How To Make Peanut Butter Balls
Peanut butter balls were a staple in our school lunchrooms. Word got around fast on the day the lunch ladies were making them and we all looked forward to the single serving we got on our trays come noon meal. Single serving for everyone but my brother.
My brother, who never once passed up a chance to be unusually cruel to me, managed to singlehandedly wrap every one of the hair netted lunch ladies around his little finger. While we all surfaced with our single peanut butter ball, Bill waltzed to his table with at least three. Alright, so maybe he wasn’t always unusually cruel. He did let me be a backup singer when he was singing Buddy Holly, but that wasn’t my point here.
This is a great snack for children and grown ups alike. They are kept in ziploc bags in the freezer and when we manage to have any (they are eaten so fast!), I often see my husband or son coming back from the freezer with a handful at a time. Full of all sorts of goodness, its one snack that will not only tide your family over until you can finish up supper, but one you can feel good about letting them have.
Note about honey: If you have children under the age of two, substitute corn syrup as raw honey poses health risks.
I can go into why but don’t I go off on enough tangents as it is?
I make a LOT of these at a time so I need a dishpan.
Feel free to half this recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 C honey or corn syrup
- 3 C creamy peanut butter
- 5 C dry milk powder
- 6 C quick oats
Instructions
- Mix all together with hand mixer. Form into balls with hands and freeze on waxed paper lined cookie sheets until hardened. Store in freezer in ziploc bags. (Makes about 100)
Print This Recipe
If my brother shows up, only let him have one. ~grins~
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Jul 26 2008. Filed under Dessert, Freezes Well, Holiday Favorites!.
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Making these today!
I have just recently celebrated my 43rd birthday and have always wanted to find the recipe used by the lunch ladies for these! Now I can die a happy second grader!
**Glory Be**
Umm… YUM!!! My kids and I LOVE Peanut Butter, we literally will eat it straight out of the jar! I have an old family recipe for PB balls, but it uses a lot of powdered sugar, and my kids certainly don’t need the addition of a sugar high to their daily “life is good high”! lol! We are going to be making these up soon. And will continue to make them from here on out! I’m always looking for simple, easy, nutritious snacks for my kids! Thanks again for another amazing recipe! I’m SO glad I joined your pages!!
The picture of the Peanut Butter Balls all piled into a bowl looks like they were scooped using an ice cream scoop. Am I right??
I have to use gluten free oats and they are not quick cook. Any suggestions? I thought about blending them up so the oats would be smaller.
You’re going exactly where I would! I was out of quick oats today but a few pulses in the blender and old fashioned become quick!:)
Phooey! I seem to be out of honey at the moment and I have all the ingredients except that. Guess making these for my son’s visit this weekend will have to wait till I get to the grocery store. Gonna be a great weekend of eating, boating, playing games and enjoying family being together again. Thanks for the recipe! XOX
Hmm. Can I make these without the powdered milk? I’m out.
Thank you so much for this! One of my teachers (about 25-30 yrs ago-gosh I’m old) made these for us at school and I lost the recipe. My kids are going to love these.
wonder how these would taste dipped in chocolate? we always need our chocolate!!
I bet they would be great!
That was my first thought too!
I was wondering the same thing… so won’t post hope to get an answer… lol
ooops missed the replies. sorry so lets dip…. ha ha
do you eat these frozen , or at room temp???
Both!
We eat them both ways here Laura, I keep them in the freezer but if we are headed out for the day I just throw some in a baggie and by the time we arrive they are at room temp, if we haven’t eaten them all.
OH MY GOODNESS!!!! When I saw this post it was 2:45..my kids get home at 3:15…I RAN to walmart and grabbed the stuff and mixed it up while my kids were doing homework. YUMMY!!!! Definitely our new fav snack! I had to halve it bc I dont have a hand mixer so had to use my kitchen aid. Luckily I didn’t clean it yet, cause I”m going to mix up more right now!
I am so glad that you liked them Barbara!!!
Christy, You have got to try cooking with natural peanut butter. When my kids were young, I was making Christmas Candy, they were fussing at me for using “my peanut butter” that’s what they called it. So I made one recipe with their peanut butter and one with natural peanut butter. After tasting both, they wouldn’t eat the candy made with regular peanut butter. After you try it, I will tell you how to store it.
I will have to check it out.
My brother saw this recipe and said, “Oh, I’ve made those before They’re VERY addictive!” When I asked him where he got the recipe, he said, “In my students’ handwriting book!” (he used to be a teacher) Think I’ll whip up a batch of these to ration out ~snickers~ and bring back some fun memories! Thanks Christy!
You are going to love them Debbie! They are very addictive.
Are these okay to leave out for a few weeks.. to use on hunting trip? thinking they would be a lot cheaper than buying packaged granola bars! boys only carry backpacks during day .
They need to be refrigerated but I have sent them on camping trips and such. They will be ok so long as they are kept cool, like in a cooler or something or if you plan to eat them that afternoon they will be fine for that day.
I can’t wait to try this recipe out on the kids in our schools cafeteria. I was looking for something I could make for them that would be healthy. My Grandma made peanut butter balls with raisins and they were sooo good!
Thanks!
Just made these and Mmmmm good! We did half “plain” and the other half we added dried cranberries.
The kids loved rolling them. 
Can’t wait to surprise hubby when he comes in tonight. 
[...] one of the HUGE jars each and every week. They love PB&J sandwiches, peanut butter on toast, Peanut butter balls (which I try to always keep in the freezer), Peanut Butter Cookies, oh! And of course Yellow Cake [...]
Love these. My husband and I use Whey Protein instead of dry milk in our PB Balls. They are great for a quick breakfast or afternoon/midnight snack.
