Healthy Peanut Butter Balls (No Refined Sugar!)

These healthy peanut butter balls are made without any refined sugar at all. They are sweetened with honey - even the chocolate!

I LOVED peanut butter balls growing up. In fact, they were probably my number 1 favorite Christmas treat. These healthy peanut butter balls come together quickly and store well in the freezer for an easy make ahead Christmas treat. My kids love these just like I do.

Healthy Peanut Butter Balls

I used smooth peanut butter but you can use crunchy for more texture. I also used coconut flour to bind the ingredients and honey to sweeten the mix. You can add some organic crisp rice - the One Degree sprouted brown rice crisps are by far the best brand out there. They are sprouted making them easier on the digestive system AND they are naturally sweetened with coconut sugar.

The Ingredients

These healthy peanut butter balls have simple clean ingredients.

• Peanut butter (just containing peanuts!)

• Honey

• Coconut flour

• Homemade dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips

• Vanilla extract

• Sea salt

• Rice crisps (optional)

The Steps

First, you mix together the peanut butter, coconut flour, honey, vanilla, and salt. I didn’t have to heat up any of the ingredients but if your peanut butter is on the dryer side, you might want to heat it up a little to soften it. Once these ingredients are mixed together well, add in the rice crisps. These are optional but give a nice crunch to these healthy peanut butter balls.

Once the mix is well mixed, place the peanut butter mixture in the fridge for 20-30 minutes or until it is hard enough to roll between your hands. You can also place the mixture in the freezer but don’t leave it too long (like overnight) or it’ll be impossible to roll.

Roll about 1.5 tablespoons of the peanut butter mixture in to a ball. Once all the mixture is rolled in to balls - place them on a pan and in to the freezer while you melt some chocolate. This step can be a little longer if you like - like overnight - if you want to break the steps up a bit.

Once the chocolate is melted and cooled, begin dipping the peanut butter balls in to the chocolate, coating completely. Let the melted chocolate become slightly thick before you start dipping these healthy peanut butter balls so that the chocolate sticks nicely to them.

Once all the peanut butter balls are coated in chocolate, put them back in the freezer for another 30 minutes or until chocolate is hardened. Store these in the fridge or freezer. I personally like keeping these in the freezer and letting them thaw slightly before digging in.

Substitutions

You can easily substitute the honey for any other liquid sweetener like maple syrup. A dry sweetener, like coconut sugar, might make these pretty grainy. I haven’t tried substituting the coconut flour for any other flour but you could try almond flour or even ground flax seed. You could also use any other nut butter - almond butter balls would be tasty! Or sunflower butter balls for a nut free option. You may have to adjust the sweetener to your liking with other nut or seed butters.

If you don’t want to make your own chocolate, use dark chocolate chips or dark baking chocolate that is unsweetened and add your own sweetener.

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Healthy Peanut Butter Balls

Makes 15-20 / 20 minutes prep time

Ingredients

• 1 cup Peanut butter, smooth or crunchy

• 1/3 cup coconut flour

• 1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup)

• 1/2 cup rice crisps (optional)

• 3/4 cup dark chocolate, melted

• Generous pinch sea salt

Directions

1. Mix peanut butter, coconut flour, and honey together in a large mixing bowl. Once mixed well, add rice crisps and fold in.

2. Place peanut butter mixture in to the fridge or freezer for at least 15 minutes or until hardened enough to roll in to balls.

3. While in the fridge, melt dark chocolate in double boiler. Once melted, let cool slightly so that it thickens up a bit.

4. Remove the peanut butter mixture from the fridge, line a tray with parchment paper, and roll about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the peanut butter mixture in to balls and place on pan.

5. Once all the mixture is rolled in to balls, begin dipping the balls in to the chocolate, coating completely. Place on tray and repeat until all are covered in chocolate.

6. Place in freezer until chocolate is hardened.

7. Store in fridge or freezer until ready to enjoy!