Last updated - ; Published - By Rhian Williams 4 Comments
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These Healthy Peanut Butter Balls are melt-in-your-mouth rich, fudgy, and perfectly salty-sweet. They're covered in silky chocolate and are the best satisfying no-bake dessert or snack! They're a good source of protein and fibre, vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free and grain-free too. They're easily transportable and take just 20 minutes to make!
How to make the balls
Scroll down to thebottom of the page for the full recipe.
- Place the cashew nuts, maple syrup and cacao butter in a food processor.
- Whizz until completely smooth.
Tip: You might need to mix it around a few times to make sure it blends evenly.
- Add the peanut butter - the peanut butter needs to be added at this stage not at the beginning, as otherwise the mixture becomes very gloopy and hard to blend.
- Blend briefly until combined.
Tip: Be careful not to over-blend, as the mixture will become very greasy as the oil will be released from the peanut butter.
- If the mixture turns out too liquidy to form into balls immediately, put it in the fridge for a bit - around 10-20 minutes should do the trick. This will make it firm up as the cacao butter solidifies.
- Use your hands to roll the mixture into small balls - you should be able to make 12.
- Place the balls onto a rectangular baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour until they have firmed up.
How to coat them in chocolate
- Break up the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl with the coconut oil.
Tip: Using a small but deep bowl makes it easier to dip the balls into the melted chocolate.
- Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water and stir regularly until melted.
Tip: Make sure not to overheat it as the chocolate will ‘split’ if you heat it too much.
- Use a small spoon to carefully lift the balls one at a time into the melted chocolate and use the spoon to spoon the melted chocolate over the ball until it has been completely covered in melted chocolate.
- Use a small fork to lift the balls out of the melted chocolate and back onto the baking tray.
- Drizzle the remaining melted chocolate over the top of the balls to decorate, if desired.
- Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour until the chocolate has hardened completely.
How long do thesekeep for?
These Peanut Butter Balls keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a good few days.
Substitutions you can make
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can replace thepeanut butterwithalmond butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter or tahini.
- For anut-free version, use sunflower seed butter or tahini instead of peanut butter.
- For a refined sugar free version, use a refined sugar free chocolate or cocoa powder
More vegan no-bake treats
- Chocolate Pudding Pots
- Chocolate Truffles
- Fudge
- Brownie Bites
- Chocolate Cookies
- Strawberry Trifle
- Key Lime Pie
- Protein Bars
- Blueberry Cheesecake
- Energy Bars
- Energy Bites
- Protein Balls
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog,I’d really love to hear anyfeedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes onInstagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make it
Healthy Peanut Butter Balls (Vegan + GF)
These Healthy Peanut Butter Balls are melt-in-your-mouth rich, fudgy, and perfectly salty-sweet. They're covered in silky chocolate and are the best satisfying dessert or snack!
4.67 from 6 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: healthy peanut butter balls, no-bake vegan dessert, peanut butter recipe
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 12 balls
Calories: 128kcal
Author: Rhian Williams
Ingredients
- 75 g (½ cup) raw cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in boiling water for 15 minutes
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 15 g (0.5 oz) cacao butter
- 85 g (⅓ cup) smooth peanut butter (or sub almond butter)
- 50 g (1.7 oz) dark chocolate ** (ensure vegan/gluten-free if necessary)
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
Drain soaked cashews and add to a food processor along with the maple syrup and cacao butter*.
Whizz until completely smooth - you might need to mix it around a few times to make sure it blends evenly.
Add the peanut butter and blend briefly until combined - the peanut butter needs to be added at this stage not at the beginning, as otherwise the mixture becomes very gloopy and hard to blend. Be careful not to over-blend, as the mixture will become very greasy as the oil will be released from the peanut butter.
If the mixture turns out too liquidy to form into balls immediately, put it in the fridge for a bit - around 10-20 minutes should do the trick. This will make it firm up as the cacao butter solidifies.
Use two teaspoons to make teaspoon-sized balls of the mixture, then use your hands to roll into a ball.
Place the ball onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Repeat for the rest of the mixture - you should be able to make 12 balls.
Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour until they have firmed up.
Break up the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl with the coconut oil (using a small but deep bowl makes it easier to dip the balls into the melted chocolate).
Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water and stir regularly until melted – make sure not to overheat it as the chocolate will ‘split’ if you heat it too much.
Use a small spoon to carefully lift the balls one at a time into the melted chocolate and use the spoon to spoon the melted chocolate over the ball until it has been completely covered in melted chocolate.
Use a small fork to lift the ball out of the melted chocolate and back onto the baking tray lined with baking paper.
Repeat for the rest of the balls.
Drizzle the remaining melted chocolate over the top of the balls to decorate, if desired.
Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour until the chocolate has hardened completely.
Keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
*If your food processor isn’t very powerful, it may have trouble with the cacao butter. In this case, melt the cacao butter first using a bain-marie before adding to the food processor.
**For a refined sugar free version, use a refined sugar free chocolate or cocoa powder
- You can replace thepeanut butterwithalmond butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter or tahini.
- For anut-free version, use sunflower seed butter or tahini instead of peanut butter.
Nutrition Facts
Healthy Peanut Butter Balls (Vegan + GF)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 128Calories from Fat 81
% Daily Value*
Fat 9g14%
Saturated Fat 3g15%
Cholesterol 1mg0%
Sodium 40mg2%
Potassium 133mg4%
Carbohydrates 11g4%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 6g7%
Protein 3g6%
Calcium 15mg2%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
ALFR
Was so excited to make these for an Easter gift, but the mixture turned out too loose to form into balls. EEK! I had doubled the recipe but followed it closely; the only thing for which I lacked an exact measurement was the cacao butter. I do not have a kitchen scale, so I went hunted for quite awhile on the Internet and found a conversion chart with small enough amounts to get me in the ballpark. This chart indicated that a tablespoon of cacao butter was around 13.6 grams. I added two tbsp. To thicken the mixture, I tried adding more cashews. That did not help at all, so I put two cups of oats in my blender to turn them into a sort of powder. That did thicken the mixture enough to form into balls, but the oats completely changed the vibe from "delicious gourmet truffle" to "hearty country treat," so I put it all into a square, glass pan lined with parchment paper, melted chocolate and coconut oil as described, and poured it over the top. I didn't think there was enough chocolate, so I added more, then that seemed too much, so I topped the whole thing with a sprinkling of nuts. It's cooling in the fridge now. I'm not sure how they're going to turn out, but I am too exhausted to go on! I get that it would be ideal for everyone to have a kitchen scale, but not everyone does. It would be super helpful to at least approximate amounts of ingredients in standard measuring cup and spoon sizes. Thanks!
Reply
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much for sharing your feedback. I'm so sorry to hear that and will definitely bear in mind for future. Did you try leaving the mixture in the fridge for a bit to firm up before forming into balls? If the mixture turns out too liquidy to form into balls, putting it in the fridge for a bit will make it firm up as the cacao butter solidifies. I'll add that as a note to the recipe now. Sorry again!!
Darsh
Hi, Is there any alternative to the cacao butter? Thanks in advance
Reply
Rhian Williams
Yes, coconut butter! Coconut oil works too, but it will create quite a strong coconut flavour!
