Chocolate Balls

Step #1 goes smoothly. Step #2 for me was a disaster. After adding the shortening to the chocolate, the ingredients turned to sludge. Fortunately, I have a friend who makes these, and she gave me her recipe for the dipping mixture and the end result was fantastic. Melt 2 cups of choc. chips with 2 tbsp. veg. oil in microwave on high for one minute. Stir and microwave for 30 seconds more. An additional 15 seconds might be required. Dip the balls as instructed in the last sentence of Step #2.

***VEGAN APPROVED!***This is a great, easy recipe! I used rice crispies instead of graham crackers to make it GLUTEN FREE for a guest and everyone loved them! I also didn't have baking squares of chocolate but it made no difference, I just used the chocolate chips and shortening. Afterwards I covered them in different toppings like coconut and walnut! DELICIOUS!

I haven't tried this particular recipe, but I make something similar every year. After reading a lot of the reviews I figured I would add a little tip: Instead of shortening, I use 1 stick of household parafin wax mixed with 1 bag of chocolate chips in a double boiler for the coating. The wax helps the chocolate set quicker and harder and makes for a nice sheen. It also thins the chocolate to make it easier to dip the balls. Also, if your peanut butter is too thin or melty, just keep adding more confectioners sugar until the dough is stiff enough to work with. We make peanut butter balls similar to these every year (never tried it with the graham cracker though, may have to try that this year!)and we love them! It's a must have every year!!

Tastey! Easy but somewhat messy. Next time I will make some minor changes, such as line the storage container with wax paper, before I start dipping the cookies. Use a toothpick to dip the cookie in melted chocolate. Then put the cookie on the wax paper. I needed to put mine in the fridge to set, so it got a little messy transferring the cookies... but a very good cookie!

Amazing & rich! I substituted graham crackers with rice crispies and the shortening with 2 tbsp vegetable oil (as previous reviewers recommended). The best!! HINT: Keep extra confectioners (icing) sugar on hand when you roll the balls as it helps keep the peanut butter mixture off your hands. Also, use the freezer to help keep the balls solid both before and after you've dipped them in the chocolate. It takes time but WELL worth it!!!

I made this recipe as a cookie exchange for the holidays. Instead of using the semi-sweet chocolate i used chocolate candy melts which I already had. It came out great. Tastes better than peanut butter cups.

Very good but very, very rich!! I would try to make smaller chocolate balls next time. Still a great recipe

I just didn't care for these that much. Edible, but not something I'd bother repeating.

There are tasty, but a bit messy when it comes to the chocolate. I should have put them in the freezer prior to going to step 2 but i just put them in the fridge, they were not firm enough when put in hot chocolate. I will learn from my mistake and would make these again.

For some reason the peanut butter mixture would not stick together to form balls. I don't understand why.

A big hit! For a tasty twist, substitute Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread for the peanut butter - heavenly. :) As noted by others, you are best to pop the balls in the freezer while waiting for the chocolate to melt. Back in the freezer to set once done. These are a breeze to make...and disappear just as fast.

I used to make these every Christmas. One year, when I forgot to buy graham crackers, I crushed rice krispies as a substitute, and found we prefer them. My recipe also added coconut to the filling, which I loved, but the kids hated!

Made these for my mom for christmas. She also got a set of box chocolates, with the same sort of idea. I was kind of worried but she liked mine so much, she said she'd trade the whole store bought box for just one of mine! I used milk chocolate chips, semisweet baking squares and vegetable oil for the drizzle.

Fantastic! I used natural peanut butter for the inside and a mixyure of semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips for the coating. Also, I microwaved the chocolate coating as was suggested by an earlier reiewer. I also froze them which was great - it made dipping them better. Also I just dunked the balls in the hcocolate and lifted them out with a fork. I could do 5 at a time this way and they still turned out looking good.

These were really good and very easy to make. I had no problem with them setting up or the chocolate. I will say one thing, for those who don't bake that often. I often make things coated in chocolate. In the winter months, they set up within an hour and they set up beautifully. However...during the summer months, I find that the chocolate needs to be allowed to set up for 24 hours. So, if done during the summer, make them 24 hours before you need them and you should be fine. But they are great.

this was a huge success over the holidays. I made a bunch of them and everyone loved them.

very tasty!! even better if you add a touch of coconut to them!! followed recipe exactly and only made about 25.... overall, very yummy recipe and will make in the future!

I try to make these every Christmas - they are a big hit! I will try freezing the balls first this year, and also using the confectioner's sugar to help keep the PB mixture off my hands. It's a very messy process so every bit helps!

