and leaves with green on the top of each ball to look like a Christmas pudding.
10. Allow the chocolate coating to harden. This can be done by refrigerating the tray of peanut butter balls for about 15-20 minutes.
11. Once the chocolate has set, your peanut butter balls are ready to be enjoyed. They make for a delicious treat on their own, or you can serve them as a festive holiday dessert.
Yumm! Definitely making these, I love peanut butter.