This delicious treat is perfect to take to a holiday party, family gathering, or whenever you want to impress your non-vegan or health-conscious friends with a surprisingly healthy dessert. Well, it’s not perfectly healthy but it’s pretty tame as far as desserts tend to go. These creamy peanut butter balls do not contain much fat or sugar, and no oil at all. In fact, they are also quite inexpensive to make because the main ingredient is… beans.
The center is soft peanut butter goodness. I gave one of these treats to my mom, and asked her what was inside – she guessed peanut butter. So it definitely has all that flavor despite being loaded with healthy and fiber rich beans. These treats are quite easy to make, albeit a little bit finicky with the melted chocolate. If the chocolate starts to set, melt it again so it’s viscous and easy to work with. This will help you spread a thin coat on each ball. And don’t forget to dust your hands in a bit of flour before rolling the peanut butter filling (otherwise it’s a little sticky).
Chocolate covered peanut butter balls
Ingredients
PEANUT BUTTER FILLING
- 3/4 cup white beans cooked, canned or from dry
- 3/4 cup peanut flour or powdered peanut butter, see notes
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup or preferred sweetener, optional
- 1 Tbsp aquafaba bean water from can or cooked beans, or sub water
CHOCOLATE COATING
- 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips check the label: oil free and limited ingredients recommended, such as Enjoy Life brand
Instructions
- Add the cooked beans, maple syrup, and aquafaba to a high speed blender, and combine well scraping down the sides regularly.
- Add the peanut flour, and blend until completely incorporated (adding more aquafaba if necessary to keep the blades moving). The mixture should still be very thick, similar to the consistency of play-doh.
- Remove the peanut butter filling from your blender and dust your hands with a bit of peanut flour, regular flour, or icing sugar.
- Remove a chunk of the peanut butter, and roll into a ball that’s about an inch diameter or so. Place on a baking sheet.
- Repeat for the rest of the peanut butter filling – you should have around 14-16 balls. Put the baking sheet in the fridge or freezer to chill while you melt the chocolate.
- Melt the chocolate on the stovetop or the microwave, stirring regularly throughout the melting process until completely melted and glossy.
- Roll each peanut butter ball in the chocolate until completely coated (I used a spoon to gently roll it in a large bowl), returning each ball to the baking sheet.
- Return the baking sheet to the fridge or freezer to allow the balls to set. Once set, you can place them in a container.
- Keep refrigerated, and enjoy within 3-5 days (honestly though… mine have never lasted close to that long!)
Recipe notes
If you do not have aquafaba reserved (the liquid from cooking beans, or the can), you can use water instead.
The sweetener is optional, and the type can be adjusted to what you prefer (such as stevia). If you are using this peanut butter with something else that is sweet (such as jam, or in a recipe), you may not want to add it at all. Test it before you remove the mixture from the blender to determine your preference.
Peanut flour is defatted, unsweetened peanuts. It is the same as “powdered peanut butter”, except it does not include any sweetener. If you use powdered peanut butter, you may be able to omit the added maple syrup in this recipe.
The vegan chocolate should spread fairly nice and thin, but how thick you coat each piece it will determine how far it goes. I used a bit less than in the recipe for 14 balls.
Adjustments
Instead of the chocolate, you can instead use a blend of cocoa and icing sugar. These treats will dry out in the fridge overnight, so I would recommend consuming them the same day (oh darn!) or wrapping tightly in a saran wrap or saran alternative.
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