Mom's Peanut Butter Balls

All right, all right.... so it doesn't involve baking. But I do expand my horizons to candy making and other general dessert goodness, so there.

While nothing about these candies scream "Christmas" these are a holiday goodie to me, because as long as I remember my mom would make mountains of them every December. My brothers and I would be there in the kitchen rolling and dipping (and eating, of course) for hours. We wouldn't have a spare cookie sheet or pizza pan in the house, and every bit of fridge space was taken over with precariously balanced sheets of candies. They're easy to put together, though a tad time consuming, and they're generally well received by the multitudes. If you like peanut butter and chocolate, you'll love these.

Mom's Peanut Butter Balls

1 lb Butter, melted
18 oz Creamy Peanut Butter
9 1/2 oz Powdered Sugar
2 14.4 oz boxes Graham Crackers (Honey flavored)
24 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Yes, a whole pound of butter. Disclaimer: These are not good for you.

Crush the graham crackers into fine crumbs. The easiest way is in a food processor, I do about a package (1/3 of a box) at a time, break into somewhat even pieces and then just let it run. A few chunks won't hurt anything, but the finer the crumb the smoother the consistency of the finished candy. Also, larger crumbs won't absorb as much liquid and could lead to a runny mixture, needing some extra crumbs to thicken it up. My mom was old-school and always did it with wax paper and a rolling pin, and by the end of the day she'd get tired and wouldn't crush them as much as the first batches, and they were never as good of quality.

Combine all ingredients except chocolate and oil in a mixing bowl - I like my stand mixer of course, but this is totally doable by hand. If you choose the power tool option, layer your ingredients so that at least a 1/3 of the graham cracker is on top and go at the lowest speed to start, the melted butter can have a tendency to splash and powdered sugar likes to fly everywhere. After it starts to come together boost it up to medium or medium-high until it starts to firm up and come away from the sides of the bowl.

It should be wet looking but still firm, if it's exceptionally gooey add a little extra graham cracker to tighten it up. Again, differing from my mom, I weigh all my ingredients and make sure my graham cracker is dust, so I haven't encountered this problem near as often as she does. 

Now the fun part! Scoop (I use a #40 disher, or Oxo medium size) into even amounts and roll into balls. Place on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet and chill for at least an hour, or until firm. It makes a lot of candies, about 5 dozen. And if you're impatient, I think they're totally delicious plain and I'll munch on them now.

When you're ready to start dipping, melt your chocolate in a double boiler with the little bit of vegetable oil. The oil allows for a smooth and even coating of the candy. Double boilers come packaged as sets or you can just use a stainless steel mixing bowl and a regular saucepan. Make sure the bowl is bigger than the pan, you do not want the bottom to touch the water. Add about an inch of water to the bottom pan, set it over low heat, and slowly melt the chocolate while stirring frequently. When all the chips are ALMOST melted, pull from heat and stir until smooth. Dip the candy one at a time, completely coating in chocolate and then letting the excess drip back into the pan. I use a large serving fork, and tap it against the side of the pan to make sure the coat is even. The more you let it drip into the pan, the less of a puddle you'll have on the bottom of your finished candies. 

Place the dipped balls back onto a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. You will need about twice as much space for the dipped candy as for the rolled balls. I can fit one batch of balls onto one 18x13 cookie sheet, and then need two when I dip. If the balls won't come off your dipping tool easily, use a toothpick to slide them off gently. 

Ooohhh, shiny.

Now, just chill until firm then package as you please. Store in refrigerator. 

Enjoy.