Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

It’s cookie week day four! If you missed the first three recipes, I’ve already posted chocolate caramel snowballs, Christmas cookie bars with M&M candies, and gingerbread oatmeal cream pies. Last year, I made sure to have one no-bake recipe as part of the cookie box, and that recipe for chocolate peppermint truffles is still one of my absolute favorites. I love the chocolate and mint flavor combination, and another flavor combination that I love is chocolate and peanut butter. These chocolate peanut butter truffles really are perfect and a great cookie box addition. With no baking required, they come together easily as long as you allow for them to chill in the refrigerator. When I made this truffle recipe, it was so cold outside that I could let the melted chocolate set on our picnic table outside! Whether you top them with flakey sea salt, sprinkles, or a white chocolate drizzle, these truffles are a fun and festive treat that I guarantee you’ll want to eat more than one of.

Picking a favorite recipe from the cookie box is so challenging, but these truly might be my favorite. Curling up with one of these, a mug of hot tea, and a good book while it rains outside is an ideal Pacific Northwest afternoon. You don’t need many ingredients to make these easy chocolate peanut butter truffles, and many of them may already be in your pantry!

Ingredients for Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

• Peanut butter: a must! I tested a few options and found that a creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy was the best option. A natural peanut butter will also work, but the interior will not be as smooth and they will refrigerate at a harder consistency. If you want to use natural peanut butter, you can! Just know that it will change the consistency slightly and they won’t be quite as creamy.
• Powdered sugar: powdered sugar will blend in these truffles better than granulated sugar, which could give you a grainy texture.
• Vanilla: as in most chocolate treats, vanilla brings out the chocolate flavor!
• Salt: necessary in all baked (and no-bake) goods, a little salt goes a long way.
• Melted butter: regular unsalted melted butter gives these truffles the perfect rich, creamy texture.
• Chocolate chips: I love using semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe because they’re my favorite, but you can also use milk chocolate if that’s more to your liking.
• Coconut oil: a little coconut oil added to the melted chocolate makes sure the chocolate covers the balls smoothly and has the right texture.
• Sprinkles, flakey sea salt, or additional chocolate for topping: all completely optional, but a fun and festive addition!

Making the truffles is the easy part! I use a stand mixer but you can absolutely use a hand mixer or even mix by hand for an upper body workout. Cream together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and melted butter. Form the mixture into balls and refrigerate until solid. Then melt the chocolate and coconut oil together and carefully coat the peanut butter balls. Place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper and sprinkle with sea salt, sprinkles, chocolate shavings, or add an extra drizzle of chocolate. Refrigerate until solid and you’re ready to go! These chocolate truffles are so easy to make but they taste absolutely decadent and are one of my favorite all-time recipes.