Peanut Butter Crunch Truffles

Peanut Butter Crunch Truffles I thought sounded nice and fancy, but "Chocolate Heaven" is what I like to call these little melt in your mouth concoctions.  With all of the crafting, procrastinating, wrapping and more procrastinating going on in my house I figured it was time for a treat!  I deserve it.. right??? OK, no I don't NEED these, but need and want are too very different things and today it a total WANT kind of day :)  And with Christmas just days away.. AHHHHHH! typing that while also staring at the piles of unwrapped/unfinished gifts in front of me I'm pretty sure I just experienced a mild panic attack! While I attempt to recover from this harsh reality I'll let you in on the back story. I found a similar recipe online a few years ago while searching for some new Christmas candy ideas and after a few tweaks have come up with just the right mix.. at least I think so :) I have been making these sinful morsels for the last couple of Christmas' and they are a big hit.  In fact they are so good I only allow myself to make them over the holidays and quickly get them out of my house in gift tins as fast as humanly possible because this "no willpower" girl would consume them ALL, wouldn't be able to fit into a single thing in my closet and would quite possibly be in a diabetic coma.  Because... dare I say they are even better than a Reese's.... they are creamy, chocolatey and crunchy!!!  Plus, they are super easy and only a few ingredients!  This is how I do it....

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

3 cups creamy peanut butter

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

4 cups rice krispies

2 teaspoons vanilla

chocolate chips or bark for covering

(I used the almond bark for this batch and used 2 packages and had some left over)

***This recipe makes 5-6 dozen depending on the size you make your truffles.

Mix the cereal and powdered sugar in a large bowl until combined.

Melt the butter and peanut butter in a saucepan until combined and pourable,remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.  Now pour the butter mix over the cereal mix and stir.  Make sure all the powdered sugar at the bottom is completely mixed in.  

Next, I used a small cookie scoop to measure out a portion and then used my hands to press it together into a ball.  Once that is done... this next step is key, I put all the peanut butter balls on a cookie sheet in the freezer for several hours... these stayed chilled over night because the kiddos wanted to take advantage of a rare day of sunshine in out neck of the woods.  Basically, you want them cold so that they will stay together when you cover them in the warm chocolate.  The first time I made these they tasted great but didn't look very pretty because they fell apart in the chocolate.  But, I saw a cake pop tutorial that recommended freezing them and thought I would give it a try and it works perfectly.  So put them in the freezer while you do something else or leave them a few days until you are ready for them, that's the beauty of this recipe.

Finally melt either chocolate chips or almond bark slowly in your microwave or over a double boiler... dip each ball and place on some wax paper.  I just use a big spoon, drop one in the bowl of chocolate, roll it around and then scoop it out... nothing too technical :)

In just a few minutes you will have these beauties!!!  

Delicious and oh so easy!

WARNING.... eating just one is impossible from my perspective!  If you can, I applaud you!  If you don't like chocolate and peanut butter I don't understand you!!!  HEHE!!

Enjoy, Lindsey