I wasn’t really sure what to call these peanut butter snowballs because they’re really like snowball cookies but white chocolate covered ones. Whatever you want to call them, they’re delicious. And they’re the perfect Christmas treat to enjoy after a round of Christmas minute to win it games or to add to your next holiday treat tray! They combine butter, graham crackers, and peanut butter on the inside then get coated with white chocolate on the outside to make them look just like the fluffy snowflakes that I hope we all see a lot of this year! I think most snowball cookies are covered in powdered sugar on the outside but these are a little different since they’re filled with powdered sugar and then coated with the white chocolate. They may not be traditional snowball cookies and are a bit more like these Oreo truffles or these brownie balls, but I think you’re going to love them all the same!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy – if you can melt chocolate, you can make these snowballs! They’re just a few ingredients that get mixed then dipped in melted chocolate!Make ahead – these are the perfect treat to make ahead of time since they keep so well! Slight crunch – these snowballs have a fun addition of a little crunch because of the graham crackers in the cookies, it adds a nice variety to the creaminess of the peanut butter and chocolate.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Butter – unsalted butter is best in this recipe so that you don’t end up with salty snowballs, although that sounds kind of fun so maybe you can try that too. Peanut butter – you want to use creamy peanut butter and make sure not to use the natural kind. You want the peanut butter to be totally mixed together already because the oil that separates from the natural kind can cause issues with forming the snowballs. Graham cracker crumbs – you can either buy boxed graham cracker crumbs (ideal) or just use a food processor to crush up your own like I did with these mini cheesecakes. White chocolate – white chocolate melting wafers are the best for these but if you can’t get those, you can use white chocolate chips or just white baking chocolate. The melting wafers just melt and harden quickly.
How to Make Peanut Butter Snowballs
These snowball treats are pretty simple to make. Not quite as simple as say these Andes mint cookies but pretty close! To start, melt your butter then combine it with the peanut butter and vanilla in a large bowl. You can either use a hand mixer or put the ingredients in a stand mixer and beat. Once that’s completely combined, add the powdered sugar and graham cracker crumbs then beat again until they are well mixed into the peanut butter mix. Cover the entire bowl with saran wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes. Once chilled, remove from the fridge and scoop out portions using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon and roll into balls using your hands. Continue rolling until all of the dough has been formed into balls. Place the balls on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with saran wrap, and place in the freezer for at least an hour, ideally overnight. When the peanut butter balls have been chilling for long enough, it’s time to coat them in white chocolate! Place a cooling rack on a cookie sheet or line it with wax or parchment paper. Melt the white chocolate melting wafers either in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl at 30 second increments or on the stove using a double boiler. If you’re going with the double boiler method, pour the chocolate into something else for dipping once the chocolate is melted. Melt until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Use a fork and carefully dip the peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate – make sure to work quickly so the balls don’t get too soft! This is why freezing overnight is beneficial, they’ll get soft less quickly. Place the dipped balls onto parchment paper then immediately sprinkle with sprinkles if you’re using them so the chocolate doesn’t harden before you can add them. Let the chocolate completely harden before enjoying! I mean just look at the inside of that delicious treat!
Expert Tips
Make sure to freeze the snowballs for at least an hour, the longer the better, before dipping in the white chocolate. This will keep the snowballs from melting and falling apart when you dip them. Place a handful of snowballs in a treat bag, tie with a ribbon and these Christmas treat tags, and hand out for neighbor gifts or as favors at a Christmas party! Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days or in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. They’re good both at room temperature and chilled directly from the fridge.
More Christmas treats
If you like these peanut butter snowballs, you’ll love these other treats to put on your holiday cookie tray!
Reindeer chow – this yummy Christmas snack mix combines chocolate coated cereal with chocolate covered candies, peanut butter cups, and pretzels!Santa Hat cupcakes – these fun Santa hat inspired cupcakes start with a red velvet cupcake and get finished with a candy coated hat. Grinch sugar cookies – these darling cookies are inspired by the leaning trees in the very first Grinch movie. They’re cute and delicious!Red velvet cookies – homemade red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate chips and a white chocolate drizzle!Peanut butter blossoms – these are the best peanut butter blossom recipe you’ll ever try! Soft, fluffy, and perfect.
