Christmas Peanut Butter Balls

I have a few other Peanut Butter Ball recipes on my site, but I like this one with the use of crunchy cereal.  We didn't have Rice Krispies so we just crushed Rice Chex and used that. We made these on Christmas Eve.  I was so tired; I made the "dough" with my daughter, and then she and my husband dipped them in chocolate.  They turned out well, and of course are so tasty.  I didn't want to make them because we were making other things already, (fudge and caramels), but I'm glad we did.  They only lasted a few days too; they're gone now. Lol.  

Note: This calls for melting the pb and butter together first.  I did it, but I'm not sure it's necessary, and it made this recipe take forever to make since it had to then cool for a few hours in the fridge until we could even work with it.  Next time, I'd just use softened butter and mix with a mixer.  I can't think of any benefit of melting them together vs. mixing with a mixer.  

Christmas Peanut Butter Balls

adapted from Spend with Pennies

2 cups peanut butter creamy or chunky
½ cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups Rice Krispie cereal
⅓ cup graham crumbs
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon coconut oil

1.  Combine peanut butter and butter in a saucepan and melt over medium heat. (Note: if you do this, you'll have to let the mixture cool before forming balls.  I'd just let the butter soften and then mix from there.) 

2.  Stir in powdered sugar, Rice Krispies and graham crumbs.  Roll into 1" balls and place on a baking sheet. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. (Before rolling, I had to refrigerate for 2 hours since the mixture was way too soft, then stuck in the fridge another few hours before dipping.) 

3.  Melt chocolate chips at 50% power in the microwave until almost smooth. Stir in coconut oil.  (I always use a double boiler to melt chocolate; I find this works better than microwaving.  Or, use a heavy saucepan over super low heat.)  Dip peanut butter balls into the chocolate mixture allowing excess to drip off. Place on a parchment lined pan and cool completely.

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