Peanut Butter Balls with Rice Krispies
Peanut Butter Balls with Rice Krispies are the perfect no bake dessert that can be ready in under 30 minutes! Creamy and crunchy, sweet and salty, these sweet treats are hard to resist!
In my humble opinion, there is no better combination than chocolate and peanut butter. Whether it’s in Easter Bunny Bait, Soft and Chewy Monster Cookies, Peanut Butter Ganache on Chocolate Cupcakes, or these Peanut Butter Balls with Rice Krispie Treats, this classic combination hits it out of the park every time.
And while it’s sometimes fun to bake up a cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting, most times it’s even better to be able to whip up a quick treat. That’s why these No Bake Peanut Butter Balls are the absolute best dessert! From start to end, they are ready in under 30 minutes.
Make this sweet treat for Christmas (alongside my classic Christmas Trifle) or as a special snack any time of year. No matter when you make them, they are bound to be a hit, loved by anyone that tries them!
Ingredients for Peanut Butter Balls with Rice Krispies
- Butter: I use unsalted butter, but you can also use salted.
- Creamy Peanut Butter: This recipe uses the peanut butter that you do not have to stir. Natural peanut butter where the oil separates from the ground peanuts may have a different texture and need different measurements. If you want extra crunchy Peanut Butter balls, use Crunchy Peanut Butter.
- Vanilla Extract
- Powdered Sugar: Also known as confectioner’s sugar
- Rice Krispie Cereal: For a gluten free option, use a gluten free crispy rice cereal. Rice Krispies name brand cereal is not gluten free.
- Semisweet Chocolate Chips: Or dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate.
- Vegetable Oil: To make the chocolate shinier and thinner. The more you add, the more melty your chocolate will be at room temperature.
- Sprinkles (optional)
How to Make this Recipe
Step 1: Make the Dough
Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Set aside.
Use an electric hand mixer to cream together the unsalted butter, creamy peanut butter, and vanilla extract.
Add the powdered sugar about ¼ cup at a time, mixing between each addition.
Use a wooden spoon to hand mix the Rice Krispie cereal into the bowl.
Step 2: Roll into Balls
Portion the dough into 1 Tbsp portions and roll into a ball in your hand.
Place the Peanut Butter Balls on the wax paper lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
Step 3: Dip in Chocolate
When the dough is almost done freezing, melt the chocolate chips. To do so, place the chocolate chips and the vegetable oil in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 second increments, stirring between each set, until completely melted.
Remove the dough from the freezer. Drop the peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate, then place the balls back on the wax paper lined baking sheet.
Place the cookie sheet back in the freezer for another 5-10 minutes until the chocolate hardens. Then serve and enjoy!
The Importance of Chilling
Chilling the dough is an important part of getting these Peanut Butter Balls with Rice Krispies right! Here are some tips:
- Chilling the mixture will make dipping the balls in chocolate so much easier. Do not skip this step!
- Make sure that the balls are set in the fridge or freezer until the chocolate fully hardens before serving. If not, your guests may end up with chocolatey fingers!
- Try dipping about 10 balls at a time while the rest continue to chill in the freezer. That way, they don’t thaw before it’s their turn to be rolled in chocolate!
Expert Tips
- If your chocolate keeps cooling down too fast before you can finish dipping your peanut butter balls, try only melting 1-2 cups of chocolate chips at a time. Then move on to melting the next batch when it’s time.
- Feel free to mix in other additions into the peanut butter dough. Get creative with other cereals, candies or flavorings.
- The filling in this recipe is very similar to the filling in my Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites. If you split the filling recipe from this post in half and only add the Rice Krispies to one half, you can use the other half of the filling to make those tasty treats with a salty kick!
Decoration Suggestions
These Peanut Butter Balls with Rice Krispies are beautiful if served just as the instructions suggest, but you can also dress them up! Here are some ideas:
- Sprinkles: Red and green sprinkles are great for Christmas time, but use pink sprinkles for Valentines day, purple sprinkles for Easter, or Black sprinkles for an everyday decoration.
- Chocolate Drizzle: You can drizzle any extra melted chocolate on top of the peanut butter balls. Use semi-sweet chocolate or melted white chocolate. If you are using white chocolate, you can color it with any color you desire!
- Dried Fruit: Try grinding up dehydrated fruit and sprinkling it on the melted chocolate before it hardens. Strawberry or raspberry would be delicious and the taste results in a PB&J combination!
- Sea Salt: Adding flaky sea salt to the tops of these candies will create a delightful sweet and salty flavor, while also giving the treats an elevated look!
- Extras: Chopped nuts, shredded coconut, or graham cracker crumbs would also be fun toppings to experiment with.
Recipe FAQs
Keep these Peanut Butter Balls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days! You can also freeze these in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Allow the candy to rest at room temperature for a few hours before biting into them.
Your ratio of peanut butter to other ingredients might be off. In this case, add more powdered sugar or puffed rice cereal.
You may have added too much powdered sugar! In this case, feel free to add more peanut butter into the bowl.
Did you enjoy this recipe for Peanut Butter Balls with Rice Krispies? If so, make sure to check out these other recipes I picked out just for you:
Peanut Butter Balls with Rice Krispies
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl(s)
- Wax Paper
- Cookie Sheet
Ingredients
- 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups Creamy Peanut Butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 ½ cups Rice Krispie cereal
- 3 cups Semisweet Chocolate chips
- 1 Tbsp Vegetable oil
- Sprinkles, optional
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Set aside.
- Use an electric hand mixer to cream together the unsalted butter, creamy peanut butter, and vanilla extract.
- Add the powdered sugar about ¼ cup at a time, mixing between each addition.
- Use a wooden spoon to hand mix the Rice Krispie cereal into the bowl. Portion the dough into 1 Tbsp portions and roll into a ball in your hand. Place the Peanut Butter Balls on the wax paper lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
- When the dough is almost done freezing, melt the chocolate chips. To do so, place the chocolate chips and the vegetable oil in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 second increments, stirring between each set, until completely melted.
- Remove the dough from the freezer. Drop the peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate, then place the balls back on the wax paper lined baking sheet.
- Place the cookie sheet back in the freezer for another 5-10 minutes until the chocolate hardens. Then serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Butter: I use unsalted butter, but you can also use salted.
- Creamy Peanut Butter: This recipe uses the peanut butter that you do not have to stir. Natural peanut butter where the oil separates from the ground peanuts may have a different texture and need different measurements. If you want extra crunchy Peanut Butter balls, use Crunchy Peanut Butter.
- Rice Krispie Cereal: For a gluten free option, use a gluten free crispy rice cereal. Rice Krispies name brand cereal is not gluten free.
- Semisweet Chocolate Chips: Or dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate.
- If your chocolate keeps cooling down too fast before you can finish dipping your peanut butter balls, try only melting 1-2 cups of chocolate chips at a time. Then move on to melting the next batch when it’s time.
- Feel free to mix in other additions into the peanut butter dough. Get creative with other cereals, candies or flavorings
