Easy Peanut Butter Balls Christmas Recipe

Today I am going to share with y’all one of my very favorite Christmas recipes. I make them year after year and they have always been such a hit. This easy peanut butter balls Christmas recipe is definitely going to be one of your go to recipes for the holiday season too.

My favorite candy ever are Reese’s peanut butter cups and while this treat resembles those, these chocolate-covered peanut butter balls are even better! You may have heard of old-fashioned peanut butter balls before which are essentially buckeye balls.

And those are great too, but when you make them, you only dip half of the peanut butter mixture into the chocolate.

These Christmas peanut butter balls are completely dipped into a chocolate coating so they are all the way covered in chocolatey goodness! And, topped with festive sprinkles for the perfect holiday touch.

This easy peanut butter balls recipe makes a ton so it’s a perfect treat to bring along as a dessert or snack to a big holiday party. Or these delicious treats make for great gifts too if you like giving boxes of homemade candy away!

So keep on reading for the full recipe card and see just how easy it is for you to make these yummy peanut butter balls this Christmas season too! 

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Ingredients Needed For Peanut Butter Balls

​This recipe calls for very simple ingredients. All of which I bet are already in your pantry right now! 

• 2 cups peanut butter (I used creamy peanut butter, but you could use crunchy peanut butter too if you wanted an extra crunch in the peanut butter balls. You could also use natural peanut butter too, although I have never tried that myself and I’m not sure if it would affect the consistency of the balls or not).
• 4 cups confectioners sugar 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tsp maple extract 
• 2 bags chocolate candy coating or chocolate chips
• festive sprinkles, optional
• Rice Krispies, optional (I didn’t use Rice Krispies for this recipe, but you could always add in any kind of rice cereal to the mixture to make it a little more crunchy too!)

​How to Make Easy Peanut Butter Balls Christmas Recipe 

• Mix all of the above ingredients in a large bowl of a stand mixer until fully combined. 
• Knead the dough together to create small 1-inch balls. You can use a small cookie scoop to achieve this as well. 
• Place peanut butter balls onto a lined baking sheet and let chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to one hour.
• Melt chocolate candy coating in the microwave per bag’s instructions.
• Dip each peanut butter ball into chocolate and let harden on parchment paper. Move quickly during the dipping process so that the chocolate doesn’t harden. 
• If desired, top with some sprinkles on the peanut butter ball before it hardens completely. 
• Store in the fridge for a couple of weeks or freeze them up to 2 months!

Tips and Tricks for Making Peanut Butter Balls

If you’ve never made peanut butter balls before, no worries! This is a super simple and easy recipe to follow.

I was always intimidated to make them before I realize just how easy they are actually. It’s basically like playing with play-doh!

But after making them for several years in a row now, I have came up with a few tips and tricks to make them much easier for you!

Getting the Correct Consistency for the Mixture

One of the biggest tips I have for making them is to get the consistency right when mixing all the ingredients. You may need more or less of my measurements depending on how it looks.

If the mixture is too dry, add in more peanut butter! And if it’s too runny, add in a little more powdered sugar!

There really isn’t a “perfect” set in stone measurement for these. Start with the recipe below as a baseline and go from there!

Refrigerating the Balls Before Dipping

If you do anything, you MUST refrigerate the balls before dipping them into the chocolate. If you don’t, you will have a big old mess on your hands. Trying to dip them in chocolate at room temperature is a nightmare! 

They will break apart and leave a peanut butter mess in your melted chocolate and you don’t want that! I chilled mine for 30 minutes but you can do even longer if you want to be sure.

30 minutes seemed to be plenty of enough time.

Choosing the Right Kind of Chocolate

Another tip I have for you to make these peanut butter balls, is to choose the right kind of chocolate. I have found that melting regular old chocolate chips in the microwave is usually not the best option to coat these with.

That typically doesn’t melt very smooth and it is hard to coat the balls completely with. I tried something new this year and used Skinnydipped Baking Bits and melted those instead.

And I was honestly shocked by the results. They melted perfectly smooth and looked nice and shiny when hardened. Just what I wanted!

 But, you could also use a double boiler too and melt any kind of chocolate you want. Such as white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, you name it! 

If you can’t find those, I have used almond bark and candy melts before and I have found that works just as well too.

I’ve used both the chocolate and vanilla before and it turned out great. Or any chocolate candy coating pieces like that will be just fine too.

Lay Out Parchment Paper Everywhere

Like I said above, making these peanut butter balls is very easy. But it is also very messy. I lay out enough parchment paper or wax paper to cover my island or my space that I am working on.

Because there’s nothing worse than scraping off hardened chocolate off of your countertops! And another tip I have when dipping your balls into the chocolate, us a spoon to cover it completely.

Then, use a fork to pick it up from the bottom and let the excess drain back into the bowl. Then, carefully slide it off onto the parchment paper.

Sometimes, if it’s stuck on the fork, I will use a toothpick to slide it off as well. That has been the easiest way for me to coat them completely and have them look pretty decent afterwards!

Then, sprinkle each dipped ball with sprinkles if desired. And again, the wax paper will help catch all the excess sprinkles as well! 

Storing the Peanut Butter Balls

What I love about this recipe is that they keep very well in the fridge in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Or you can even freeze them for up to 2 months as well.

I like to make them in advance of Christmas parties and then freeze them so they are easily ready to go. Then, the night before, I will just lay them out in the fridge to thaw out.

There may be some condensation you need to wipe off from them. But other than that, they are good to go! How easy is that?!

If you’re looking for some more Christmas dessert ideas too, then be sure to check out my top five favorite Christmas cookies that I make every year!

Enjoy Your Christmas Peanut Butter Balls 

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chocolate peanut butter balls recipe. It is one of my very favorite no bake recipes! And the holiday sprinkles on top are just the perfect touch for this time of year, don’t you think?!

I love to bake treats like this all season long and who doesn’t love a good candy recipe like this?! Like I said above, you could definitely hand these out to neighbors and friends as a sweet little Christmas gift too.

Have you ever made peanut butter balls before?? If not, you should definitely try this easy peanut butter balls Christmas recipe out and let me know what you think of it! 

Other Christmas Treats To Try This Holiday Season:

• Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
• Southern Egg Custard Pie Recipe
• Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars