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White Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles — Fast, EASY, no-bake, and the BEST peanut butter truffles! A creamy peanut butter filling with a bit of texture from graham cracker crumbs, dipped in white chocolate (or milk or dark), and topped with sprinkles! Great MAKE-AHEAD homemade hostess gifts, for cookie exchanges, or set them out at Christmas parties.
Easy White Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles
I love peanut butter, in all forms!
For those who don’t know, I wrote a cookbook, Peanut Butter Comfort, with over 100+ peanut butter recipes. Please check it out if you haven’t already.
But even more than I love peanut butter, I love fast and easy holiday dessert recipes like these peanut butter balls.
The filling is a mixture of creamy peanut butter, melted butter, vanilla, graham cracker crumbs, and confectioners’ sugar. It doesn’t get much better than that for me.
Until you dip these peanut butter balls in melted white chocolate and douse them with holiday sprinkles on top, which are the perfect finishing touches.
If you’re not a white chocolate person, feel free to dip them in milk or dark chocolate.
But regardless of what type of chocolate you use to dip the peanut butter truffles, rest assured everyone will love them! From friends, family, and coworkers at your Christmas parties to those in your cookie exchange. These bite-sized no-bake peanut butter balls are always a hit.
Ingredients in White Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles
For the best tasting white chocolate peanut butter balls, you’ll only need to set out a handful of common and easy to find fridge and pantry ingredients including the following:
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Peanut Butter Truffles Dipped in Chocolate
To make these easy, no bake peanut butter snowballs that are dipped in white chocolate, follow these easy and straightforward steps:
Step 1: Melt the butter, add the peanut butter, vanilla, and beat or stir to combine.
Step 2: Add the confectioners’ sugar, graham cracker crumbs, and stir to combine.
Step 3: Use a small or medium cookie scoop, form balls, roll slightly in your palms, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Step 4: Melt Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers (or similar), stir until smooth, and use a fork or toothpick to dip each ball into the white chocolate.
Step 5: Sprinkle with sprinkles as you go before the chocolate sets up.
Step 6: Allow the white chocolate, to fully set before serving!
What If the Peanut Butter Mixture Is Difficult to Work With?
Anytime you’re making truffles, candy, or no bake dessert balls, a tablespoon or two of either the wet ingredients or the dry ingredients can impact your results.
If the peanut butter mixture is:
- Too Moist – In this case, it’s not coming together and it feels sloppy, overly tacky, wet, or just difficult to work with. You need to add more dry ingredients, such as additional graham cracker crumbs or powdered sugar.
- Too Dry – Here, the mixture will be crumbly, sandy, and no matter what you do, it will not stick together. You need to add more wet ingredients, such as additional peanut butter (the easiest) or additional melted butter.
Tip: Whether you’re adding dry ingredients or wet ingredients, always start very small about 1 tablespoon at a time and really give things a good mixing or stirring before adding more. You don’t want to overcompensate and end up in the opposite direction!
The Difference Between Peanut Butter Balls, Peanut Butter Truffles, Snowballs, and Buckeyes
I wanted to discuss a little bit of candy trivia because my readers have asked. The bottom line is there really isn’t a ton of difference between them all but here is my interpretation:
- Peanut Butter Balls – No-bake balls that can be dipped or not
- Peanut Butter Truffles – No-bake balls that are dipped in some type of chocolate
- Snowballs – No-bake balls that are dipped in white chocolate (hence the “snow” ball name). Today’s recipe also goes by the name Peanut Butter Snowballs!
- Buckeyes – No-bake balls similar to chocolate dipped Peanut Butter Balls, but rather than totally and fully dipping them in chocolate, a small portion (or “buckeye”) remains bare
What Kind of Chocolate Is Best for Dipping?
Without a doubt, I recommend that you use chocolate specifically designed to be melted for dipping truffles and no bake dessert balls.
