Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls

In your kitchen aid mixing bowl (or you can do this by hand, but why?) stir together 1 cup of smooth peanut butter, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Now just add powdered sugar in 1/4 cup increments until it resembles a really thick cookie dough texture. I didn’t measure it, but I probably used somewhere around 2 cups powdered sugar.

Roll out little balls of the peanut butter dough and set on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Pop them in the freezer for about 15 minutes to firm up.

Break up a regular bar of milk chocolate into a small bowl. You want the bowl small so the melted chocolate is deep enough to coat the pb balls. Add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil or shortening to the chocolate and set it into another larger bowl holding a small amount of boiling water. Make sure the water only comes about halfway up the sides of the small bowl. You don’t want to get even a single drop of water into the chocolate! Stir carefully until fully melted and smooth.

Dip the pb balls into the chocolate and back onto the waxed paper lined tray. Once all the balls are dipped, place back into the freezer for about 10 minutes for the chocolate to harden and then transfer to an airtight container. I just keep these in the freezer because I like my chocolate to stay really firm. It gets a bit soft even in the fridge. Don’t worry, the peanut butter won’t freeze solid.

Have a glass of milk handy. You’re gonna need it!