These delicious peanut butter balls have a hint of vanilla, honey, and cinnamon with a smooth chocolate coating. It’s a super easy recipe, and these no-bake treats are perfect for a dessert or snack!
What’s in this Peanut Butter Balls Recipe?
These no bake peanut butter balls offer the satisfaction of both creamy peanut butter and decadent chocolate with a hint of cinnamon!
- Creamy Peanut Butter: You can also use crunchy peanut butter for an additional crunch.
- Powdered Sugar: Adds sweetness to the truffles.
- Dry Powdered Milk: Adds a little bit of a crunch and additional flavor to your truffles. It can be found at most grocery stores and kept in your pantry for 1-2 years. If you don’t have powdered milk available, simply substitute it with ½ cup powdered sugar.
- Milk Chocolate Chips: Feel free to use candy melts for this step. You can get really creative with your colors and the types of garnishes you placed on top of your truffles.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the peanut butter flavor.
- Honey: Adds depth of flavor and sweetness. You can use maple syrup instead.
- Cinnamon: Adds a bit of spice and warmth.
- Shortening: Helps the chocolate to reach the right consistency for dipping.
Pro Tip: You can swap the peanut butter for crunchy peanut butter or another thick, no-stir nut or seed butter.
Variations on Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
One fun aspect of these easy peanut butter balls is that you can add additional ingredients to the top chocolate coating before it melts. As you will see in the instructions, I suggest using chopped peanuts but you can also take graham crackers and crush them into graham crackers crumbs as a crunchy topping. I also love them sprinkled with whole or chopped Reese’s Pieces, drizzled with melted chocolate or peanut butter, or topped with colorful sprinkles.
Peanut butter balls are made from peanut butter, powdered sugar, powdered milk, honey, vanilla extract, cinnamon, chocolate chips, and shortening.
Buckeye candies are not fully coated in chocolate; whereas, peanut butter balls are fully covered with chocolate. These peanut butter balls also have an added depth of flavor and texture from the addition of powdered milk, honey, and cinnamon. They’re a more elevated take on a classic!
I don’t recommend it! Natural peanut butter has a tendency to be more oily than no-stir varieties and could make these peanut butter balls unpleasant to eat. You can, however, use crunchy peanut butter if you prefer.
I like to use chocolate chips because they’re easy to find, but you can use candy melts or almond bark instead if you prefer. Be sure to use a high-quality brand, such as Ghirardelli, for the best taste.
Yes, as long as it is thick and creamy like no-stir peanut butter, you can swap in any other nut butter you like!
A double boiler is a method to melt chocolate and other similar ingredients in a way that ensures it does not burn. Use a small saucepan and put a few inches of water into the bottom. Get a metal or glass bowl that is about 1½ times bigger than the saucepan, so that you can place it into the saucepan but the bowl does not touch the bottom. You will boil the water in the bottom saucepan while putting your chocolate (or whatever you are melting) into the bowl on top.
How to Make Ahead and Store
Peanut butter balls can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Store leftover peanut butter balls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Enjoy cold or at room temperature.
How to Freeze
Freeze peanut butter balls in a single layer on a lined baking sheet until solid, about 1-2 hours. Transfer to an airtight container or Ziplock bag to store for up to 1 month. Let come to room temperature before enjoying.
Serving Suggestions
These peanut butter balls are such a tasty addition to a cookie and truffle platter. Serve them alongside brown butter peanut butter cookies, brownie cookies, butter cookies, chocolate covered Oreos, or chocolate cake pops. They’re also so cute on slices of my favorite chocolate peanut butter cake.
Peanut Butter Balls Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter 270 grams
- ½ cup powdered sugar 57 grams
- ½ cup dry powdered milk 42 grams
- 1 tablespoon honey 22 grams
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4 grams
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips 170 grams
- 1 tablespoon shortening 12 grams
- Chopped peanuts optional, for garnish
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional)
- Stand Mixer (optional)
- Cookie Portion Scoop (optional)
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Using a sturdy spoon or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the peanut butter, powdered sugar, powdered milk, honey, vanilla extract, and cinnamon together until blended thoroughly. Set aside.1 cup creamy peanut butter, ½ cup powdered sugar, ½ cup dry powdered milk, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Roll the peanut butter mixture into 2-inch balls (I used a cookie scoop for uniformity) and place them on the prepared baking sheet.
- Once all peanut balls have been made, place them in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, create a double boiler by boiling water in a saucepan and covering it with a glass or metal bowl.
- Place the milk chocolate chips and shortening into the top bowl of the double boiler and stir until melted. If the mixture is too thick, add additional shortening until it is smooth enough to dip the peanut butter truffles in.1 cup milk chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon shortening
- Take the truffles out of the freezer and dip each individual ball into the chocolate mixture. Make sure it is well coated with the chocolate candy melts and then set it back onto the sheet pan to set. This is easiest to do with a fork.
- Sprinkle on chopped peanuts before chocolate sets, optional.Chopped peanuts
- Once all balls are dipped, place the truffles back in the refrigerator to chill for about 30-40 minutes before serving.
Notes
- You can swap the peanut butter for crunchy peanut butter or another thick, no-stir nut or seed butter.
- If you don’t have powdered milk available, simply substitute it with ½ cup powdered sugar.
- You can use maple syrup in place of the honey.
- While I love the addition of cinnamon, you can leave it out if you’re not a fan.
- You can use semisweet or dark chocolate chips instead of milk, or try candy melts.
- In place of the shortening, you can use coconut oil.
- Use room temperature ingredients for the best results.
- I do not recommend using natural peanut butter, as it is too oily.
- Measure the powdered sugar using the spoon-and-level method to avoid dry peanut butter balls.
- Don’t skip chilling the balls before dipping them; otherwise, they may become sticky and fall apart.
- For easy dipping place each truffle on a fork, submerge the fork in the chocolate, and let the excess drip off before placing them on the baking sheet.
- Nutritional information does not include optional ingredients.
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