How To Make Peanut Butter Balls
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Peanut butter balls are delicious!! This is a great snack for children and grown ups alike. They are kept in Ziploc bags in the freezer and when we manage to have any (they are eaten so fast!). Full of all sorts of goodness, it’s one snack that will not only tide your family over until you can finish up supper, but one you can feel good about letting them have.
What You’ll Need:
Ingredients:
- quick oats
- peanut butter
- powdered milk
- honey*
*Note about honey: If you have children under the age of two, substitute corn syrup as raw honey poses health risks.
How To Make Peanut Butter Balls:
Measure oats into mixing bowl.
Measure out milk and add it to the mixing bowl
These are seriously irresistible. Enjoy having this delicious and nutritious snack around!
If you’re feeling creative, feel free to add your favorite additives to your peanut butter balls! Adding some extra ingredients can take your peanut butter balls to the next level of flavor and texture. Here are some delicious add-in ideas to consider:
- Crushed Graham Crackers: Stir in some crushed graham crackers to the peanut butter mixture for a subtle hint of sweetness and a satisfying crunch.
- Mini Chocolate Chips: Mix in mini chocolate chips for bursts of chocolatey goodness throughout the peanut butter balls.
- Chopped Nuts: Add chopped nuts such as peanuts, almonds, or pecans for extra crunch and a nutty flavor.
- Toasted Coconut Flakes: Incorporate toasted coconut flakes into the peanut butter mixture for a tropical twist.
- Dried Fruit: Mix in chopped dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries, or chopped apricots for a chewy texture and a pop of sweetness.
- Pretzel Pieces: Stir in crushed pretzel pieces for a salty-sweet contrast that adds crunch and flavor.
- Crispy Rice Cereal: Mix in crispy rice cereal to add a light and crispy texture to the peanut butter balls.
- Flavored Extracts: Experiment with different flavored extracts such as almond extract, coconut extract, or maple extract to enhance the flavor profile of the peanut butter balls.
- Spices: Add a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, or cardamom to the peanut butter mixture for a warm and aromatic flavor.
- Protein Powder: For a protein-packed treat, mix in some protein powder of your choice to boost the nutritional content of the peanut butter balls.
Feel free to get creative and customize your peanut butter balls with your favorite add-ins to suit your taste preferences. The possibilities are endless!
Ingredients
- 2 C honey or corn syrup
- 3 C creamy peanut butter
- 5 C dry milk powder
- 6 C quick oats
Instructions
- Mix all together with hand mixer. Form into balls with hands and freeze on waxed paper lined cookie sheets until hardened. Store in freezer in ziploc bags. (Makes about 100)
Messeis Wow, molasses sounds GREAT for these! Oh how funny about your husband!!! Bless their hearts, they’ve no idea how often we pull the wool over their eyes! Molasses and cocoa…thats stuck in my head now. Sounds heavenly
HillaryGood points, Hillary. In moderation, corn syrup is fine. In fact, I rarely ever use it except for peanut butter balls. I can’t see being able to pass off brown rice syrup or agave syrup on my kids (I don’t think I’d be too keen on trying them myself to be honest!) but those are great suggestions for anyone who is concerned about corn syrup or wants to go more natural with their diet.
I’m all over the hydrogenated oils! Again, for those who are concerned though, great points. I’m sure these can easily be made with a natural peanut butter.
A lot of budgets don’t allow for it, though.
In the immortal words of our own Paula Deen “I’m a cook, not a doctor”. Hehe!
Smuckers ( I know you don’t buy what they’re selling) makes a very reasonable priced natural peanut butter. I buy it so there is not sugar/corn syrup/ ickiness in my peanut butter. Low carber here can you tell.
I’ve made these with splenda, but I’ve never used the oat meal. But I have added cream cheese. I know sounds odd but peanut butter mixed with cream cheese is AWSOME! They are indeed a great portable protein snack/meal.
Thanks for posting, it reminded me I haven’t made any in a long time.
I love peanut butter balls as much as the next gal, but just a friendly reminder…while honey may not be suitable for young children, is corn syrup really suitable for anyone? It is very unhealthy and there are a number of better substitutes (ie agave syrup or brown rice syrup). Also, check your peanut butter label for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. These cause artery blockage.
I haven’t thought of these in years. Only we used (in Texas) molasses instead of honey and I seem to remember rolling them in coco powder at the very end. I can’t wait to make these for my kids. Thanks for the memories.
Also the brown sauce comment made me laugh. My husband is from NY and doesn’t always like what Texans call things so I am constantly changing names.
(Sorry I deleted the other post so for editing reasons)
Terri: YAY! I’m glad you liked them! I LOVE having them on hand for a quick protein rich snack to keep me going when ye olde blood sugar takes a nosedive!
I probably do make mine kind of big, I do that with everything. I am about to post a tutorial of my favorite cookie in the whole wide world…which I make almost the size of your head! hehe!
I don’t do small batch cooking 😀
Whenever I cook, you’d swear an army was coming to dinner.
Thank you for letting me know how they turned out!!!!
Christy
Christy! I made these last night and they are SOOOO good! I loved them. I must say that I did 1/2 the recipe… and still ended up w/ 60 balls.. I must make them smaller than yours! But they are very good.. we all love them. I think I need to invest in a dish pan to mix in though.. I had to use my HUGE spaghetti pot! LOL Thanks again!
Terri
You know, sometimes you just have to lie to men for their own good.
Take my husband for example. He doesn’t like gravy. He won’t eat gravy. He swears he HATES gravy. So, I don’t use gravy on our roast. I don’t put gravy on beef tips when I serve them over rice. I don’t even use gravy when I make the Salisbury steaks from Mommy’s Kitchen(in my blog links). What do I do instead?
I use brown sauce .
hehe
That’s not raw oatmeal, honey! it’s flaked nuts!
That’s not raw oatmeal, honey, I toasted it beforehand!
Just make something up. God love them, they have their uses but discerning culinary tastes seldom make the list!
LOL!! Just had to say that my Dh swears he HATES spaghetti, so one night I made ‘noodles with tomato sauce’ and he ate it up! So I don’t tell him what is in anything I cook till after he had eaten it, fewer problems that way.LOLOLOL
LOL!!! That’s ALL the men in my house (and I am the only woman!) If you don’t tell them what’s in it or what it is, they’ll generally eat it and love it. And if it’s something recognizable that they swear they hate (i.e., mushrooms), well, that’s why God made food processors! 😉
LOL!!!!!! LOVE IT
Well Im going to whip some up. My husband thinks it sounds awful with the oatmeal uncooked but from your description it must not be a deterent!