Berglund:Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients

 * 1 stick softened butter
 * 1 lb. powdered sugar
 * 2 cups peanut butter (Smooth or crunchy, your choice)
 * 3 cups Rice Krispies
 * chocolate almond bark *

Equipment

 * large mixing bowl
 * 1 cup measuring cup
 * double boiler **
 * cookie sheet
 * waxed paper
 * fork
 * clean hands

Procedure
Put the softened (but not melted) butter, powdered sugar, and peanut butter in a bowl. Mix well. You should probably start the mixing with a spoon, but I find that by the end, I have always switched to mixing with my hands. Add the Rice Krispies, mixing until thoroughly combined. This may take awhile and the final “dough” will be very stiff. And don’t worry…all the sugar and cereal WILL mix in eventually. Wash hands.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and cover the cookie sheet with waxed paper. Roll a bit of the peanut butter mixture into a ball about 1 inch in diameter. (You can actually make these any size you want, but I’ve found this size to be the best.) Now put the ball into the melted chocolate and push it around with the fork until fully coated. Lift the ball out of the chocolate with the fork by scooping, not stabbing. Gently tap the fork on the edge of the pan to shake off the extra chocolate. Roll the ball off onto the waxed paper. Continue until all the peanut butter mixture has been used. If you want, you can roll all the “dough” at the start and then just dip it all...it’s up to you. Let set until the chocolate is hardened and store in an airtight container.

This recipe makes about 1 and one half cookie sheets full of buckeyes, depending upon how far apart they are spaced on the sheet and how big the balls are rolled. It usually feeds one good sized party.

Comments

 * These are a hit at parties, but the recipe does make a LOT. You may want to scale it back if you're not preparing these for a crowd.


 * Do NOT refrigerate...moisture will condense on the chocolate and make them yucky.

*If you can’t find almond bark*** in your store (it usually looks like blocks of chocolate), you can use 12 ounces of [chocolate chips] along with one-third stick of paraffin, or you can just use plain chocolate chips, but the chocolate coating may be squishy instead of hard.

**If you don’t have a double boiler, don’t dismay! Just fill a pan half full of water and bring it to a boil. Now put your chocolate in a metal or glass bowl. Put the bowl over the boiling water, making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. In either method, be sure not to get ANY water in the chocolate, because it will clump up terribly, and will not coat the peanut butter. It’s a big mess and you’ll have to start melting the chocolate all over...just take my word for it.

***And no, this almond bark is not the candy made with almonds. It's just a special type of melting chocolate that will cool hard after melting instead of soft and gooey. As a matter of fact, it doesn't even taste like almonds...what a strange name.