Servings: 16 Prep: 5 mins Cook: 0 mins Total: 5 mins
I was sent this recipe from a woman asking me if I could low-carb it for her. I said, “Sure! Where did it come from?” and she said it came from a Toronto Chef with a show on the CBC called “In the Kitchen with Stefano Faita”!
Here’s the original recipe.
As a general rule, I like to either completely make up a recipe, or use another recipe as a source of inspiration, but twist it and tinker with it, so that it’s quite a bit different than the original idea. It’s pretty rare for me to straight up take a recipe and leave it as is, but … this particular recipe needs no tinkering, my friends. The flavor is an above and beyond blend of sweet and salty. The texture is like biting through a wad of frozen cookie dough, mixed with fudge and rainbows. It is, in fact … PERFECT!
The ONLY change I made to the original recipe was to swap confectioners’ sugar with a powdered erythritol blend. Aside from that, I went just short of 2 cups on it, because 2 or 3 full cups of sweetener just felt sickeningly sweet to me. I also added a full 1/2 tsp of salt, because … I like a salty peanut butter!
Beyond that, I crushed some cacao nibs by giving them a quick half pulse in my coffee grinder and using them to coat a few of the little spheres. You’ll notice half are coated with crushed cacao (I didn’t like these as much as I’d hoped) and the other half with toasted and crushed peanuts (YUM!).
Finally, I used melted ChocoPerfection’s Dark Chocolate Bars as the chocolate. For the white chocolate? Well … that’s a different kettle of fish! I’ll list the method below, but I should say that … I didn’t much care for it. I ate it and it was delicious, but the chocolate separated. I’ve tried it a few times since, and it’s always separated on me. If you’re quick about it and get it immediately chilled, the cocao butter solidifies white and conceals the fact that it’s been separated, but … it’s separated. I know it and it bugs me. It’s just not a nice and smooth white chocolate.
My suggestion? If you’re asking me, personally? Just skip the chocolate and cacao altogether. Dust them with toasted peanuts. Then, tell no one you’ve made them and hoard them all to myself yourself!
… but … that’s just me!
This particular recipe is fantastic as a fat bomb and as a quick cure for a sweet craving. It’s also easily portioned and lives seemingly forever in the freezer. These can be whipped up, shaped, dredged in peanuts and tossed in the freezer in mere minutes … and can be enjoyed, at leisurely intervals, without worry that they’ll go bad or melt.
Honestly, the ONLY problem with this recipe is … well … at least in my case … these decadent little peanut butter balls somehow learned my name … and would occasionally call out for me.
I would respond, appropriately. Don’t tell anyone.
Nom.
Note: Makes about 16 two ounce balls.
Frozen Peanut Butter Balls
Print RateIngredients
- 8 ounces regular cream cheese (not low fat)
- 1 cup natural peanut butter (no sugar added)
- 2 1/4 cups Confectioners 'Swerve' or other sugar replacement divided
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup chopped peanuts toasted
- 24 each lollypop sticks (optional)
- 2 oz cocoa butter
- 1 tsp sugar-free vanilla whey protein
- 1 each chocoperfection dark chocolate bar
Instructions
- In an electric mixer (or with a firm mindset, a medium sized mixing bowl and a whisk), beat the cream cheese until smooth and all sense of lumps are gone. Make sure it's at least somewhat warm and very smooth. Add the peanut butter, 1 3/4 cup of powdered sweetener, vanilla and 1/2 tsp salt. Beat until well mixed, smooth and slightly airy.
- Depending on the peanut butter and temperature, the mixture "might" be a bit too soft to roll into a ball. If so, cover and refrigerate the mixture until it firms up enough to roll into balls.
- Spread the toasted peanuts on a baking tray or large plate. Set aside.
- Once it's somewhat firm, with an ice cream scoop or two spoons, scoop out the mixture and roll into 1-inch balls (you should get about 24 of them). Place the balls on the plates with the peanuts and gently roll them around, until well coated with chopped nuts.
- If you'd like, insert the candy sticks at this point. Place them on a tray and in the freezer to begin freezing.
