My waistline might not love rich and decadent Christmas treats, but my taste buds disagree! These no-bake buckeye balls are one of my holiday staples and take only 20 minutes to make. It’s a great recipe to have when your oven is already busy baking other dishes for the festivities.
Fun fact: buckeye balls last up to 4 weeks in the fridge, so you can make them well ahead of the holidays. I have, so take it from my experience: if you do make them, double the batch!
Your family will want to enjoy some, and having an extra batch will ensure you can stash the other one for the holidays. And hide it well towards the back of the fridge, my friends! If you leave it out in the open, it’ll never last. 😀
🥜 Ingredients
✅Creamy Peanut Butter – This is the star of the recipe right here. You will want to steer towards a Jif brand or the like and not use the natural brands as you will have a harder time forming the balls.
✅Butter, Softened at Room Temperature – I point out the room temperature specifically because it does take an hour or two to get it to room temperature so you need to plan just a tiny bit for this recipe.
✅Powdered Sugar – This is the fine sugar that goes everywhere when you touch it in the kitchen but isn’t grainy when you eat it.
✅Rice Krispies Cereal – This is what is going to give you a little bit of crunch. Don’t leave it out, as the texture is a really nice addition.
✅Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips – This is the outside coating of your peanut butter balls.
✅Solid Shortening – This is melted and mixed with the chocolate chips. It makes the mixture a bit more fluid, so you can dip the peanut butter balls in it.
✅Holiday Sprinkles – These are optional but will add that festive look.
🍽️ Instructions
These are so easy to make that even your kids will love helping.
👉Step 1: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
👉Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, mix the peanut butter and softened butter together. Add powdered sugar and stir well to blend completely.
👉Step 3: Add cereal and mix until well incorporated. Cover and chill for 15 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and roll into two inch balls. Transfer to lined baking sheet.
👉Step 4: In a double boiler, melt the shortening. Add chocolate chips and stir until smooth and melted.
👉Step 5: Transfer the melted chocolate into a smaller bowl for easier handling. Then, dip the peanut butter balls into the chocolate, using a spoon to help coat them evenly. Place the coated PB balls on the lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with your choice of holiday sprinkles before the chocolate coating hardens to jazz them up!
Store in an airtight container in the fridge, for up to four weeks.
📌 Expert Tips
🔸Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate so it doesn’t burn. This is a low and slow process where you have a little bit of water in the bottom of a pan and place a bowl that is LARGER than the pan ON TOP of the pan. Add the chocolate and shortening. The gentle heat from the hot water will slowly melt your chocolate so it doesn’t burn. Don’t have bowl touch the water.
🔸You can replace the chocolate and shortening with CandiQuick from the grocery store. I like to add just a couple of blocks of the CandiQuick at a time, heat in the microwave for 15-second intervals, and stir. The heat from the side of the glass cup when you stir helps melt it as well. DON’T OVERHEAT. I use a little at a time, as it will harden on you, and it can be messier to remelt again.
🔸The microwave/CandiQuick technique works great for impatient people (like me) as long as you just do a little at a time. I say that a couple times because of years of frustration when I would try to heat up a ton and then the results were gloppy.
❄️ Storage & Freezing
These buckeye balls are rich in dairy and peanut butter, so they don’t keep well at room temperature. They need chilling, so here’s how to store them properly:
🔹Fridge – These will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. I like to place them in mini muffin liners in an airtight container. It keeps them from rolling around and makes them look even more cheerful!
🔹Freezer – If you are like me and want to get your holiday baking done in early December, these freeze beautifully! I like to use the flash freeze method.
Place the finished balls on a cookie sheet in the freezer for about an hour until they are solid rock hard. Then, transfer them to a freezer-safe Ziploc bag or container. This way, the balls won’t stick together in the freezer.
🔹Thawing – Just move them to the fridge the night before you want to serve them. They last up to 3 months in the freezer.
🍫 Variations to Try
It’s super easy to change up these buckeye balls. And there are plenty of fun variations to enjoy.
⭐Snowballs – Dip them in white chocolate or white almond bark instead of semi-sweet chocolate. The holiday sprinkles will really pop on a white background!
⭐Dark chocolate – If you prefer a less sweet treat, use semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (50% cocoa or higher). My husband actually prefers this version because it cuts the sweetness of the powdered sugar.
⭐Gluten-free option – If you are making these for friends with allergies, be careful! Standard Rice Krispies usually contain malt flavoring (which has barley). Look for a box that is specifically labeled “gluten-free” to be safe.
⭐The classic buckeye look – Instead of dipping the whole ball, hold it by the top with a toothpick and dip it 3/4 of the way down. Leave a little circle of peanut butter showing at the top to look like a traditional Buckeye nut.
My family loves a generous chocolate coating so I always dip the balls completely!
⭐Graham cracker crunch – Out of cereal? You can crush up graham crackers and use those for the crunch instead.
❓ FAQ
Add a little bit more oil/shortening to it and stir. It will thin out enough to be able to dip.
Use canola or vegetable oil. Sometimes people use a little bit of cream as well.
It sounds like your chocolate may have “seized.” When chocolate does that, it has come in contact with water or it has been overheated.
The chocolate at this point is gritty and lumpy. It sounds wacky but one of the techniques to try to fix it is to add a little big of shortening and stir quickly to get it all incorporated.
If you are making these for friends with gluten sensitivities, make sure to buy a certified gluten-free crispy rice cereal! The standard blue box brand actually contains malt flavoring.
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Christmas Peanut Butter Balls Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Creamy Peanut Butter
- ¾ cup Butter softened at room temperature
- 3½ cups Powdered Sugar
- 3 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
- 12 oz Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 1 tbsp Solid Shortening
- Holiday Sprinkles in Colors of Your Choice optional
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, mix the peanut butter and softened butter together. Add powdered sugar and stir well to blend completely.
- Add cereal and mix until well incorporated. Cover and chill for 15 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and roll into 2 inch balls. Transfer to lined baking sheet.
- In a double boiler, melt shortening. Add chocolate chips and stir until smooth and melted.
- Transfer melted chocolate into a smaller bowl for easier handling. Then dip the peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate, using a spoon to help coat evenly. Place the coated PB balls on the lined baking sheet. And if you’d like to, sprinkle with your choice of holiday sprinkles before the chocolate coating hardens to jazz them up!
- Store chilled in an airtight container for up to four weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi!
Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.
Perfect for my xmas party