Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Balls

http://pinterest.com/pin/67624431875541830/

Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Balls

Ingredients: 

1 cup peanut butter (I used creamy)

1 1/2 cups graham crackers crumbs

¾ cup mini chocolate chips or Heath bits (I didn't get the chance to try the extra coating, but I bet the mini chocolate chips would be perfect. :) )

1 – 1 ¼ cup chocolate (I used semi-sweet chocolate)

Directions:

1. Take your graham crackers and blend to crumbs in a food processor until you get 1 ½ cups. Add graham crackers crumbs to the 1 cup of peanut butter. Mix it up good. You want the mixture to be dry enough to be able to form balls. Add a little bit more peanut butter or cracker crumbs to achieve this consistency if need be. 

2. Form 24 even sized balls with your hands and place on a wax paper covered plate, cutting board or baking sheet. Freeze for 30-60 minutes.

3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave until just melted (do not overcook!) or use a double boiler and stir chocolate until melted. Placed mini chips or crushed Heath bits in a small bowl. Note: You can use whatever topping that you would like including nuts, crushed Oreo…etc.

4. Using a toothpick or fork dip the peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate, one at a time, and then toss in the topping until covered. Refrigerate or freeze until firm.

The inner mixture was REALLY messy.  My hands were covered and by the time I was through half of it, it was really hard to make the balls.  The colder/firmer it is, the better.

This recipe was a hit!  We had some extended family over and everyone liked it - and it was tested by at least 8 people!  I wasn't eager to like the end product at first because they were a bit of a hassle to make, but I have to admit that they were pretty darn good.  A few notes for the future...The ones that had a thicker layer of chocolate were the best, so I'm going to melt more chocolate the next time I make them.  Also, the inside was rather difficult to work with, so I may try making the graham cracker crumbs even finer (I used a rolling pin instead of a food processor - the old fashioned way ;) ) and adding some powdered sugar to help the texture, as well as the taste.  Another thing to know is that using a toothpick to chocolate-cover them only worked for the first 4 balls, so you definitely have to be willing to get messy.

As you can tell, not very many of them turned out pretty.

The Last Word: A Small and yummy treat, great for sharing :)