I have fond memories of making peanut butter balls with my mom and sister every holiday season. The women in my family are all big peanut butter and chocolate fans, so it seems like a natural holiday dessert to splurge on. In fact, I know when they see this post they’ll be running to the kitchen to make this version! You can’t beat how easy peanut butter balls are to throw together during those hectic last-minute preparations.
This year, I came up with a lighter version of my childhood favourite. Rather than using 2 cups of powdered sugar and plenty of butter like the old recipe, I turned to a few lighter ingredients to do the same job.
This version contains much less sweetener than classic recipes, but I promise you won’t even notice the difference, especially once the chocolate coating is in place!
The secret to achieving a similar dough (without all the powdered sugar) is a little trick I picked up from making homemade nut butter in my food processor. I noticed when I added too much maple syrup into the machine, it would cause the nut butter to seize up (i.e., get really thick). After that point, no matter how much I processed the nut butter, it never returned back to it’s creamy, drippy state. A similar thing happens when you add water to melted chocolate.
For this recipe, I used this knowledge to my advantage by stirring the peanut butter and maple syrup vigorously, until the mixture “seized” and thickened up. Well, it worked like a charm! All I had to do after that was add a couple tablespoons of coconut flour for additional thickening powers. Coconut flour is quite dense and drying, so just a little bit did the trick. No powdered sugar necessary. Yes!
Tip: If you are new to coconut flour and don’t want to buy a whole bag, try buying a small amount from a bulk food bin. I’m pretty sure Bulk Barn carries coconut flour.
At first, when you stir in the maple syrup, it will look quite runny and you’ll think there’s no way it’s going to thicken up, but it does. Just keep on stirring! It took me probably 30 seconds of stirring and letting it sit a couple minutes helps it firm up too (the coconut flour absorbs a lot of moisture). The timing will depend on how thick (or thin) your brand of peanut butter is (I only recommend using 100% all-natural peanut butter with nothing else added). It’s quite possible you might need a touch more (or less) coconut flour than what I used. I’m not sure if other sweeteners will work the same way that maple syrup does, so I can’t vouch for the results if you swap out the maple syrup.
Once it thickened up, I stirred in some sea salt to enhance the flavours and rice crisp cereal for a crunchy texture. Oh my….simply irresistible!!
Watch them disappear almost as quickly as they were made.
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Peanut Better Balls
Yield
16-20 balls
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Chill time
25
Total time
These peanut butter balls forgo the powdered sugar and butter, and instead use a few lighter ingredients using only a fraction of the sweetener compared to traditional recipes. You'll wonder how you ever lived without this recipe around the holidays! It's quick to throw together and makes about 16-20 balls that will fill a platter for a holiday party. For mess-free finger food, place the balls in mini cupcake liners.
Ingredients
- 1 cup 100% natural peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
- 3.5-4 tablespoons pure maple syrup, to taste (see note)
- 1-3 tablespoons coconut flour, only if needed
- fine grain sea salt, to taste (I used 1/4 teaspoon)
- 6 tablespoons gluten-free rice crisp cereal
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life)
- 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
Directions
- Stir the jar of peanut butter well before using. In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter and maple syrup vigorously, for 30-60 seconds, until it thickens up. It will go from runny to thick during this time.
- Stir in the coconut flour until combined (if your PB is dry, you might be able to skip this step or only use half). We're looking for a texture that isn't too sticky, but not too dry either. Let it sit for a couple minutes to firm up as the coconut flour will continue to absorb moisture with time. Add a touch more coconut flour if necessary. Or if it's too dry, add a touch more syrup.
- Add salt to taste and stir in the rice crisp cereal.
- Shape into small balls (I made about 17).
- In a small pot, add the chocolate chips and coconut oil and heat over low heat, stirring frequently. Once half the chips have melted, remove from heat and stir until completely smooth.
- With a fork, dip the balls into the melted chocolate. Tap off excess chocolate on the side of the pot and place the ball on a plate or cutting board lined with parchment. Repeat for the rest. Save any leftover melted chocolate for later.
- Place balls in the freezer for around 6-8 minutes until mostly firm.
- Dip a fork into the leftover melted chocolate and drizzle it on top of the balls to create a "sophisticated" design like the baking diva you are.
- Freeze the balls for another 10-15 minutes, until the chocolate is completely set. If you can wait that long, you win life.
Tip:
1) I'm not sure if other liquid sweeteners will work in this recipe (and firm up the peanut butter the same way as maple syrup does), therefore I can't recommend any. A reader did tell me that agave nectar worked for her though! 2) I recommend only using 100% natural peanut butter for this recipe. You just want to see roasted peanuts on the label (and maybe salt, if it’s salted). The no-stir kinds made with oil and sugar might not work the same way. The PB I used was very drippy. If your PB seems dry, you probably won't need to use all of the coconut flour.
