Peanut Butter Snowballs

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Peanut Butter Snowballs are a no-bake candy-like holiday sweet treat filled with a creamy peanut butter center and decadent white chocolate coating, decorated with Christmas-colored sprinkles!

These snowballs have a slight crunch and subtle toasted flavor thanks to the addition of fine Graham cracker crumbs.

Together with powdered sugar, these cracker crumbs help to bind the creamy peanut butter balls, keeping their shape for dipping into the chocolate and while in storage. 

As Christmas is just around the corner, I'm starting my holiday baking. Have you? Even if you are not a baker, you can make no-bake festive Peanut Butter Snowballs! It is a fun treat that a favorite Christmas Recipes!

Gift these adorable bite-size holiday candies to friends and family, or add them to your Christmas dessert platter.

While this recipe makes a decent 24 snowballs, I'm afraid my experience shows that you'll most likely need to make an extra batch…or even two!

Table of Contents

• Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
• EQUIPMENT NEEDED
• INGREDIENT NOTES
• HOW TO MAKE PEANUT BUTTER SNOWBALLS
• PRO RECIPE TIPS
• RECIPE VARIATIONS
• WHAT TO SERVE WITH PEANUT BUTTER SNOWBALLS
• FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS)
• Recipe
• Reviews

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Giftable treats: These peanut butter snowballs make special homemade no-bake gifts for friends and family over the festive season. Just prior to handing them out, place your chilled snowballs in clear cello bags or paper gift boxes with decorative ribbon and gift tags. They're also perfect as Christmas day party favors!
• Simplicity: These no-bake treats are fairly straightforward and simple to assemble. A great option for providing sweet Christmas snacks without the fuss of baking. 
• Quick to make: Apart from the chilling time, you can whip up 24 of these homemade candies in just 30 minutes! Better yet, consider making these peanut butter snowballs a day or two ahead of time and store in the refrigerator or freezer till ready to serve.  
• Versatile: Adapt your peanut butter snowballs with additional ingredient add-ins or ingredient swaps to better suit your taste preferences or holiday theme. 
• They're Festive: Coating these peanut butter balls in melted white chocolate and Christmas-themed sprinkles adds to the holiday cheer and will brighten up any table. 

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

• I'm no stranger to making these particular candies. They've been a tried and tested hit in my kitchen, allowing me to guide you through the process effortlessly with the aid of simple recipe instructions and step-by-step recipe images. 
• Frequently asked questions and pro recipe tips have been included in this recipe post to ensure that your experience of making these peanut butter snowballs is a breeze. 
• Recipe variations are listed below as easy and fun ways for you to mix things up, especially if you plan on making these no-bake treats for a different holiday or special occasion with a particular theme in mind. 

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

• Sheet Pan AKA Cookie Sheet for baking.
• Baking Rack – great for allowing baked goods to cool.
• Stand Mixer - Anyone who does a lot of baking will love this popular stand mixer. It saves time, and wear and tear on your arms. It comes in a variety of colors so you can pick your favorite color.Hand Mixer
• Cookie Scoop - The medium cookie scooper is perfect for cookies, as well as meatball, mini cupcakes and can meet a variety of needs.

INGREDIENT NOTES

PEANUT BUTTER SNOWBALLS INGREDIENTS

Below, I discuss the ingredients and possible substitutions if you don't have a specific ingredient. However, if you are looking for the specific measurements of each ingredient, scroll down to the bottom of this article, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card, which includes all the ingredients and the specific amounts of each one.

• Creamy peanut butter – regular peanut butter works the best for these snowballs although you could opt for natural peanut butter instead. I've made use of smooth regular peanut butter but the chunky peanut butter is also an option.
• Powdered sugar – make sure to measure your powdered sugar as too much can cause a dry snowball "batter" which can result in your snowballs falling apart. 
• Butter – you could definitely use margarine instead of butter, especially if you want to make these treats vegan-friendly. 
• Graham cracker crumbs – original Graham crackers or even the cinnamon-flavored Graham crackers would work. The cracker crumbs are important for drying out the peanut butter and butter mixture while also providing subtle flavor. You could use a different cracker or cookie such as vanilla wafers or digestive biscuits instead. 
• Vanilla extract – I use high-quality vanilla extract in all my sweet treats for the best flavor. 
• Ghirardelli’s white chocolate melting wafers – if you opt for white chocolate chips or another brand of melting chocolate, you may need to add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to the mix to ensure a smooth lump-free consistency that also won't seize up. 
• Sprinkles – red, white, and green sprinkles are great for a Christmas theme but other colors can be used too or you could opt for one single color. 

