Beautiful Ingredient

  • RECIPES
  • ABOUT
  • SUBSCRIBE
menu icon
go to homepage
  • RECIPES
  • ABOUT
  • SUBSCRIBE
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • RECIPES
  • ABOUT
  • SUBSCRIBE
×
Home » dessert

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

↓ Jump to Recipe
Pin the Recipe

These vegan treats are full of peanut buttery goodness and coated in luscious chocolate. With reduced refined sugar and no added oil compared to typical holiday treats, these peanut butter balls are actually loaded with nutritious ingredients, are gluten-free, and don't require any baking! Wonderful any time of year, especially the holidays.

a chocolate peanut butter ball with a bite out of it

Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Balls have been a holiday tradition in my family for decades.  Way back when, my mother got the recipe from our neighbor, Kitty, and the whole family has been enjoying them ever since. There have been a few years here and there when I haven't made a single holiday goodie, times when I haven't been able to organize or participate in a cookie-making party, dessert exchange, or make cookie plates for the neighbors - and yet I still manage to make Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Balls. Why are they the only ones that get made? Well, they're pretty easy and fun to make. That, and they're a crowd-pleaser. They're that wonderful combination of peanut butter and chocolate, plus a bit more:  dates, oats, and pecans or walnuts.

I didn't need to alter the recipe too much to plantify it.  Wait, what's "plantify" you ask?  I guess it's my new word for not only veganizing a recipe, but making sure the ingredients are real foods and plant-based whenever possible.  In other words, made up of the kind of ingredients that I now like to eat the most, that make me feel the best. 

Ingredients

ingredients to make chocolate peanut butter balls

The original recipe has just 7-ingredients: peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter, chopped dates, chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. I wanted to keep it just as simple, so decided to replace the powdered sugar with coconut sugar, an unrefined sugar. The butter was unnecessary with the texture of the dates and fat in the peanut butter. After some trial and error with other ingredients (like rum!), I ended up ditching the butterscotch. Adding ½ teaspoon vanilla to the peanut butter mix seemed to help make up the difference. Thankfully, the taste-testers didn't end up missing it too much in the final result.  Though there's still some refined sugar in the chocolate chips, the amount in the recipe is greatly reduced. Super simple, delicious, and nutritious!

Here's a list of the final ingredients:

  • peanut butter
  • medjool dates
  • coconut sugar
  • pecan, walnuts, or a combination of the two
  • rolled oats
  • vanilla
  • salt
  • semi-sweet chocolate chips, or you could use chocolate bars that are 50-70% cacao

Instructions

a bowl of chocolate chips and a food processor bowl filled with ingredients
dough being formed into balls and placed on a baking sheet
a tray of peanut butter balls, each being dipped in chocolate
  1. Start with toasting the nuts. You can do this in a pan on the stove or in the oven. I like using my toaster oven for this.
  2. Place the nuts, dates, and oats in the food processor and pulse until well combined. Add the remaining ingredients (except the chocolate) and pulse until all the ingredients are well distributed.
  3. Form the balls and place them on a lined baking sheet that will fit in your fridge or freezer. I like using a meatball shaper (see image), which forms balls easily that are about 1 ¼ inch balls. Be sure to wet the shaper after every two balls so they don't stick. Alternatively, you can simply form them by hand, any size you'd like. Keep in mind that the size of the balls will determine how much chocolate you need to cover them.
  4. Chill the balls in the freezer at least half an hour, or in the fridge for a couple hours.
  5. Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate. You can form your own with a pan that has a little water in it and a pot that will fit inside the pan. Make sure water remains in the pan as you work.
  6. Dip the balls in the chocolate. I usually use a fork for this. Place the dipped balls back on the baking sheet.
  7. Allow the chocolate to harden, placing the baking sheet back in the fridge if necessary.
a plate filled with chocolate balls

I hope you give this new "plantified" recipe a try. Maybe it will become your new holiday tradition!

