Hi everybody! Happy New Year and welcome back to my column, Grace Bakes! I hope everyone had an amazing (and well-deserved) winter break to just relax and celebrate the holidays with family and friends. It was so nice to just do nothing for once, and I can’t believe how quickly 2022 flew by! 2022 was such a great year, so New Year’s was bittersweet, but I can’t wait to see what 2023 brings. 

One of the many things I did in 2022 that made it such a memorable year for me, was, of course, bake. Yes, as I have mentioned before in previous articles, the months of November to December are when my mom, my godmother, and I go crazy baking Christmas cookies for the holidays. Our most traditional ones are raspberry jam thumbprints, teatime tassies, lemon crinkles, and Christmas crack. I finally convinced them to bring back the seven-layer cookies this year, too, which I was so excited for! However, I also discovered this AMAZING peanut butter truffle recipe and it is to die for. 

So, peanut butter lovers, this month’s recipe is for you!! This recipe is super easy, with just 5 or 6 ingredients, and is the perfect peanut butter to chocolate ratio. It’s like a richer version of a Reese’s peanut butter cup, and I highly recommend these for anyone that loves this candy as much as I do! 

The base of the peanut butter balls is made with graham crackers, creamy peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla extract. Seriously, that’s it! And then, of course, coated in a generous layer of chocolate. Did I mention these are no-bake? That’s right, no oven!!

Here’s what you will need for this very simple recipe:

You will need these ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) of softened butter
• 1 1/4 cups of creamy peanut butter (any brand is fine!)
• 3 cups of powdered sugar 
• 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs 
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla 
• Chocolate of your choice for coating (I usually just eyeball the amount of chocolate I use as I go and melt more as needed; I don’t measure out a certain amount! 1 1/2 – 2 cups will usually do the trick)
• Sea salt (This is optional: I usually sprinkle a little on each ball just before the chocolate solidifies to give them an extra bit of flavor!)

And these materials: 

• A baking sheet 
• Parchment or wax paper
• Electric mixer (Usually you can replace an electric mixer with a whisk or spatula, but I would definitely recommend sticking to electric for this. This mixture would be really hard to combine by hand unless you’re up for the challenge!)
• A freezer (to solidify the peanut butter balls before dipping)
• A microwave or pot (to melt the chocolate; I would recommend a double boiler, but whatever you want to use is fine if it gets the job done!)
• Measuring Cups/Spoons

Let’s get started with the recipe: 

If you haven’t prepared this beforehand, make sure your butter is softened (putting it in the microwave for 20-second intervals until it is softened does the trick if you’re impatient like me) and that you have your crushed graham crackers ready to go. 

Line a baking sheet with either wax or parchment paper. Either is fine, since nothing is going into the oven, but I would recommend wax paper since it’s less likely the balls will stick. 

Next, using an electric mixer, combine the peanut butter and butter in a large bowl. 

Add the powdered sugar, crushed graham cracker crumbs, and vanilla extract, and mix until fully combined. 

Now comes the fun part: making the peanut butter balls! Shape the balls like you would cookie dough (it’s completely safe to eat, so feel free to taste test a little bit), and place them on your lined baking sheet. One of the things I hate about baking is making sure everything is spaced out before it goes into the oven, which isn’t a worry with this recipe! 

Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 20 minutes. (I know, it’s a long time, but it will be worth it in the end!)

While the balls are cooling, start melting your chocolate of choice. I think semisweet is best for this recipe, but if you are more of a white chocolate person or want to use milk chocolate (like a true Reese’s!), use whatever you wish!

Once fully cooled, it’s time to coat them in chocolate. I’m not gonna lie, I got assistance from my mom for this part, since it was both tricky and tedious. However, we learned from the first time making these, and figured out that the best tip is to do it quickly! Don’t let the peanut butter balls sit in the chocolate for too long, because they will no longer be cool and begin to fall apart. If you need to, you can always take out a few balls at a time from the baking sheet and keep the rest in the freezer so it’s easier to coat them. 

Before the chocolate solidifies, sprinkle each ball with a little bit of sea salt (if you want to). 

And, finally, bon appetit!

Seems easy enough, right? Well, they are! Besides perfecting the coating part, there really is nothing to these peanut butter truffles. They’re not too rich, but are just rich enough to appreciate. The peanut butter-to-chocolate ratio is just perfection, and I truly couldn’t ask for a better peanut butter-y Christmas cookie!

My family and I have made the Hershey’s kisses peanut butter blossoms in the past (I’m sure everyone has heard of these – the peanut butter cookies that you press a Hershey Kiss into), which I love, but what I don’t like about them is that, if they’re not warm, they’re hard to enjoy! A cold and hard Hershey’s kiss, along with a soft peanut butter cookie, is just difficult to eat. 

However, one of the best things about these truffles is that they can be eaten at room temperature, cold, warm – whatever you’d like! Everyone who tried these had nothing bad to say; my uncle said they had a moist, cake pop texture (which is so true!), and my dad said, word for word, “These are the best Christmas cookies that you guys have ever made!” But, he says that every time we make a new one we haven’t tried, so…

Overall, I think you guys can tell just how much I love these truffles! Another one of my favorite things about them: they can be served year-round, not just during the holidays! (I think I’ll have to make them multiple times this year). 

My final message to you this month: Cheers to a New Year! (Which you should kick off by making these: you won’t be sorry!).