In recent years, the terminology I see used most frequently is melting wafers or candy melts. When it comes to melting wafers, I am very particular to the Ghirardelli brand. They make dark, milk, and white (vanilla) varieties.
In these white chocolate peanut butter balls, you’ll want to use the Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers.
You could potentially use “white almond bark“. This is what my mother’s generation used for candy making. I’m not sure why it’s called almond bark as it tastes nothing like almonds but it does stay smooth-ish to give you enough time to dip without rushing.
Tip: Do not use white chocolate chips because not only are they tricky to melt, they will harden up too quickly before you will get all of your peanut butter balls dipped. Nor do I recommend white chocolate candy bars.
How to Store White Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
The great thing about these white chocolate peanut butter truffles is that you can make them in advance.
Actually, they’ll keep easily airtight at room temp for 5 days, in the fridge for 1 month, or in the freezer for 4 months or more.
For that reason, these two-bite peanut butter balls make excellent hostess gifts, or gifts for coworkers, teachers, or coaches. Or set them out at your holiday parties or include them as your cookie exchange contribution.
Everyone loves them and they’ll disappear long before they could potentially “go bad”.
Tips and Variations for the Best White Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles
This holiday dessert recipe is fast and easy to make! However, for the best white chocolate peanut butter balls, I have a few extra tips and tricks so yours turn out absolutely perfectly!
Peanut Butter: I highly recommend using creamy peanut butter. Crunchy peanut butter, combined with a graham cracker crumbs, is going to create a bit too much texture in my opinion.
However, if you’re absolutely married to the idea of crunchy peanut butter, you can give it a try and see how your peanut butter truffles turn out.
Additionally, use a creamy, no-stir, classic peanut butter like Jif, Skippy, or store bought.
Do not use peanut butter you need to stir together or any kind of peanut butter that separates. It’ll create a hassle you don’t need. Save that fancy organic peanut butter that you need to stir together for another use. For this recipe just some good old-fashioned Skippy or Jif.
Confectioners’ Sugar: If your confectioners’ sugar is lumpy, sift it to smooth out the lumps. It’ll make for a smoother peanut butter filling mixture.
Graham Cracker Crumbs: Because I bake a lot, I always have graham cracker crumbs on hand. It’s faster and easier using store-bought crumbs rather than crushing actual sheets of graham crackers.
However, that’s fine if that’s your preference. You’ll probably need about 5 sheets of full size graham crackers, give or take.
Size: You can make these peanut butter truffles or peanut butter balls any size you want. But I aim for about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons each and I always use a small or medium cookie scoop for uniformity and ease of shaping them.
Chocolate for Dipping: As I mentioned previously, use candy melts or melting wafers that are specifically intended for candy making and dipping.
I do not advise using chocolate chips or whole chocolate bars because they set up too quickly after they’re melted to get through dipping all of your peanut butter balls.
Not a fan of white chocolate? No problem, use milk or dark chocolate.
Chilling Time: be mindful after you’ve made the peanut butter balls, and they are shaped, they need to be chilled in the refrigerator for at least one hour. However, you can show them for up to 24 hours before you dip them. It’s best to start with nicely chilled peanut butter truffles before you dip them so the melted chocolate will cool and set up quicker.
Therefore, don’t rush the chilling time before dipping, nor after.
After you’ve dropped them, set them aside and just let them be to set up and chill. I personally do not like putting anything with melted chocolate in the fridge or freezer to speed up the process because it creates condensation and can effect the cosmetic sheen and appearance so I prefer to wait patiently and let them harden and set at room temp.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (use Jif, Skippy, or similar)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifting is recommend
- 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (or about 5 sheets full sized sheets graham crackers, or as necessary)
- 10 ounces Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers (or similar), or as needed
- Holiday sprinkles, as desired
Instructions
- To a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter.
- At the peanut butter, vanilla, and beat to combine, using a handheld electric mixer, or whisk to combine by hand.
- Add the confectioner sugar, graham cracker, crumbs, and beat or stir to incorporate.
