Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls – 5 Ingredients!
With only 5 ingredients and no baking required – these peanut butter balls might be the easiest, healthy dessert you’ve ever made!
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Why you’re going to love this recipe:
- They’re made with only 5 ingredients! Most of which you will likely already have in your pantry. These are on of my toddler favorites treats and I feel great about giving them to her because I know exactly what’s in them!
- They require no fancy kitchen tools. No mixers. No baking. No cutting. Although you may have to help them with warming up the chocolate, your kids can definitely help make this recipe!
- They’re a guilt free way to give your sweet tooth what it’s craving. These are the perfect after lunch, bed time or mid-afternoon sweet treat to indulge in when you’re craving chocolate but want to stay on track with your healthy habits.
How to make this snack:
Mix peanut butter, old fashioned rolled oats and honey together in a bowl until mostly smooth.
Scoop 32 balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet and pop them in the fridge to chill.
Use your hands to roll the chilled scoops into balls and throw them in the freezer for a quick few minutes while you melt the chocolate.
Dip peanut butter balls until they’re entirely coated in chocolate.
Sprinkle with sea salt if desired and give them another hour in the fridge to chill and set up.
Milk Chocolate vs. Dark Chocolate
- I am OBSESSED with dark chocolate so I’ve usually got a bag of dark chocolate chips hanging around in the cupboard.
- In fact, I have a confession: Sometimes when I’m alone, I grab a spoon and get a scoop of peanut butter which I then dip it into the bag of dark chocolate chips. I sprinkle it with a little bit of sea salt and eat it straight from the spoon and it’s the best thing ever.
- Peanut butter and dark chocolate are my weakness. But milk chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips would be great in this recipe!
Oats vs. Nuts
- The oats are not completely necessary in these peanut butter balls. I like the little added crunch they give and I also like knowing that I’m adding a healthy element to an indulgent snack.
- But you can totally skip them. Your peanut butter balls will definitely be creamier without them and you may need to add another 1-2 tablespoons of honey to get the peanut butter to thicken up.
- Nuts would be great in these peanut butter balls! Peanuts (obviously) would be a delicious addition, but walnuts or even pecans would give it a nice crunch too. Use what you’ve got around the house!
Crunchy vs. Smooth Peanut Butter
- We usually have smooth in our house, but I’ve tried this recipe with crunchy peanut butter and it turned out great. I did omit the old fashioned oats when I used the crunchy peanut butter as I thought the combination of both might be a little too much crunch for me.
- Now be warned, the natural peanut butters do not work as well in this recipe! Jif (or a generic brand) is a sure bet. But I’ve found the natural peanut butters to be a bit too soupy in this recipe and the balls don’t seem to set up quite as well.
- However, in a pinch you could use a natural peanut butter. I would just recommend adding another 1-2 tablespoons of honey as the honey is what really helps the peanut butter “seize up” and thicken.
Always add fat when melting chocolate!
- Adding a little fat will make the chocolate chips extra smooth and creamy when they melt. It will also give the chocolate a little softer texture once it’s set up and just the slightest bit of shine too.
- If you don’t have coconut oil on hand, you could use butter in it’s place. Or you could omit it all together. And chances are good your chocolate will still melt well, it may be just a bit harder once it’s chilled in the fridge.
- Even if you make cookies just a few times a year, investing in a cookie scoop is great idea!
- If you make any of my delish meatballs a couple times a year (Soy Garlic Beef Meatballs, Chili Lime Meatballs, Bourbon BBQ Meatballs) you should definitely buy a cookie scoop!
- And if you make this recipe once, you’ll become addicted and have to make it all the time. So then you are certainly going to want to purchase a cookie scoop!
- It’s really a small investment for something that will save you a ton of time. Work smarter, not harder, ya know?
- I have two sizes of cookie scoop – the .5 tablespoon cookie scoop and the 2 tablespoon cookie scoop – and I use each one for something different. The smaller one I use for recipes like this where I want smaller balls and the larger one I use for meatballs or cookies. You don’t necessarily need to have two, but it’s nice to have options!
Tips for making this recipe:
- Natural peanut butter doesn’t work as well for this recipe. It’s a bit too lose and won’t hold together quite as well.
- Invest in a cookie scoop. It will make your life (and this recipe) infinitely easier.
- Add coconut oil to the chocolate before you melt it. This will help the chocolate melt evenly and make the texture a bit softer when the balls are refrigerated.
Other sweet treats you’ll love:
Questions?
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
With only 5 ingredients and no baking required, these peanut butter balls might be the easiest, healthy dessert you’ve ever made!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes (mostly chill time in the fridge)
- Yield: 32 balls 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 1/3 cups dark chocolate chips (or milk chocolate, if you prefer)
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- coarse sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Stir together peanut butter, oats and honey in a medium bowl until well combined
- Use a small cookie scoop (or regular spoon) to make about 32 equal size balls. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and put them in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Use your hands to roll the scoops of peanut butter into round balls and place them back on the parchment lined baking sheet. Pop them in the freezer while you melt the chocolate.
- Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave in 15-20 second increments until smooth and creamy.
- Remove peanut butter balls from the freezer and roll them in the bowl of chocolate (one or two at a time) until they are well coated. Use a fork to remove the balls from the chocolate and place them back on the parchment lined baking sheet.
- Sprinkle with sea salt if desired and refrigerate for 1 hour before eating.
Notes
Natural peanut butter doesn’t work as well for this recipe. It’s a bit too lose and won’t hold together quite as well.
Invest in a cookie scoop. It will make your life (and this recipe) infinitely easier.
Add coconut oil to the chocolate before you melt it. This will help the chocolate melt evenly and make the texture a bit softer when the balls are refrigerated.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ball
- Calories: 92
- Sugar: 4.8 g
- Sodium: 28.5 mg
- Fat: 6.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 7.2 g
- Fiber: 1.1 g
- Protein: 2.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Such a healthy and delicious snack!
Just made these. P-nut butter still mushy after the 20 minutes in frig. Almost like it needs more oatmeal. Kind of hard to roll in the chocolate. Followed directions exactly, don’t know what went wrong. Tasted good but will add more oatmeal next time.
I would add more honey! The honey is what acts as the binder. More oatmeal would work too I think but it may make it a bit more dry. What kind of honey did you use? I literally make these at least once or twice a month and have never had an issue with it. I like to make them in bars instead of balls too and they turn out delicious!