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    Home » desserts

    Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

    Jump to Recipe
    chocolate balls on a cake stand
    plated chocolate peanut butter balls with text

    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.
    Vegan Rosemary Pine Nut Truffles for Valentine's Day
    With Valentine's Day coming, I thought it would be fun to make some heart-shaped chocolates.
    Check out this recipe
    Vegan Chocolate Truffles for Valentine's Day with rosemary and pine nuts
    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:

    • Vegan Chocolate Orange Energy Bites
    • Chocolate-Dipped Dried Satsuma Orange Slices
    • Vegan Rum Balls
    • How to Make Quick Vegan Eggnog (dairy-free, egg-free)
    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
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: vegan
    Key Attributes: balls, chocolate, holiday, peanut butter
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 25 minutes
    Chill Time: 1 hour
    Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
    Servings: 27
    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
    • 1 cup coconut sugar
    • 1 cup pecans or walnuts
    • ½ cup rolled oats
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla
    • ⅛ teaspoon pink salt optional, or any salt

    For chocolate coating

    • 12 ounces semisweet 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!
    Tried this recipe?I'd love to see! On Instagram, mention @beautifulingredient and tag #beautifulingredient!

    More desserts

    • Quick Strawberry Frozen Yogurt (vegan)
    • Vegan Caramel Steamer
    • Five Minute Drizzly Vegan Caramel Sauce
    • Chocolate Berry Pistachio Stuffed Dates (vegan)

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    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, oil-free, refined sugar-free, and mostly gluten-free. And so delicious!



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