How much and what kind of “whey protein”?
[...] in the dough scoop. I actually own two of them because Katy likes to help and my kids really love peanut butter balls! I read a book on helium once. I couldn’t put it [...]
I’m sending this to my sister, she watches her grandchildren and I’m sure they would love these.
I love all your recipes and your stories. Keep up the good work.
Wow, I’ve never had these. They look delicious and very kid-friendly. Is there anything that can be subbed for the powdered milk? I don’t normally buy it. I couldn’t believe how expensive a box of it was the last time I checked!
This is very simular to what I call “VBS Energy Balls”. I use maple syrup rather than honey, nonfat dry milk powder, chunk-style peanut butter, quick-cooking rolled oats, cornflakes and raisins. Great snacks for kids!!!
Oh my stars! We made these last night and are instant addicts!!!
I’ve never heard of these! Born in NY and a true member of the Mayflower Daughters and DAR, if I were to live south of the Mason-Dixon line my ancestors would turn over in their graves. Times change, and my sons are both NASCAR engineers living in NC. Now with DIL but no grandbabies, alas, we are sharing recipes both ways. Still not a fan of bbq or fried chicken or eating with my hands (sorry), I’ve become decent with several recipes. I love your blog, faith, and sense of humor as well as the stories behind the recipes. Think I’ll try a half recipe using agave and maple syrup as neither corn syrup nor honey are favs of mine. Usually a scratch baker I’ve been making your recipes as written: hubs actually ate something that wasn’t plain meat and ‘taters. Thanks for sharing as well as encouraging me to branch out. I may never be the queen of grits but have made hybrid dishes with colllard greens and pasta!
reading comments is my way of ensuring that a recipe is good, but I do have to assuage your fears. I am a southerner, and there are a great many of us down here that are “true” Mayflower & DAR members, and our ancestors got down to the south as soon as they could. Nothin’ worse than an uppity Yankee!
. Think they invented everything!
lol….was just jotting down the recipe. I MUST say I’ve never seen “mix in dishpan” but get a kick out of it.
We made these for years using the very same recipe. I found the recipe in our local library in the University Extension Services newsletter. However, I had lost it and figured I’d check here and VOILA! there it is!
These are so VERY addictive. We would also, from time to time, roll the finished balls in instant hot chocolate mix….. They don’t last long around here either.
[...] This means it’s time to start gathering recipes, ingredients, cute little boxes and tags for those delicious holiday candy boxes. My goal is to attempt caramel this year. Homemade. Caramel. Made from scratch. I suggest you risk burning off your fingerprints and giving homemade caramel a whirl – it’s worth the risk. In the meantime, I have an easier, and somewhat heathier, recipe for you. My favorite Peanut Butter Balls growing up were the ones my grandmother and mother made. Peanut Butter, Powdered Sugar, Rice Krispies, all dipped in chocolate. MMM. My mouth is watering as I think of their crunchy, homemade goodness. But, sadly, as I approach the downward spiral of thirty, I must begin making wiser choices. (I’m giggling to myself now.) These peanut butter balls are BETTER; they consist of oats (HELLO whole grains), honey (heals the body!), peanut butter (use reduced fat, and it’s a healthy fat!), and nonfat powdered dry milk. I got this recipe from one of my top three favorite blogs, Southern Plate. [...]
I made these using Sun Butter and Powder Sugar. They are great and we love them frozen!!!!
You are right about quantity. I made half of the recipe and we still had lots! Its great that they freeze well!!!!
Just in case anyone wanted to know… The reason honey is not safe for those under 2 is because it CAN contain botulism spores and the little ones immune systems are not strong enough to fight the spores. Now, it is back to the kitchen to whip up some of these for my peanut butter loving kids!
Made these Peanut Butter Balls today except I didn’t use powder milk and I added coconut flakes–absolutely Delicious. My friends and family loved them!
I was looking for an alternative to the powdered milk since we’re lactose intolerant over here. Thanks!
This is my third time to make these! So easy to prepare and yummy to eat. This is a great snack to take to the beach.
Sorry if I missed it earlier in the replies, but should it be honey or corn syrup? Saw honey in the photos, and corn syrup in the recipe…??
Making these today! They make a great mid-day or after-school snack. My three boys got so excited when they saw me get all the ingredients out on the counter. They started running in circles, “Mom’s making Peanut Butter balls!” I think I know their love language.
How precious!!! I am so glad to hear that all the boys like them, I know it makes your heart soar!
Christy, I don’t know if you’ll even see this, but… I bought a milk glass footed bowl, like a compote in shape (at a thrift store for $1.50 so yay!), that has a border just like that one pictured with the balls.
Do you know the pattern or maker for this design? I bought it for cranberry at Thanksgiving, but I might like some more serving pieces and/or develop a new antique hunting obsession.
Yippee!! It’s made by anchor Hocking and called “Old Colony Lace”. Pieces are fairly easy to find right now but I’m sure they’ll go up in value as more folks seek them out. So glad you love it like I do!!
We always had these at school and I was crazy about them. The kids that didnt like them would pass them down the table to me. Not the most sanitary means of transporting food, I realize now. I would end up with 4 or 5, wrap them in a napkin, and eat them throughout the rest of the school day. I shudder to think of the calories I must have consumed on peanut butter ball day! Anyway, I’ve always wanted the recipe. Now I am excited to make them for my kids. Thank you so much!
LOL, I think back on stuff like that and shudder as well at times. I hope you enjoy the recipe!!
……I forgot to mention that at our school it appeared that after the peanut butter balls were made they were rolled in coarsely crushed vanilla wafers, which gave it some crunch. I could do without the vanilla wafers, I just love the peanut butter!