I was watching Sweet Dreams on Food Network this afternoon, and they featured a recipe for Peanut Butter Balls (printer-friendly version). I’ll get to the Peanut Butter Balls in a sec, but first a bit on Sweet Dreams.
As it’s described on the site, “hosted by Gale Gand, Sweet Dreams brings you delectable desserts on a daily basis”. Though they’re not particularly good for me, I do enjoy desserts from time to time (and, if I’m going to do something, such as bake, I may as well do it well).
Sweet Dreams is well-intentioned and the recipes produce fabulous desserts (they look delicious on tv, at any rate). And, that’s the rub — the show is geared towards people who already have a knack for baking but just aren’t up to speed on desserts in particular. So, for newbie cooks such as myself, some of the recipes are just useless in their complexity.
But, that's not always the case — and that's where these Peanut Butter Balls come in. They look hella-easy to make (I was about to use the phrase “easy to bake”, but there's not even baking involved) and I think that even I could make these. Anyhow, the recipe:
- 18 ounces peanut butter
- 1 (16-ounce) box confectioners’ sugar
- 1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 12 ounces milk chocolate, melted
In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, graham cracker crumbs, and butter. Mash together until combined. Form the mixture into balls. Transfer to the refrigerator until hardened, about 30 minutes. Dip the peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate and set inside mini paper cupcake forms. Let the chocolate set before serving.
- Yield: 32 balls
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
The recipe also includes a sub-recipe for homemade peanut butter, but that seems like it might be more trouble than it’s worth :-/. I think I'll just stick with natural peanut butter for that role.
Does Metallica have a cook book? If not there marketing machine should get on the ball.