Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls (aka Vegan ‘Snickers’ Cookie Dough)

Are you ready to make the ultimate Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls with just 7 ingredients? This recipe tastes just like ‘Snickers’ chocolate candy bars – only free of the guilt or sugar hangover. Soft chewy peanut butter balls drizzled with raw chocolate sauce & a sprinkle of salted peanut crumble…

Yield: 18 small peanut butter balls

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Balls (aka Vegan ‘Snickers’ Cookie Dough)

• ½ cup rolled oats
• ½ cup raw cashews
• ¾ cup dates, pitted and soaked in warm water for at least 10 minutes
• 4 tablespoons peanut butter
• ¼ – ½ teaspoon sea salt, to taste
• water, as needed for binding

Chocolate Sauce

• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 4 tablespoons unsweetened cacao powder, sifted
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 – 1 ½ tablespoon hot water
• Salted peanuts, finely chopped (natural peanuts, coconut oil, sea salt)

Instruction

Peanut Butter Balls

1. Put the rolled oats and cashews in a food processor fitted with an S-blade and process until finely ground.
2. Add the dates. Process until finely chopped and well combined.
3. Add the peanut butter together with sea salt to taste. Process again.
4. Add a little water to bind the ingredients. You’ll know the dough is ready when it comes together into a ball.
5. Shape the dough into small cookie dough balls. Put them on a plate or tray covered with parchment paper, and place them in the freezer while you make the chocolate sauce.

Chocolate Sauce

1. Melt your coconut oil on low heat until it’s liquid.
2. Pour it into a mixing bowl together with the maple syrup and cacao powder. I like to sift the cacao to remove any lumps.
3. Give them a good stir until you’ve got a smooth chocolate ganache.
4. Add some warm water to turn the chocolate ganache into a sauce.
5. Drizzle each peanut butter ball with raw chocolate sauce and sprinkle with finely chopped salted peanuts. I used natural peanuts and lightly toasted them with some coconut oil and sea salt. (RFR tip: you can also sub in raw peanuts or jungle peanuts)

Notes

JULIE’S TIPS & TRICKS: • These Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls will stay fresh for at least 2 weeks in the fridge. You could store them in the freezer too. • Not a fan of peanut butter? You can replace it with almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower butter, pumpkin seed butter, tahini… So many options • To make these peanut butter balls completely sugar free, you can use xylitol or Stevia as a sweetener and coconut oil/extra water for binding. The maple syrup in the chocolate sauce can be replaced with xylitol or Stevia too + you might need to add some extra water. I don’t have a sugar free chocolate sauce recipe yet but I’ll be working on lots of new ‘vegan keto’ recipes this winter!