Peanut Butter Bon Bons with a sweet and crispy peanut butter center and coated in chocolate or butterscotch. This easy homemade candy is a nostalgic holiday treat!
More holiday traditions in our house include my Chewy Iced Molasses Cookies and Jam Thumbprint Cookies.
When I was very young, I jotted this recipe for Peanut Butter Bon Bons down on a little recipe card my mom had given me. It was the very beginning of what would become a life-long love of collecting recipes that finally resulted in this blog.
I still have this recipe card collection, some written in my little girl handwriting and others that I sat down and typed on our typewriter. Yes, that’s right, we had a typewriter. There were no computers in our homes back in the olden days so we used these devices called typewriters. Ask your parents.
I had this crazy idea that one day I’d be married and living in my own house with my husband, who would definitely be an airline pilot and look exactly like Paul Newman. We’d have a whole bunch of kids and I would make these recipes for my beautiful family.
And of course, most of them were desserts and sweets.
I was probably about ten or eleven when I wrote this recipe card. You can see by all the cross-outs and changes that even at a very young age, I was making modifications to recipes. Despite the fact that it says it will yield 100 candies, it will be closer to 50, depending on the size you make them.
These Peanut Butter Bon Bons are such a Christmas tradition in our house that Connor (Boy #3) has taken on the task of making them for us each year.
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Crispy rice cereal – Like Rice Krispies.
- Butter
- Peanut butter – Either creamy or crunchy will work but my preference is creamy peanut butter.
- Powdered sugar – Also known as confectioner’s sugar.
- Coating – I always coat half the bon bons in melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and half in butterscotch chips. If you are a dark chocolate lover, they are also delicious with bittersweet chocolate chips.
- Vegetable Oil – You might need a little oil if you’re using butterscotch chips, which are more difficult to melt than chocolate. I’ve included my melting tips below.
How to Make Peanut Butter Bon Bons
- In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt the butter with the peanut butter. Stir frequently and watch closely to be sure the mixture does not scorch. Remove the pan from the heat as soon as it is completely melted.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar and Rice Krispies.
- Pour the melted peanut butter mixture over the cereal mixture and combine it as well as you can with a wooden spoon. Then, work the mixture with your hands to be sure that the peanut butter mixture is completely distributed.
- Form the mixture into 1-inch balls by scrunching it in your hands. Place the balls on a lined baking sheet and chill them in the freezer for about 45 minutes or the fridge for an hour or more.
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Bon Bons – Melt a bag of semisweet chocolate baking pieces in a double boiler (see tips below). Once melted, keep it over low heat to keep the chocolate melted while coating the bon bons.
- Coat half of the bon bons in the melted chocolate and transfer them to a lined baking sheet to set up.
- Butterscotch Peanut Butter Bon Bons – Repeat this process by melting the bag of butterscotch chips.
- Dip and coat the remaining bon bons in the melted butterscotch.
Transfer the coated bon bons to a parchment paper lined baking sheet as you work. Refrigerate the coated bon bons on the baking sheet for a couple of hours or until the coating has set.
Using a Double Boiler
The best way to successfully melt baking chips is in a double boiler. If you have one in your kitchen, great! If not, use a small pot or a metal or glass bowl that fits snugly over the top of a larger pot. A great option is an inexpensive double boiler pot insert that can be set inside another pot you already own.
Fill the bottom pot with one or two inches of water. Then, place a smaller pot or bowl over the top pot and add the baking chips.
Melting Tips
- Low and slow – Keep the heat on low or no more than medium-low and stir the baking chips frequently to prevent them from scorching on the bottom of the pot.
- Oil – Even small amounts of water can cause a batch of melted chocolate or butterscotch to clump and seize up. If this happens, try adding a few drops of vegetable oil or about a half teaspoon of shortening to smooth it back out.
- Butterscotch chips – Chocolate chips will quickly become velvety smooth, but butterscotch chips are more difficult to melt to a creamy consistency. The vegetable oil trick should help smooth it out.
Methods for Coating Candy
There are a couple of different methods for coating the bon bons. You can pierce one with a tooth pick and dip it into the chocolate, using a spoon to drizzle chocolate over areas that need it.
