Vegan Peanut Butter Crunch Balls

These peanut butter candies are so good that I get requests to make them every year from my non-vegan friends! They are really easy to make and make great gifts! Here are the ingredients you will need:

I use a “natural” crunchy peanut butter like the one above that is made in a way to keep the oil from separating. I like Natural Jif or the Aldi brand best, but the Great Value one worked fine too. You can also use a regular crunchy peanut butter like Jif, Skippy, or Peter Pan, but do not use a natural peanut butter that has oil separation for this recipe as it will not work properly.

You will need two bags of chocolate chips, but I only had one left for the photo. I dipped half of the centers on one day, and then the rest a couple of days later after my mom went to Trader Joe’s for more chocolate chips. (The centers freeze well, so you can save half and wait up to a few months to dip them whenever you are ready.)

Start by toasting the crispy brown rice cereal in the oven for five minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Set the pan aside to cool:

Add the salt to the powdered sugar, and mix to combine. I use my homemade powdered sugar because most store-bought vegan powdered sugar is very expensive. (See the recipe notes if you are using store-bought because the measurement is different.)

Mostly melt your vegan butter (I use Earth Balance), then add the vanilla and mix them together:

Add the peanut butter (at room temperature) and the butter mixture to the salt and powdered sugar:

Start mixing with a sturdy spatula, then knead by hand until you have a smooth dough:

Add the toasted and cooled crispy brown rice cereal:

Gently mix it in by hand:

Scoop balls of the mixture and place them on a cookie sheet that is lined with waxed or parchment paper. You can pinch off pieces of dough and shape them by hand if you do not have a size 60 cookie scoop. Make balls that are about an inch in diameter. You should have about seventy balls:

Chill the peanut butter dough balls for at least an hour. You want them to be cold when you dip them so they hold their shape.

Temper one batch of chocolate and dip half of the dough balls. Repeat, or freeze the other half of the balls until you are ready to use them later. (Just be sure to let them defrost to fridge temperature before you dip them. You want them to be cold but not frozen when dipping.)

To dip each peanut butter crunch ball, place it upside down in the tempered chocolate, turn it over with a fork, lift it out of the chocolate, scrape the excess chocolate off the fork on the side of the bowl, and carefully transfer the dipped candy to waxed or parchment paper:

Sprinkle the top of the wet chocolate with some chopped peanuts. Add the peanuts right after dipping in the chocolate, because it will harden quickly.

Repeat until all of the first half of the peanut butter balls are dipped:

Have some additional peanuts ready to add to the leftover chocolate. Mix them in, then drop the mixture onto waxed or parchment paper in little clusters:

Wait until the chocolate is completely dry and hardened before packaging your candies.

I like to place each candy in a mini cupcake liner to make them fancier:

(See my post on how to package treats for detailed boxing instructions):

Enjoy!

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Peanut Butter Crunch Balls

Crunchy peanut butter centers are dipped in tempered vegan chocolate and topped with chopped peanuts to make a delicious candy!

Course Candy, Dessert

Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 70 candies

Calories 115 kcal

Author Deborah Mesdag

Ingredients

• 24 oz Vegan Chocolate Chips
• 24 g (2 TBS) Shortening
• 16 oz Chunky Peanut Butter (*see notes)
• 84 g (6 TBS) Vegan Butter
• 15 g (1 TBS) Vanilla Extract
• 1.6 g (1/4 tsp) Salt
• 60 g (2 c) Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice Cereal
• 420 g (3 c) Homemade Vegan Powdered Sugar (may need less if using store-bought)

Instructions

1. Start by toasting the crispy brown rice cereal in the oven for five minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Set the pan aside to cool.

2. Add the salt to the powdered sugar, and mix to combine. I use my homemade powdered sugar because most store-bought vegan powdered sugar is very expensive. (See the recipe notes if you are using store-bought because the measurement is different.)

3. Mostly melt your vegan butter (I use Earth Balance), then add the vanilla and mix them together.

4. Add the peanut butter (at room temperature) and the butter mixture to the salt and powdered sugar. Start mixing with a sturdy spatula, then knead by hand until you have a smooth dough.

5. Add the toasted and cooled crispy brown rice cereal. Gently mix it in by hand.

6. Scoop balls of the mixture and place them on a cookie sheet that is lined with waxed or parchment paper. You can pinch off pieces of dough and shape them by hand if you do not have a size 60 cookie scoop. Make balls that are about an inch in diameter. You should have about seventy balls. Chill the peanut butter dough balls for at least an hour. You want them to be cold when you dip them so they hold their shape.

7. Temper one batch of chocolate and dip half of the dough balls. Repeat, or freeze the other half of the balls until you are ready to use them later. (Just be sure to let them defrost to fridge temperature before you dip them. You want them to be cold but not frozen when dipping.)

8. To dip each peanut butter crunch ball, place it upside down in the tempered chocolate, turn it over with a fork, lift it out of the chocolate, scrape the excess chocolate off the fork on the side of the bowl, and carefully transfer the dipped candy to waxed or parchment paper. Sprinkle the top of the wet chocolate with some chopped peanuts. Add the peanuts right after dipping in the chocolate, because it will harden quickly. Repeat until all of the first half of the peanut butter balls are dipped.

9. Have some additional peanuts ready to add to the leftover chocolate. Mix them in, then drop the mixture onto waxed or parchment paper in little clusters.

10. Wait until the chocolate is completely dry and hardened before packaging your candies. I like to place each candy in a mini cupcake liner to make them fancier. (See my post on how to package treats for detailed boxing instructions.) Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

 

• I use a “natural” crunchy peanut butter that is made in a way to keep the oil from separating. I like Natural Jif or the Aldi brand best, but the Great Value one worked fine too. You can also use a regular crunchy peanut butter like Jif, Skippy, or Peter Pan, but do not use a natural peanut butter that has oil separation for this recipe as it will not work properly.

• You may need less powdered sugar if you are using store-bought. Start with 360 g (3c), and only add more after kneading if the dough is not firm enough to hold together without sticking to your hands and the bowl.