Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

 In honor of tomorrow being the day of celebrating romance and partnerships , I am celebrating one of the most perfect pairings of flavors that ever existed: chocolate & peanut butter.  You can make these for that special someone in your life, or make them for yourself and celebrate the special someone that you are!  They taste like a peanut butter cup, but better, and I’m sure they can make any day special.

The peanut butter filling is rich, almost like cookie dough, and then they are dipped in dark chocolate and rolled in cocoa powder. And best of all, they’re super easy to make; no special skills needed!  You can, of course, make them much prettier than I did.  I can tell you though, that once people take the first bite, they won’t be talking about how they look.

Around here, in New England, we need something to brighten up the days.  The snow is drowning us; I’m in Boston at the moment, we have 3ft already, and nowhere to put it, and this weekend, we’re supposed to get another foot.  It’s insanity.  In general, we don’t mind this much snow, in fact we are pretty used to it, but the rate of succession in which the storms have come is exhausting. I just want to curl up in bed (maybe with some Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls) and sleep until April.  Or May.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

(makes about 20 1″ balls)

• 1/2 cup vegan butter, room temperature
• 1 cup natural peanut butter, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate
• 1 cup cocoa powder, sifted

1. In a stand mixer, or handheld, beat the vegan butter and peanut butter together until smooth and creamy.
2. Add 1 cup of the powdered sugar and mix well.
3. Add the non-dairy milk and vanilla and beat until all combined.
4. Add the remaining cup of powdered sugar and mix.
5. Refrigerate the dough for a minimum of one hour.
6. Roll the dough into balls, and then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
7. Over a bain marie, or in a microwave, melt the chocolate. Have the cocoa on a large plate next to the melted chocolate.
8. Take one of the peanut butter dough balls, dip it in the chocolate, rolling it around with a spoon or fork until completely covered, then roll it around in the cocoa powder (use separate utensils for the chocolate and cocoa), and set on a plate.  Do this with all the balls.
9. Let them set at room temperature for 30-60 minutes until the outer chocolate shell hardens. You can also put them in the refrigerator to speed up the process.
10. Before serving, put them two at a time in a sieve over the sink to shake off the excess cocoa powder. (see pics below).