HOW TO MAKE PEANUT BUTTER SNOWBALLS

1. Gather the ingredients above.
2. Combine the peanut butter, butter, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat until well combined.
3. Add in the powdered sugar and graham cracker crumbs.
4. Mix well. Cover with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator and scoop small Tablespoon size portions and roll into balls. Repeat until all the dough has been made into balls. Cover with seran wrap and place into the freezer for 1 hour or overnight.
5. Place the melting chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and place in the microwave for 30 seconds, remove and stir if needed, repeat until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Place a cooling rack on a cookie sheet, or line wax paper.
6. Use a fork and carefully dip each peanut butter ball into the melted chocolate, working quickly so the balls don’t get too soft. Place onto parchment paper. Sprinkle with the sprinkles as you go along so the chocolate doesn’t harden. Let harden before serving.

PRO RECIPE TIPS

• Cookie Crumble. You can crumb your Graham crackers by hand but if you want a finer crumb consistency then first blitz them in a food processor or a blender before adding them to the peanut butter and butter mixture. The crumbs, together with the powdered sugar, help to dry up some of that excess oil and moisture in the snowballs to bind the balls. 
• Useful Tools. Using a cookie scoop is a great way to ensure that you make uniform-sized snowballs. 
• Regular Peanut Butter. I've found that regular peanut butter works far better for these snowballs than natural peanut butter.
• If you find that your snowballs keep falling apart, it's most likely that the "batter" is too dry. To remedy this, add in 1-2 spoons of peanut butter, NOT powdered sugar, which will help the balls stick together again. 
• Your rolled balls need to have been frozen for at least 1 hour before dipping them into the melted chocolate otherwise they risk falling apart in the process of coating them. 
• Ghirardelli melting wafers work the best for this recipe and don't require the addition of any oil or butter for a smooth consistency. In the event that you use something else (like white chocolate chips), you may need to add in oil or butter to achieve the desired consistency for dipping. 
• You need to work fast to add your sprinkles once the snowballs have been dipped so that the chocolate doesn't harden before the sprinkles get a chance to stick. If you think that you may need additional time, make sure to keep only a few balls out at a time with the rest in the freezer so that the balls don't get warm before dipping. 
• Allow your peanut butter snowballs to harden before you serve them. If you've frozen your peanut butter balls in the freezer prior to dipping as instructed in this recipe then the white chocolate coating will harden faster. 

RECIPE VARIATIONS

These Peanut Butter Snowballs were specifically made with Christmas in mind. With that said, there's no reason why you can't adapt the chocolate coating and sprinkles to suit another holiday, party theme, or special occasion. Here are some examples:

• Add pink food gel and pink, red, and white sprinkles for Valentine's Day;
• Add orange, purple, green, or black food gel with similar sprinkles for a spooky Halloween treat; or
• Add green food gel with white sprinkles for St Patrick's Day.

While I've coated my peanut butter snowballs with white melting chocolate, you could dust your peanut butter balls with a simple powdered sugar coating instead if you wish.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH PEANUT BUTTER SNOWBALLS

These no-bake peanut butter snowballs are great to serve alone on a festive-looking plate to be offered to your guests.

If you're already thinking about assembling a Christmas dessert charcuterie board then these snowballs would be an ideal addition to the board alongside the likes of mini gingerbread cheesecake bites, Christmas shortbread thumbprint cookies, hot chocolate cupcakes or whatever else gets you excited!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS)

WHAT ARE PEANUT BUTTER SNOWBALLS?

Peanut butter snowballs are a delicious no-bake Christmas sweet treat that resembles candy more than anything else. The creamy center consists of smooth peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, butter, and powdered sugar…not cookie dough.

They're then simply dipped into white melting chocolate and topped with decorative Christmas sprinkles for a simple yet truly delicious sweet festive treat. 

HOW SHOULD I STORE PEANUT BUTTER SNOWBALLS?

These peanut butter snowballs should be stored in a parchment-lined airtight container either at room temperature for about 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10-14 days. 

You also have the option of storing your fully assembled snowballs in the freezer for 2-3 months.

It's good practice to line your container with parchment paper as these snowballs may "sweat" slightly when removed from the freezer to be consumed later on.

You should also note that the colored sprinkles may bleed slightly when thawing which is fine if you are merely eating them as holiday leftovers with the family but perhaps not ideal for making ahead of your Christmas party. 

CAN I USE A DIFFERENT NUT BUTTER FOR THESE SNOWBALLS?

Absolutely! While I've chosen to use regular peanut butter for these Christmas treats, if you have a peanut allergy or would prefer a different nut butter then consider using:

• Almond butter;
• Cashew butter; or
• Macadamia butter.

Of course, you could also opt for crunchy peanut butter (allergy permitting) or even something decadent like Nutella!

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