Or, there’s the dunk and swirl method, which is my method of choice. Just drop the bon bon right into the melted coating and swirl it around until it’s coated.
Make them Festive
Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle some of the bon bons with festive red and green sprinkles for Christmas. Use pastel sprinkles for Easter or orange and black for Halloween.
Bag them up in treat bags and tie them with a pretty bow for gift giving.
Storage Tips
- Room Temperature – Store Peanut Butter Bon Bons in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerate – For longer storage, transfer the container to the refrigerator and they will stay fresh for up to 3 weeks.
- Freeze – Peanut Butter Bon Bons can be stored in airtight, freezer-safe containers, and frozen for up to 4 months. Be sure to allow the candy to thaw in the refrigerator to avoid condensation. The appearance may be affected slightly if you freeze them, but they will still taste great!
Santa’s Favorite Treat
In our totally independent and unbiased study, we have found that Peanut Butter Bon Bons are by far Santa’s favorite. We’ve left out a variety of different goodies for him each Christmas Eve and while there might be a bite taken out of the gingerbread man, and a nibble missing from the sugar cookie, the bon bons are always gone on Christmas morning.
Ho ho ho!
Peanut Butter Bon Bons
Ingredients
- 2 cups peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
- ½ cup butter
- 3 ½ to 4 cups powdered sugar, about 1 pound
- 4 cups crispy rice cereal, like Rice Krispies
- 22 ounces semisweet chocolate and/or butterscotch chips, (2 11-ounce packages)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons vegetable oil or melted shortening, optional
Instructions
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- In a medium saucepan over LOW heat, melt together the peanut butter and butter, stirring occasionally until warm and smooth. Remove from the heat and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together 3 ½ cups powdered sugar and the rice cereal. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the cereal mixture and use a wooden spoon to combine it as well as possible. Then, use your hands to work the mixture until it holds together when you scrunch some in your hands. If the mixture seems too wet, add a little additional powdered sugar but no more than 4 cups total.
- Roll into 1-inch balls (about the size of a golf ball) and place them on the baking sheets. Freeze for 45 minutes or refrigerate for at least an hour or more.
Coat the Bon Bons
- Melt the baking chips in separate double boilers over LOW heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Be very careful not to get any drops of water into the baking chips while melting.
- Set one of the peanut butter balls on a spoon and dunk it into the melted chocolate or butterscotch. When well coated, transfer it to the prepared baking sheet.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until set. When completely dry, move to airtight plastic storage containers and store, covered, in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
Notes
- Low and slow – Keep the heat on low or no more than medium-low and stir the baking chips frequently to prevent them from scorching on the bottom of the pot.
- Oil – Even small amounts of water can cause a batch of melted chocolate or butterscotch to clump and seize up. If this happens, try adding a few drops of vegetable oil or about a half teaspoon of shortening to smooth it back out.
- Butterscotch chips – Chocolate chips will quickly become velvety smooth, but butterscotch chips are more difficult to melt to a creamy consistency. The vegetable oil trick should help smooth it out.
- Drop the bon bon right into the melted coating and swirl it around until it’s coated. Scrape the bottom of the spoon across the edge of the pan as you transfer it to the baking sheet to remove excess coating.
- Pierce a bon bon with a tooth pick and dip it into the chocolate, using a spoon to drizzle chocolate over areas that need it.
- Room Temperature – Store Peanut Butter Bon Bons in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerate – For longer storage, transfer the container to the refrigerator and they will stay fresh for up to 3 weeks.
- Freeze – Peanut Butter Bon Bons can be stored in airtight, freezer-safe containers, and frozen for up to 4 months. Be sure to allow the candy to thaw in the refrigerator to avoid condensation. The appearance may be affected slightly if you freeze them, but they will still taste great!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
This post was originally published on December 23, 2012. It has been updated with new text and images.
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Can I freeze them until I’m ready to package and gift.
You can, but they may not be as pretty. Chocolate has a tendency to become blotchy or develop a white film if frozen and thawed. Still edible, but not as pleasing. I wouldn’t recommend freezing them if you plan on giving them as gifts.