- For the white chocolate: Melt the cocoa butter over a double boiler, or the defrost mode in the microwave. Once melted, add 1/2 cup of powdered sweetener, the protein powder, vanilla and a dash of salt. Set aside and keep warm.
- For the dark chocolate: Melt the chocolate bar over a double boiler, or the defrost mode in the microwave. Stir occasionally. If doing this over a double boiler, do not allow any water or steam to get into the chocolate or it will seize and will no longer work for our needs.
- Note: I personally am a nut for squeeze bottles. I placed my chocolates into two different squeeze bottles (like condiment bottles for ketchup/mustard). This allows me to cover the hole with my finger and wildly shake the bottle, mixing the ingredients inside and then lightly squeezing and pouring the contents over the peanut butter balls, but this can also be done with a bowl and spoon ... it's just a bit less precise)
- Remove the peanut butter balls from the freezer. Making sure the two chocolates are stirred, drizzle the chocolates over the peanut butter balls. Freeze again. After about 2 or 3 hours, they'll be nice and firm.
- Enjoy!
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
I want to make these tonight. I have evrything except the cocoa butter…. Even have the swerve! Yay! Substitutions? I have grassfed butter and coconut oil. Maybe?
Hi Lorrie Lou! You could really use any fat that solidifies when it’s cold. As long as you eat them before they come up to room temperature, melted butter or coconut oil would both work nicely. That said … it’s an optional part of the recipe. It’s really up to you if you even want to go THAT far. Let me know what you think! 🙂
Do you think that this could be made with Splenda instead? Just curious 🙂
Hi Heather. It would definitely work, but the problem with splenda is the fillers. They use dextrose and maltodextrin to bulk out the super sweet sucralose. As a result, it’s got about 24 net carbs per cup. That would result in about 54 extra net carbs in this recipe, effectively doubling the net carbs in each serving. Each ball would be roughly 6.5 net carbs. It’s really up to you to decide if this is worth it. I have no doubt that it would work and be delicious! 🙂
DJ, these look fabulous and I’m drooling as I type this. A note on the white chocolate…I know you’re familiar with Jennifer Eloff’s blog and she has a recipe for a hard white chocolate candy on there. It’s from several years ago. I haven’t tried it but she’s a miracle worker in the kitchen so it might work for your white chocolate coating.
DJ, I love the way you post your recipes!! It makes it so easy to see exactly what I am putting in there and to see how the nutritional values will be affected if I substitute one ingredient for another. Oh – and the recipes taste great, too! Actually, I just love everything about your blog! Thanks for all the work you do to make it just right!
Thank you for the kind words, Kathy! 🙂
Katrina, are you referring to <a href="http://low-carb-news.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-candy-roundup-for-you.html" target="_blank">this</a>? If so, Jennifer is using a White Chocolate using Maltitol as its sweetener, which is a sugar alcohol that impacts blood sugars and can also cause gastric distress if eaten in too high a quantity. I actually used something similar in my <a href="https://www.djfoodie.com/aspx/m/White-Chocolate-Dipped-Mini-Pumpkin-Muffins">"Sno-Capped" Pumpkin Muffins</a> recipe. Always one to look for alternatives and ways to cut out carbs in delicious ways, I gave making my own a shot … to tasty, but imperfect results. I would have used a store-bought white chocolate if I was aware of an erythritol sweetened option, but all the sugar-free white chocolates I’ve ever seen are sweetened with maltitol and … I’d rather skip that stuff, if at all possible … All this said, if you’re referring to a different recipe, I’d love to know which one! Thanks! 🙂
DJ, that was the recipe. I’ve had that recipe bookmarked to try for ages and NEVER realized it had malitol. I’m familiar with the effects and try to stay away from it myself if possible.
Thanks for all the hard work that goes into this blog. Sites like this keep me low carbing because I’m never bored with my food options.
Thanks for getting back to me, Katrina … and the kind words are much appreciated! If you do ever run across a non maltitol or sorbitol based white chocolate, let me know. I’m on the prowl!