I liked these, they tasted similar to reeses cups. I used natural peanut butter, they were easy to shape, and were not to sticky. I would make these again, but instead of using semi- sweet chocolate I would use milk chocolate. I melted the chocolate in the microwave with some oil like others suggested and it turned out great. I made my balls quite small, (about 1/2 golf ball but bigger then a marble) and the ratio of chocolate to insides seemed good.

way too sweet, will not make again!

I make these every year for the holidays and I have to make a double batch. Everyone eats them up. I make them just as the recipe says, including shortening (Crisco) NOT oil. Not sure why people had trouble with that. The Crisco melts right in with the chocolate while giving it a glossy look without making it too runny. I just substitute Sunbutter for peanut butter since my son has a peanut allergy. A good tip is to refrigerate the balls before dipping them, even overnight. It can be time consuming to do everything in one sitting and the cold balls are easier to dip. I just use a fork like the recipe says, then sprinkle with a few Christmas colored sprinkles. I've been making these for years and will continue to make them.

Following the other comments here about refrigerating the mixture before you dip the balls and using powdered sugar on your fingers to keep the balls from sticking to them was very helpful. I thought these tasted great and will definitely make them again. I discovered a few other things while I made this. -I had plenty of graham crackers so I didn't buy graham cracker crumbs. I used Honey Maid Graham Crackers and crushed them myself. 1 cup is 5 sheets (largest rectangles). Put them into a ziploc bag and break them against the counter with the sides of your fists. Then, I was requested to make a recipe that was peanut-free, so came up with the following solution instead of using peanut butter: -4 tbsp unsalted butter -half a bag of marshmallows (total of 4oz) -melt in microwave for 3 min on 60% power, mixing half way through -mix this into the graham cracker crumb and sugar mixture -use graham cracker and sugar mixture to pick up the tacky pieces and form them into balls. If you coat your fingers with the graham cracker crumbs and sugar, you can make little balls without everything getting too sticky And for both types of balls, whether I made peanut butter ones or marshmallow ones, I had a hard time keeping them on a fork or a toothpick when I dipped them. So I would put a few balls into the melted chocolate, spoon chocolate on top of them and then remove them with rubber tipped tongs.

excellent, but way too rich. eat a teaspoon at a time.

These cookies are awesome. My two year old can help me with most all except the dipping!

I wish I would've read past reviews before I attempted making these. They were very good but didn't make very many because of all the peanut butter that stuck to my hands. Next time I'll know better and put the balls in the freezer before dipping them in chocolate. It also took a long time for the chocolate to harden.

absolutely wonderful, easy and very good.

These were really good and pretty easy to make. The only thing was that the balls were a little hard to dip in the chocolate because they are so soft. So, I put them in the freezer for a few minutes first - it made them much easier to work with.

I didn't have any shortening and tried to use butter instead.I also tried to use a few peanut butter chips mixed in, it didn't get "liquidy" enough to coat balls easily. Don't try it.

I made this recipe a couple years now since it's so good. I add a little extra powdered sugar while mixing the final dough, to make sure it's not too sticky, and then I wet my hands and shake off excess water before rolling the balls, and repeat throughout the process about each six balls. You can tell when they're getting sticky. Wetting your hands helps in two ways; it prevents the dough from sticking to your hands, and ensures your rolled balls are smooth and round when you set them down. I cool them before dipping, by placing them on our unheated enclosed porch, for an hour or so depending on the outdoor temperature (normally well below freezing), until they're stiff and easy to work with. I use tempered brick chocolate since it's readily available at the store before the holidays. Perfect! Thank you for posting!

Amazing! Just Amazing. These are super quick to make and super duper yummy!

excellent

husband ate almost all within a 36 hour period!!

Not bad. Make sure the graham crackers are finely crushed thoroughly. I'm not a huge fan of semi-sweet chocolate and is probably the reason why I rated it 3 stars. I probably won't make this exact recipe again, if I do I'll change it up in some way.

Yum!

so amazing made if for my classroom

I think that the recipe may have been wrong. When I put the shortening with the chocolate, the chocolate would not melt. I found another recipe of the same thing and it said to put the shortening with the peanut butter mix. I eventually just melted milk chocolate and dipped the peanut butter mix into it (but let me tell you, peanut butter on a fork in chocolate does not work very well!) The peanut butter balls slipped off the fork into the chocolate and was very difficult to transfer onto the wax paper. With the milk chocolate on, they tasted pretty good-just like a reese's peanut butter cup.

I make these throughout the year for my family to enjoy. As they say "peanut butter and chocolate....enough said"

I thought these were Great! Very easy to put together and not as sweet as the "oreo balls" that I have made in the past.... now a new task at hand - how do I turn these into S'more balls. Maybe some marshmallow fluff?

Maybe my kids didn't make these right or they were just not to my taste. Not my favorite.

This are simple and delicious! I made them as part of candy tin gifts for Christmas and they were a hit!!