How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Who doesn't love chocolate and peanut butter? These two have been good together at least as long as the candy industry has been going strong.

These chocolate peanut butter balls are easy to make. They are a great party dish and make wonderful holiday gifts. Whenever I give them as presents, they are a big hit.

Hope You Weren't Expecting a Low-Cholesterol Snack

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 cup softened butter
• 16 ounces creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 12-ounce packages semisweet or milk chocolate chips

Some old recipes call for paraffin to help thin the chocolate and help it set. Newer recipes often use shortening to be more palatable. I don't use either and I've never had a problem. But I do keep them in the fridge and remove them immediately before I serve them. They don't tend to last too long on the counter.

Melted chocolate chips, however, will coat the peanut butter balls thickly. Be sure to use food-grade wax if you are going to experiment with this. You can also use special melting chocolate such as the Wilton brand or that found in your local grocery baking section.

Beat together peanut butter, powdered sugar, and butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth.

Cover and chill the mixture for 1/2 hour to make it easier to roll into balls.

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls and place on sheet. They don't have to be sculpted perfectly. Just make them roundish. Chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. I've also put them in the freezer with good results.

Start with one bag of chocolate chips as you might not use both bags. Melt them in the microwave in an appropriate dish. I usually use a glass measuring cup.

I've used a double boiler and the microwave on separate occasions to melt the chocolate, and both methods worked nicely for me.

When melted, use a skewer to dip the balls in the chocolate. Cover them as much as you can then use a spoon to cover the top with chocolate.

You might want to use two baking sheets and keep some of the candies in the fridge while you are dipping the rest in chocolate. This helps keep the peanut butter mixture from warming too much and becoming difficult to work with.

Voila, you now have deliciously rich chocolate peanut butter balls. These candies need to be kept in the fridge. I have even frozen them for about 6 weeks, and they kept very well.

You can use a double boiler or melting pots specifically for chocolate to make the job easier.