I see what you mean about these calling your name. I’m having the same problem! I didn’t use any chocolate, just crushed peanuts. This is my favorite recipe to date!
Denise, that’s funny. I literally just made a batch of these last night. I didn’t have any crushed peanuts, but I DID have a bunch of cashews and pecans lying around. I coated them with that and stashed them in the freezer. Again … they call my name … This time I made the balls pretty small, though. I can eat 4 or 5 and not bat a lash! 🙂
This looks SO yummy and easy – I can’t wait to try it. But a question: the recipe shows 1 T. of vanilla extract but you are using it two different places (in the peanut butter ball and also in the white chocolate mixture). I am not planning on making the white chocolate, so does the full Tablespoon of vanilla extract still all go into the main mixture?
Love, love, love your recipes and your website!
LS .. it’s a typo in the white chocolate section of the instructions. Because it’s a vanilla protein powder, my brain may have added "vanilla" to it, but … you wouldn’t want to do that, at that point. Just add it all to the main PB base and that’ll do it. Sorry about that!
We tried these last night, and they are DELICIOUS!! My husband is a die-hard Reese’s PB Cup fanatic and we have been relying on the Atkins version to get by – but these are by far better. I didn’t have powdered sugar sub on hand so I whirled Truvia in small amounts in the coffee grinder – worked great! I made a simple ganache to dip them in (1 oz unsweetened choc, 2 T butter, 1/2 splenda) and popped in the freezer to harden. Yummy!!
Sounds great, Andrea! 🙂 It’s funny … I posted this recipe a while ago, and kind of forgot about it. In the past month, I’ve made it about 3 different times, though. This most recent time, I made a super dark chocolate ice cream and then I made these balls, but I made them super, like with a single centimeter diameter and then tossed them in the ice cream at the last minute. It’s like a reese’s peanut butter ice cream cup! YAY!! (For this reading this in the future … be careful with Truvia. It’s more than twice as sweet as sugar, so … read the box and use less than half what you might think you want to use) I love this recipe. I wish it were mine! 😉
Do you use the powered or granulated Swerve? Also, I was thinking it calls for a lot, are these really sweet? I tried Swerve in a recipe before, used what it called for and found them very sweet.
Hi Shirley, I’m sorry about the delay in my response! In any event, I use only powdered Swerve for anything, any longer. I see no reason to use the granulated stuff. I also have noticed I use less and less sweetener in this recipe and am now at about 1 1/2 cups. It’s still very sweet, but I only eat them in small amounts … and I think it’s a nice balance. I hope this helps! 🙂
What does SA stand for?
—Reply posted by DJ on 3/28/2015
Hi Yvonne, I’d actually answered it in the comment above this one. (this comment system changed about 6 months ago and things seem to be a bit out of order). In any event, it stands for “Sugar Alcohols”. I didn’t have enough room to write the entire word, so it was simplified in the hope that people pursuing this lifestyle know a bit about the concept of a “net” carb. Fiber is usually the first thing people learn about, followed by “sugar alcohols”. Those are generally sweet tasting substances that resemble both sugar and alcohol at the molecular level (but aren’t exactly either). Sugar alcohols are often touted as not impacting blood sugars, so they are deducted from the total net carb count. My website plays into these calculations, but it’s not as cut and dry as all of that. 100% of the time I suggest only the sugar alcohol “erythritol”. It’s the only sugar alcohol to have zero impact on blood sugar. The rest of them have “some” impact, which can be a lot, or a little, depending on which one you may be ingesting. Because I only ever recommend erythritol and erythritol based blends, the math on my site is accurate, if you follow that suggestion. However, if you’re using xylitol, for example … my thinking is to only subtract half a carb, instead of the full carb. Make sense? I might suggest researching a bit about “sugar alcohols” and the “glycemic index”. I hope this helps!
—Reply posted by Yvonne on 3/28/2015
I too am trying to find out what SA stands for.
Hi Linda … "Sugar Alcohols". I needed to save space so I abbreviated it.
Do you have any recipes for Dogs?