OMG, I have been trying to make a spin on reece’s for Christmas for my awesome Husband and have failed miserably…I just made these, and they are AMAZING. You saved the day again!!!
I made these tonight, but substituted semi-sweet (Enjoy Life) because that is what I had on hand. All I can say is YUM! These are amazing! Thank you, Angela. Another winner to give to my carnivorous family.
Just made these…they are so simple and absolutely amazing! Thank you for sharing and Merry Christmas!
I just made these, they are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! They remind me of the PB balls my husband’s aunt always gifted to us during the holidays when she was alive. Thank you SO much for the delish alternative and I adore the subtle coconut flavor.
BTW, I substituted coconut nectar for the maple syrup and it worked perfectly :)
Tried these today with carob instead of chocolate. They were wonderful!!
I made these this weekend and they were a huge hit! Just to let you know since you mentioned not knowing if another kind of PB would work, I used Jif Natural PB which has minimal ingredients, but isn’t only peanuts. They turned out just fine and were quickly devoured!!
My family and I made these today during our annual cookie baking extravaganza. We make buckeyes every year, but decided to try to make them a bit less naughty this time around by using your recipe. My sister and I were FLOORED by how delicious these were. They seriously taste better than the full-sugar version. Amazing recipe, and so easy! Awesome job!
Would it work to use regular flour in place of coconut?
Hi Larissa, I think someone commented saying oat flour worked for them. I haven’t tried anything else myself though.
i like this very much healthier version using organic ingredients, maple syrup from local producers to sweeten, coconut oil and flour, mineral rich sea salt and good dark chocolate. i use Scharfen Burger 70% and love Bob’s Red Mill. i want to try these with some local honey in place of part of some maple syrup, sweet rice flour, maybe roll them in something crunchy like chopped toasted pepitas? yummy!
… or an almond version with almond butter and flour and rolled in chopped toasted almonds or crushed up salted maple almond toffee? that is candy packed with REAL health benefits! i can get behind that. lol! now i wonder… when i can crank out a batch? possibly for New Year’s. thanks for the inspiration, Martha!
I whipped up a half batch of these this morning (I only had half a cup of organic peanut butter left!) and oh my, we are in love with them! I replaced coconut flour with ground almonds (that’s all I had) and used agave syrup, but what a success! Thank you for a lovely recipe. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
The syrup really worked its magic in thickening up the p.b., however the coconut flour left a gritty texture, which in my opinion made them taste terrible! Next time if I ever do try again I will run my flour through my blender first. Hope this might help someone else from making the same mistake as I made!
Hi Amy, Sorry to hear that about the texture! Just curious – did you make the flour yourself or use a certain brand? I’ve found the brand I use (Mums original) is very finely ground and not noticeable. Hope your next trial goes better!
These are amazing! I made them in 15 minutes flat and you weren’t kidding when you said if you can wait to eat them until they’ve set up in the freezer you win life! Another winning recipe – can’t wait for the book to come out!
haha glad I’m not the only one who can’t wait that long! Thanks for your kind words!
I have been making something similar to this only I use sun warrior warrior blend vanilla protein instead of coconut flour, and coconut nectar instead of maple syrup. I don’t usually cover them in chocolate (and i have to sub carob because i’m breastfeeding) but I mix in carob chips so they’re like cookie dough protein balls…. so good ! I use the food processor to make them.
also– I think that maple syrup + pb probably thickens up like that because it’s adding something acidic to something creamy, like how you can add ACV to soy milk to make an egg replacer, or when you add lemon juice to tahini to make dressing it gets really thick- same concept :)
YUM! I also know these as Buckeyes and they have always been my favorite. I made this recipe using just one tablespoon of AP flour and it came together great. I didn’t have the cereal, so I left it out. These are really good! Even my husband likes them and he usually hates anything I try to make healthier. I highly recommend them!
Made these yesterday, they were a hit! I omitted the flour completely and added more maple syrup and used ancient grains granola (cascadian farms brand) for the cereal, adding more than 6 tbsp for extra crunch. They were so good I’ll definitely be making more this weekend!! Thanks for this recipe!
Angela, I absolutely love your blog! It’s beautiful! And your recipes are amazing!
A little sea salt on them before they are cooled off really makes them pop. I also used almond butter and they we very delicious!
My boyfriend made these for me yesterday, and they’re absolutely fabulous! I’ve nearly eaten them all already! Instead of of coating them in chocolate, he used homemade chocolate. Thank you for a great recipe, one I can enjoy without any itchies/other allergic reactions :)!
I made these for my son’s birthday, and everyone loved them. To make them even healthier, I used peanut flour with a splash of molasses and water, instead of oily peanut butter, and they were perfect. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Yummm these are AWESOME! I made them without the rice cereal, and they turned out great. I also made them much smaller than Angela, so I had to use a bit more chocolate chips to cover all of them. Really fun recipe!