Yum
Deep dark confession time. When I was a kid, I loathed peanut butter. Even worse than plain peanut butter was chocolate and peanut butter together. The very thought of that flavor combo made my skin crawl.
I don’t know how or where it happened, but somewhere along the way I accidentally tried the flavors together, again. I remember closing my eyes, waiting to get that horrible “BLAHHH” sensation, but then something amazing happened. The chocolate and peanut butter began to dance a beautiful, memorable waltz in my mouth, and I fell in love for all time. If you still need a last minute Christmas treat for your coworkers, or you just need a sweet little indulgence for yourself after a long day, these little beauties will charmingly fit the bill. 🙂
What are we waiting for? Let’s do this!
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles
(adapted from Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
1 stick of butter, softened (no substitutes)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp. whole milk or cream
Dark chocolate chips, for coating
Chopped peanuts for decorating, optional
Directions:
Cream together softened butter (do not use margarine for this recipe) and peanut butter until creamy. Add in powdered sugar and slowly mix. Add the milk slowly while keeping the mixer running at low speed. When the mixture is combined, whip the mixture on high for about 1 minute, until it thickens and becomes very fluffy. Roll mixture into 1 or 2 tsp. balls and freeze until solid. Dip frozen centers in melted chocolate and top with chopped peanuts, if desired. Allow truffles to harden in the refrigerator until solid.
Now, in pictures! 🙂
Now, I’m going to admit something here. I often substitute margarine for butter in recipes. I do this for several reasons: (1) butter is expensive, and (2) I am poor. haha. Dear butter police, please don’t judge me. 😉 Most of the time I can totally sub margarine, and no one knows the difference.
But this recipe is not one of those times. If you use margarine in this recipe (I tried), it will turn out oily and oddly grainy. You won’t get the gorgeous whipped peanut butter fluffy stuff that you need. So use real butter. And cream your peanut butter and softened butter together until they are light and oh-so-creamy.
Next add in your powdered sugar and SLOWLY mix. If you start out on high speed you might as well start singing “White Christmas,” because your entire kitchen will be blanketed in a layer of the white stuff. 😉
With your mixer going at its lowest setting, slowly add in the milk. When everything is mixed, set the mixer on high speed for about 1 minute. You will be amazed to see your icing turn into this light, fluffy, beautifully puffy stuff. I don’t know how else to describe it, but it’s so fun.
Now for the next part, it really helps to have a cookie scoop. A scoop cuts your work in half, and it helps all your truffles to be the same size. I prefer the Zeroll cookie scoops here 
Get a generous scoop of the peanut butter “fluffy stuff,” and use your hands to roll the blob into a smooth ball. Surprisingly, the mixture isn’t sticky, and it shouldn’t stick to your fingers too much. (Must be all that BUTTAHHHHHH!!!). 😉
Place your finished peanut butter centers on a foil-lined baking sheet and freeze them until they are solid. The freezing step just helps the centers to stay solid when they take a bath in the warm chocolate. (*Drifts off thinking about warm chocolate baths, complete with a brownie loofah . . .*)
This next part is super easy, and super fun. When your peanut butter centers have frozen, go ahead and melt your chocolate chips. I like to use a small plastic bowl and melt the chocolate about a cup at a time. Just use the microwave and stir your chocolate every 30 seconds until it’s nice and ooey gooey.
Use a fork to hold the peanut butter center, and use a small spoon to drip the chocolate over the top of the frozen ball. You can get all artsy and swirl the top too, if you want.
This part is totally optional, but I sprinkled a few chopped peanuts on top of my freshly dipped truffles. If you want to add the nuts, make sure you sprinkle them right after dipping, or the chocolate won’t be soft enough to adhere to them. You know what that is? Wait for it . . . that’s NUTS!! hehe.
Let your truffles dry completely (the fridge speeds up the process if you’re hungry! 😉 so that all that chocolate loveliness hardens. Of course, seeing as it’s winter, I have turned my entire garage into kind of a gigantic walk in freezer . . . haha. It’s cold out there, but my little bit of Antarctica works wonders for hardening chocolate treats. 😉
When your truffles are hardened completely, package them up nice and cutesy in a few festive Christmas tins, nestled into a few sheets of parchment or Christmas tissue paper. Take some of these sweet treats to your kids’ teachers, or to a friend or neighbor. Share some sweets and some nice conversation.
But don’t forget to keep a few of these little beauties for yourself. Close your eyes and take a bite of one of them. Let the dark chocolate and the dreamy, creamy peanut butter do that sweet little waltz in your mouth.
Magic, isn’t it?
You did it. And I’m just so proud of you.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which just means that we get a few pennies if you purchase through our link. I never recommend products that I don't personally use and love. Thanks!
