When I was younger, my sister, mom, and I would spend most of our summer days at the park district pool.  My sister and I would play in the pool all day while my mom would read by the side of the pool.  Our park district pool was actually really awesome.  It had slides, diving boards, drop slides, waterfalls, sprinklers, and a sand pit.  Needless to say it was hours of fun and we would play to exhaustion.  Like most pools there was a mandatory break every hour where everyone had to get out of the pool for 15 minutes.  During this time we would eat the snacks that my mom brought along.  She had frozen grapes, pretzels, and peanut butter balls.  Those peanut butter balls were awesome.  They were sweet, bite size, and provided more energy to play in the sun all day long.

I haven’t had those peanut butter balls in a really long time, but I thought about turning them into a dessert for the holidays.  All I did was tweak a few of the ingredients and then obviously I had to dip them in chocolate to make them even better than before.

These were a hit and they are a great little treat to keep on hand for when you need something a little sweet.  While the ingredients are healthier than say a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, this is still a treat.  So try not to shove five in your face at once.  Not like I’ve done that….

Chocolate Covered PB Balls

Peanut Butter Balls

• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup oat flour (grind regular oats until you have a fine powder)
• 1/4 tsp salt (less if your peanut butter has salt)

Chocolate Covering

• 1 bar of 100% Cacao baking chocolate
• 1-2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

 

1.  In a large bowl mix together peanut butter, maple syrup, salt and honey.  Slowly add in the oat flour until you have a dough.  You might not use the full 1/2 cup or you might need more.

2.  Using a tablespoon, scoop out some peanut butter dough and roll into balls.  Place onto a baking sheet lined with foil.  Once you have used all the dough, place the baking sheet into the freezer.

3.  Either using a double broiler or a microwaveable bowl, melt the baking chocolate.  Before adding the maple syrup, make sure it is room temperature.  If you add it in cold, the chocolate will seize up and you will have a clumpy mess (trust me, not fun).  Add in room temperature syrup and oil and stir to combine.

4.  Remove peanut butter balls from the freezer.  Using a fork, dunk the balls into the chocolate covering and place back on the baking sheet.  If you want to make them fancy, you can sprinkle with sea salt, crushed peanuts or other nut.  Once you are done place the peanut butter balls back into the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

Keep these in a container in either the freezer or refrigerator until you’re ready to eat.  If you’re a huge fan of the pb/chocolate combo then these are going to be your new favorite thing.  I think that I might have to keep them on hand at all times…..

What is your favorite flavor combo?

Have a great weekend everyone!