There are treats I only make at Christmas time and Peanut Butter Balls are one of them. Even though everyone loves to eat them, well, they are kind of a pain in the ass to make. This year, though, Hannah helped me and they worked up very quickly. I think this is probably a recipe that everyone has already since it’s an oldie (my mom made them when I was a kid and I think I’ve had them as part of Christmas for about 40 years now) but it’s also a goodie so I’m going to share it here.

Plus, it gives me an excuse to show you how I made them extra pretty this year.

Peanut Butter Balls

3 cups Rice Krispies
3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
2 cups of peanut butter
1 stick of melted butter.

Combine all of the above ingredients. I find the easiest way is to mix the cereal, powdered sugar and peanut butter together and then slowly add the melted butter. I do all of this in my stand mixer and it goes together pretty quickly – plus the mixer crushes the cereal a bit and that’s a good thing.

Once the ingredients are all mixed then form the mixture into small balls. I use my smallest scoop, I think it’s a teaspoon size, to make the balls quickly and then I roll them with my hands to make them smooth.

Melt 2 cups (or more if necessary) of chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler. I also thin the chocolate with a bit of shortening to make it more . . . dippable. And yes, that is so a word. Dip each peanut butter ball completely in the chocolate and put on a waxed paper lined baking sheet to set up.

Once the chocolate has set you can melt some white chocolate and then drizzle it over the top. I did this by putting it in a small sandwich bag and then making a teeny tiny snip in one corner. Then I just went back and forth over the rows with the white chocolate and then I sprinkled them with green sugar. This little extra effort really makes them look Christmas-y and special for the season.

Enjoy!

Yesterday Bonny asked for cookie recipes and even hinted that it might make a blog post. At the time I thought I’d come up with something else for today but as the day went on I realized she was right – cookie recipe links are a fine idea for a blog post.

Here you go:

Cherry Chocolate Kisses

Peppermint Patties

Peanut Butter Balls

Confetti Cookies

And, finally, Christmas Pinwheel Cookies.

I made those last night and they sure are pretty! Happy Baking!

Last Wednesday I packed up my mixer and I hit the road for Doreen’s house for our annual cookie baking day. This is year 3 and it’s come to be a day I look forward to more and more each year.

She has a beautiful home and a lovely kitchen with enough space for both of us to spread out and mix, roll, press, bake and cool to our heart’s content.

We made Cherry Chocolate Kisses, Ginger Cookies, Peanut Butter Balls, Spritz, and Hidden Kisses. In other words, we were busy and baking all afternoon! And we make a great team because, while I don’t mind mixing and dipping, I don’t like rolling all those little balls. Doreen on the other hand, doesn’t enjoy dipping so much but she doesn’t mind rolling at all.

Of course despite our ambitious list of cookies to make, we made time for wine, too! And we wore our Naughty and Nice aprons, although, once again, she was the nice one. I guess, despite my face, that’s pretty appropriate since Doreen is one of the nicest people I know.

I’m so glad we started this tradition. I made cookies and candy this weekend (Gingerbread Men, Confetti Cookies, Spiral Christmas Cookies, Salted Chocolate Toffee, and Chocolate Peppermint Candies) and it wasn’t nearly as fun without her!