Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 stick ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 10 ounce bag Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers
Optional Peanut Butter Drizzle
- ½ cup Ghirardelli vanilla melting wafers
- 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
Instructions
- Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, beat the peanut butter and softened butter together until smooth and well blended.
- Add in the vanilla extract and gradually add in the powdered sugar a little at a time, beat together until well combined. The mixture will be soft so place the bowl into the refrigerator to chill for 20 minutes to firm it up.
- Once chilled, use a 1 ½” cookie scoop to scoop up even sized balls. Roll them individually in the palms of your hands and place them onto the prepared baking tray. Repeat with the rest of the peanut butter mixture and roll into balls. Then place the tray into the refrigerator to chill for an additional 20 minutes. The peanut butter balls soften quickly when rolling it in your hands so it’s important to chill it again before dipping in the melted chocolate.
- Prepare a double boiler over low heat to melt the dark chocolate melting wafers. Stir occasionally until fully melted and smooth. Do not overheat or melt on high heat as this will cause the melts to seize and thicken up. You can alternatively melt the melting wafers in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it on a low or defrost setting, stirring in 30 second intervals, until melted and smooth.
- Use a fork to dip each of the chilled peanut butter balls one at a time into the melted wafers. Lift the ball out using the fork and tap it against the side to shake off any excess coating.
- Place the coated ball back onto the prepared baking tray and finish coating the rest of the balls. Place the tray back into the refrigerator for the chocolate coating to finish setting, about 5 minutes.
Using a clean double boiler, melt the vanilla melting wafers and peanut butter together over low heat. Stir occasionally until fully melted and smooth. - Remove the tray of peanut butter balls from the refrigerator. Drizzle the melted peanut butter mixture over the coated balls using a fork or place the melted mixture into a piping bag, snip a small piece off the tip, and then drizzle over the coated balls that way. Keep refrigerated until ready to eat. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
These peanut butter balls are sticky to roll so make sure to chill it long enough for it to firm up. It will be easier to handle but you should still work quickly.
Chill the balls again after rolling, as it will soften again from being in your hands. Chilling will allow it to firm back up so that it can keep its shape when dipping into the melted wafers.
If you want firmer peanut butter balls, you can mix in an extra ½-¾ cup of powdered sugar. Keep in mind that it will make it much sweeter. You can alternatively mix in ½-¾ cup of heat treated flour. This will change the flavor and consistency a little bit and make it closer to a cookie dough.
You can also mix in a little bit of chopped nuts, mini chocolate chips, toffee bits, Reese’s pieces, graham cracker crumbs, or even rice krispies cereal for additional fun flavors and textures. Easily make this your own!
Instead of Ghirardelli melting wafers, you can use almond bark, candy melts, or a premium chocolate suited for melting.
For the drizzle, you do not need to mix the peanut butter with the vanilla melting wafers. You can simply melt only peanut butter if desired or even drizzle the tops with leftover dark chocolate melting wafers. I find that mixing the peanut butter with the melting wafers is better because it will allow it to harden, which makes storing leftovers much easier.
Top it with chopped nuts, sprinkles, or even finishing salt if desired. Make sure to top it immediately after dipping the balls in the melts and placing it onto the baking sheet, before the chocolate sets.
STORING
Store leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze them in a freezer safe airtight container for up to 3 months. Make sure the coating has set completely before putting them in a container together and freezing, otherwise they will get stuck together. You can also place a sheet of parchment paper between the layers. Simply thaw in the refrigerator before eating.