Hi Joyce … Nope! Not a one! I’m a HUGE fan of dogs, but don’t know enough about them to know what they should eat. That said … probably a diet like what they would’ve eaten in the wild … 10,000 years ago … raw meat and leaves … Sorry I don’t have more insight.
I am allergic to peanuts, so I made this with almond butter instead. Fantastic!
Glen, yep! I see no reason that this wouldn’t work with almond butter or … sunbutter or … cashew butter, etc. It should really work with any of them and be quite tasty! Thanks for pointing that out!
This recipe looks SO good! Can we use Stevia or Splenda as our powdered sweetner of choice in this?
Sorry, DJ, I just answered my own question by reading one of commenters’ earlier posts, and found the answer, so please disregard my last post. I am thinking Stevia might be much better to use than Splenda for the sweetner. But I also just picked up a 2lb bag of Erythritol, so I’m wondering if this might work, as well. Though I haven’t tried using Erythritol yet, it appears to be 100% pure non-GMO and with zero calories. It also says it is great for sugar free recipes. Any thoughts on the above? Thanks in advance.
Hi Sophie, I LOVE a blend of stevia and erythritol. It sounds like you got a non-GMO erythritol. Not all are. Some do come from GMO corn. In any event, a GREAT sweetener is to blend the stevia with the erthritol, and use that. This is one of my favorite blends. In something like this, it’s pretty sweet, so you might wind up with some crystallization. My suggestion would be to use about 1 1/2 cups of the erythritol. However, before using it, powder it in something like a coffee grinder. It may never dissolve in a recipe like this, so you want the grains to be as fine as possible. Then, read your stevia product and figure out how much you’d need to equal about 1/2 cup of sugar. Chances are, it’s not much (unless you’ve got a blend). Whatever the answer, mix it with your powdered erythritol and use that. A great blend! I hope this makes sense! I might suggest going to my home page and reading some of the sweetener articles listed on the left side. There are 7 of them. They’re all worth reading!
@ Joyce, I have a tip, whatever you feed your dog don’t feed him flour think about it hes not off making bread in the woods is he? or harvesting grain with wolves so just think about what would be available to him in the wild!
P.S never feed your dog Xylitol very bad for their intestines.
Hi DJ!
First I need to say that I love your recipes! While I try to follow a strict keto diet, it’s nice to have options like this to satisfy those sweet/salty cravings! I see that in one of the previous comments you mentioned malitol and sugar alcohol and how it can be bad for blood sugar and so on. In your nutrition facts, I see that there is quite a bit of SA in each serving. How big is each serving size and can you clarify how much sugar alcohol is too much? Thanks again!! Always a fan!
Hi Milena, I’m so sorry for the delay. I’ve been moving. Hopefully, you’re keeping an eye out. In any event, each portion is just under 3 ounces … at about 75 grams, each. If it were liquid, it would be halfway between a 1/4 cup and a half cup. I typically suggest erythritol based sweeteners, so I give those a full pass. Most other sugar alcohols have "some" impact on blood sugars, whereas erythritol does not. In this case, you can omit the erythritol. However, the chocolates can be a different story. Based on the chocolate you use, it can add up and additionally cause some gastric distress. I try and use erythritol sweetened chocolate, as well. TOO much sugar alcohols vary from type to type and person to person. If memory serves, 1/4 cup of erythritol in one swift gulp was tolerated by a large group of people, without an impact. The others are … hit or miss. This is very complicated to get into here. I suggest looking through my blog at my sweetener series. Google "DJ Foodie Sweet Spot" to learn LOADS about all of these topics. I hope this helps! 🙂
Delicious! I’m proud to say that these were way too sweet for me. (I’m REALLY excited I don’t have the sweet tooth I did before.) So I ended up doubling the recipe (minus the swerve) to make them delicious to my taste. Yum! Thanks again for a wonderful recipe.
—Reply posted by DJ on 1/23/2015
As written, they’re too sweet for me, too! I think they’re good for people having just come off of a box of doughnuts and a Coke, but … for those of us who have weaned off of sweets, they’re too much. I typically use a good deal less.