I have to admit, I am not a fan of peanut butter. Peanuts are ok, but when they’ve been made in to a spread, I’m not keen. My husband and eldest son, on the other hand, love the stuff.
Several months ago, I tried out a recipe for peanut butter truffles, but they just weren’t the same as a regular truffle should be, so I changed the name to peanut butter bites.
This recipe is SO simple, and can be made using vegan friendly products (if you are a vegetarian / vegan).
There’s no baking involved, and very little “heat” needed, so give it a go. I think it took me about an hour to make them – from start to finish; and the whole outcome cost less than £2.
If you have any fancy boxes, you could even pop a few of the bites in to a box, tie a ribbon around, and you have an amazing, homemade, frugal gift.
Ingredients
270g (9.5oz) peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
40g (1.4oz) unsalted butter
140g (4.9oz) icing sugar
Chocolate (I used 300g / 10oz, but I had some left over)
Sprinkles (optional)
Method
- Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
- Ensure that you have enough room to fit the baking sheet in to your fridge – this is very important!
- Put your peanut butter and butter in to a microwavable bowl, and heat on full power for 15-30 seconds. I checked after 15 and 20 seconds, but needed longer, so I allowed for the full 30.
- Transfer the butter mixture in to a mixing bowl, and mix thoroughly, until the butter and peanut butter have combined.
- Carefully sift in the icing sugar, bit by bit, and mix well. I used about a third at a time. Ensure that you have thoroughly mixed in the icing sugar to the butter mixture.
- Using your hands, break off a little of the peanut dough, and roll quickly in between your palms to make a ball, approximately 1 inch in diameter, and place each ball on to the lined baking sheet. If, like mine, towards the end of the dough, it stops wanting to stick together, squeeze it a little in your palms to soften, and roll into a ball again.
- Place the baking sheet in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
- After about 20 minutes, break up the chocolate in to small pieces, and place in a glass bowl – be sure that the glass bowl can sit on the top of a pan of water. The base of the bowl should not touch the water.
- Bring the pan of water to the boil, and allow the chocolate to melt completely.
- When the chocolate has fully melted, switch off the heat, and bring out the peanut butter bites from the fridge.
- Roll each bite in the melted chocolate, allowing any excess chocolate to drip off. I used two forks, and gently tapped the fork on the edge of the glass bowl to allow the excess chocolate to come away.
- Place the now chocolate covered bites back on to the baking sheet, and repeat until you have covered all peanut bites.
- When you have completed covering the bites, if you wish, you can cover them in sprinkles, or (as I did) just sprinkle a couple on the very top.
- Return to the fridge for approximately 20 minutes, or until the chocolate has set.
Enjoy!