More holiday treats:

  • Chocolate orange energy bites (or balls) on a serving plate and in a jar.
    Vegan Chocolate Orange Energy Bites
  • Chocolate-Dipped Dried Orange Slices
  • close up view of a chocolate rum ball with a bite out of it
    Vegan Rum Balls
  • A big mug of vegan eggnog, surrounded by sparkly lights.
    How to Make Quick Vegan Eggnog (dairy-free, egg-free)

The Recipe

a chocolate peanut butter ball with a bite out of it

Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Balls

These treats are full of peanut buttery goodness and coated in luscious chocolate. With reduced refined sugar and no added oil compared to typical holiday treats, these peanut butter balls are actually loaded with nutritious ingredients, are gluten-free, and don't require any baking! Wonderful any time of year, especially the holidays.
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate SaveSaved!
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: vegan
Key Attributes: balls, chocolate, holiday, peanut butter
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes
Chill Time: 1 hour hour
Total Time: 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes
Servings: 24
Fiber: 2.4g
Prevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

  • food processor
  • double boiler or a pan and a pot + cooktop

Ingredients

  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup medjool dates pitted, full cup, at least 12 dates
  • ¾ cup coconut sugar
  • 1 cup pecans or walnuts
  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt any salt

For chocolate coating

  • 10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips non-dairy/vegan, or equal amounts of 50-70% dark chocolate bars

Instructions

  • Toast the pecans/walnuts in a small pan over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, tossing regularly, until they begin to darken and release their scent. Alternatively, toast in a toaster oven or regular oven for 5-10 minutes at 325 degrees (keep an eye to make sure they don't burn).
  • Add the toasted nuts, peanut butter, dates, coconut sugar, oats, vanilla, and salt (if using) to a food processor and mix until well combined.
  • With wet hands, roll the dough into balls, or use a meat baller, wetting it after every two balls. The meat baller will make balls about 1 ¼ inches, which are on the large size. You can make them by hand any size you'd like, but may need more chocolate to coat. Place the balls on a lined baking sheet that will fit in your fridge or freezer and chill for at least a half hour in the freezer or a couple hours in the fridge.
  • To melt the chocolate, use a double boiler or create one with a small pan of water with a stainless bowl or small pot over it. Make sure water remains in teh bottom pan as you work. Melt over medium heat, stirring until all are melted.
  • With a spoon or spoon-shaped spatula, dip the chilled peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate one at a time, working quickly to roll the ball to coat. Tap the spoon on the edge of the pot to remove excess chocolate, then place back on the baking sheet. Continue until all are dipped, melting more chocolate if needed.
  • Allow chocolate to harden, placing the baking sheet back in the fridge if necessary. Once hardened, place the chocolate-dipped balls into a sealed container in the fridge. Enjoy!

Rough Nutrition Estimate provided by WPRM (based on generic ingredients and limited specification options)

Nutrition Facts
Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Balls
Amount per Serving
Calories
194.8
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
12.4
g
19
%
Saturated Fat
 
4
g
25
%
Trans Fat
 
0.1
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
 
2.3
g
Monounsaturated Fat
 
5.3
g
Cholesterol
 
0.8
mg
0
%
Sodium
 
67.7
mg
3
%
Potassium
 
191.9
mg
5
%
Carbohydrates
 
19.2
g
6
%
Fiber
 
2.4
g
10
%
Sugar
 
13.2
g
15
%
Protein
 
3.8
g
8
%
Vitamin A
 
16.5
IU
0
%
Vitamin C
 
0.1
mg
0
%
Calcium
 
18.8
mg
2
%
Iron
 
1.2
mg
7
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?I'd love to see! On Instagram, mention @beautifulingredient and tag #beautifulingredient!

More dessert

  • A plate of breakfast apple crisp sitting in front of a 9x13 that just came out of the oven.
    Breakfast Apple Crisp (vegan, gluten-free)
  • A vegan gluten-free rhubarb date scone on a plate with citrus ginger nondairy whipped cream.
    Rhubarb Date Scones (vegan, gluten-free)
  • A small bowl of raw vegan gluten-free chocolate chip cookie dough with chocolate chips scattered around it.
    Vegan Gluten-free Cookie Dough
  • Vegan crisp with berries, sliced kumquats, and yogurt in a white ramekin.
    Quick Vegan Crisp (Frozen Fruit)

share & save

58 shares

Comments

No Comments

5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating





Kari smelling anise hyssop while standing behind her market basket and fresh produce.

Welcome to a world of beautiful food!

I'm Kari, and this is where I celebrate beautiful ingredients and focus on ways to make eating more plants easier. Recipes are centered around whole foods and are vegan, cooked without the need for oil, mostly refined sugar-free and gluten-free. And so delicious!


Subscribe to the newsletter


what are you hungry for?

  • gluten-free
  • snacks
  • 30 minutes or less
  • 5 ingredients or less

Footer

info

About
Contact

Subscribe

recipes

Recipe Index


subscribe

Newsletter

discover more at:

Privacy Policy • Terms of Use • Copyright/Content Usage

Copyright © 2025 Beautiful Ingredient

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




Let us know what you thought of this recipe:

This worked exactly as written, thanks!
My family loved this!
Thank you for sharing this recipe

Or write in your own words:

A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.