Monday, December 19, 2011

Grandma's Peanut Butter Balls

This year my cousins and I gathered the family together to make Christmas cookies for the first time. We realized that over the last couple of years the sweets offered at our family Christmas dinner were lacking in a big way. Our favorite treat was not being made by Grandma anymore, which was fair. It was time we took over. Luckily, Grandma still had the recipe around.

Now, I'm sure the idea of Peanut Butter Balls is nothing new to you. I've seen them around done in a variety of ways - super fancy or healthy and whatnot. Well, these are kind of Plain Janes in a way. These keep it simple and a little bit '70's with peanut butter, rice crispies, Hershey's chocolate bars and paraffin wax. Yes, I said wax. To some of you this may seem odd, but trust me - they just aren't the same without it. It makes the chocolate melt smoothly and keeps the shell shiny and hard - perfect for popping. And, trust me, it's hard to pop just one. 

Grandma's Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:
  • 3 Cups Rice Crispies
  • 1 Stick Butter
  • 1 Pound Powdered Sugar
  • 2 Cups Chunky Peanut Butter
  • 1 Hershey Bar
  • 1 Package Chocolate Chips
  • 1 Square Paraffin
Directions:
  1. Melt butter and mix everything by hand and form into balls
  2. Refrigerate overnight (in a pinch - freeze for a couple hours)
  3. Melt chocolate and wax together in a double boiler and stir until smooth
  4. Keep liquid while dipping balls with toothpicks
  5. Place coated balls on wax paper to set
  6. Store in fridge



Crispy, crunchy, sweet and salty. Obviously *the* favorite.
And, I gotta say a BIG THANK YOU to my cousin for bringing all the ingredients and for bringing an excellent hotdish for us while we were hard at work. I'm going to have to get her over here to do a guest post. I told her she should submit it to this year's Hotdish Revolution. I'll have a run for my money! Oh, and before I forget, speaking of ingredients - she brought Smart Balance peanut butter and margarine, I believe - so if you're so inclined, by all means, substitute away! I must admit - it worked perfectly and they were just as tasty.

3 comments:

  1. Ah Hot Dish, my Father in Law makes this :)

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  2. Do you think Beeswax would work in place of the paraffin? Just curious. I'm thinking of ordering some to make lotion bars. I assume it is ok to eat beeswax, but I've never tried it.

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  3. I think if you don't want to use paraffin, you can just use the chocolate and hope that you are better with a double boiler than I am :) Most people think the paraffin is unnecessary, anyway. I personally feel it makes enough of a difference (and it's a nostalgic thing) that I wanted to make sure to use it.

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