- Using a small to medium cookie scoop, or using about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of peanut butter mixture per ball, for approximately 24 equally sized peanut butter balls.
- Roll each ball slightly through the palms of your hands to smooth.
- Place the formed peanut butter balls on a plate or tray, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight. Tip – Do not skip the chilling process, because it will be harder for the melted chocolate in the following steps to adhere and set up.
- Add the Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers (or similar), or as needed to a large, microwave-safe bowl, and heat according to package directions to melt smoothly.
- Using a fork or a toothpick, lightly pierce each peanut butter ball, and dip it in the white chocolate to coat completely. Place each dipped truffle on a wire rack or parchment paper.
- As you go, evenly sprinkle the tops with sprinkles or jimmies as desired before the chocolate begins to set up.
- Repeat the dipping and sprinkling process with all remaining peanut butter balls until all are dipped and sprinkled.
- Set aside at room, temperature, uncovered, to completely allow the chocolate to set up and fully harden* (See Notes)
- The peanut butter balls will keep airtight at room temperature for 5 days, in the refrigerator for at least 1 month, and in the freezer for at least 4 months.
Notes
*Tips – If you are using chocolate melts in white, milk or dark chocolate, which is what I recommend, it may take a little while (30 minutes or so) for the chocolate to fully set up, since these products are designed to not harden overly quickly.
Have patience and just let them sit at room temperature for as long as necessary to harden.
I do not like putting anything with melted chocolate in the refrigerator or freezer because it has a tendency to develop condensation later on out of the fridge or freezer, which cosmetically doesn’t look as good, and the glossy chocolate sheen will diminish.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 236Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 97mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 2gSugar: 17gProtein: 4g
More No-Bake Christmas Desserts:
No-Bake Oreo Balls — This Oreo balls recipe uses just 4 simple ingredients! If you’re looking for an easy no-bake dessert for cookie swaps or gift exchanges, this is it!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls — EASY, NO-BAKE chocolate peanut butter balls that are a holiday favorite!! They have it all: Salty, sweet, crunchy, with chocolate and peanut butter! Great for cookie exchanges or impromptu parties!!
Rum Balls – A classic rum balls recipe made with crushed ginger snaps cookies, toasted pecans, melted butter, and spiced rum! Roll these FAST and EASY NO-BAKE treats in confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, coconut, or dip them in melted chocolate! Great for gift-giving and cookie exchanges because you can make them far in advance!
Fudgy Bourbon Balls — Easy, no-bake, ready in 15 minutes, soft, chewy, and fudgy! Sugar and booze all in one bite-sized treat! Great for hostess gifts, holiday parties, and cookie exchanges!
Fudgy Brownie Balls — Looking for things to make with brownie mix? Look no further! These brownie balls are made with brownies, chocolate frosting, and dipped in melted chocolate! The combination of all that rich chocolate is absolutely PERFECT!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Stacks — Easy, no-bake treats that are a holiday favorite! They have it all: Salty, sweet, crunchy, and gooey with chocolate and peanut butter! Great for cookie exchanges or impromptu parties!!
Buckeye Fudge – Easy, no-cook, no-fuss, foolproof fudge that’s ready in 1 hour! Dense, chewy and full of rich peanut butter flavor with a smooth, fudgy chocolate topping! It’s irresistible!
Christmas Crack — A highly addictive, salty-sweet, crunchy, EASY Christmas treat that’s IRRESISTIBLE!! Great for gifts and cookie exchanges because it stays fresh and everyone LOVES IT!! (Almost no-bake and only bakes for 5 minutes!)
Loaded Christmas Puppy Chow — This fast, easy, no-bake holiday treat is LOADED with all the good stuff! Chocolate, peanut butter, sugar, M&Ms, peanut butter cups, and pretzels for a salty-sweet, crunchy, and addictive snack! Makes great little gifts because it keeps well and everyone LOVES it!
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