About this Recipe

This treat is actually a good source of energy and if you are looking for healthy snack ideas, try this recipe out. Eating healthy is a motto in Grandmother's Kitchen. If you love chocolate as much as we do, choosing dark natural chocolate is the best option available. It will cost more to purchase these natural chocolate chips and pure cacao. A 2018 study in peer reviewed journal, Molecule, showed improvements in health markers after six months of daily intake of 2 g of dark chocolate with a 70% of cocoa. Cocoa is rich in flavonoids, which in a recent study appears to prevent DNA damage and improve the ingretity of the nucleus of the cells. The reason for this may be because of the antioxidants in dark chocolate that decreases cell stress. In this particular study, other health improvements that were observed were improvements in total cholesterol, triglyceride levels and LDL-cholesterol in the blood, and waist circumference.(1)

Grandmother's Tips for Peanut Butter Balls Dipped in Dark Chocolate:

1. Keep the balls a consistent size. We used a small cookie scoop and ours were about one-inch. If you making for smaller children you can make the balls even smaller so they can be popped in the mouth without handling as the chocolate can melt a little with the warmth of fingertips.

3. We always use dark chocolate in our kitchen. We experimented using 100% unsweetened Camino fair trade chocolate as our melting chocolate. It has no sweetening to it at all and it tasted a bit too bitter which is why we added a bit of maple sugar. Normally we use dark Callebaut chocolate for making chocolate coated treats or peanut butter cups and would suggest using this brand as we get the results like better with the Callebaut. It is always fun to experiment with new products and we are always in search of natural products to incorporate into the foods we eat, but you don't know until you actually try various brands what the results will be.

4. We love abeego wraps to cover and wrap our foods in. Abeego is reusable and washable and comes in a few sizes. If you don't have abeego wraps in your kitchen yet, they are worth investing in as it means less use of plastic wraps. If you are not familiar with the product they are Beeswax food wrap that breaths and keeps food fresher naturally. Here is where we buy reusable food covers made from beeswax. For a our special discount on any Vitamin King product you can use the COUPON CODE: GRANDMA

5. Almond flour is a bit on the pricey side. You can substitute more coconut flour or if you have some other types of nuts at home, you can use a processor and grind them up finely and use in the recipe instead.

6. Eating healthy is going to make you feel better and choosing good treats is a part of it.

References:

(1) Leyva-Soto A1, Chavez-Santoscoy RA2, Lara-Jacobo LR3, Chavez-Santoscoy AV4, Gonzalez-Cobian LN5. Daily Consumption of Chocolate Rich in Flavonoids Decreases Cellular Genotoxicity and Improves Biochemical Parameters of Lipid and Glucose Metabolism. Molecules. 2018 Sep 1;23(9). pii: E2220. doi: 10.3390/molecules23092220.

---

Ingredients

(Print)

Makes: 50 balls

2 cups peanut butter, choose a natural organic crunchy salted peanut butter

1/2 cup unpasteurized honey

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/2 cup coconut flour

Note: If you happen to be using unsalted peanut butter, add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the mixture.

Chocolate Coating:

100 grams dark chocolate, we used 100% cacao, unsweetened Camino fair trade chocolate

1 teaspoon coconut oil

2 Tablespoons pure maple sugar or a cane sugar

Directions

Peanut Butter Balls:

1. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Use a large mixing bowl because it is easier to combine if you have some room in the bowl to work.

3. Combine the peanut butter, honey, almond flour and sunflower seeds into the bowl.

4. Stir together with a large rubber spatula and then use your hands to work all the ingredients together.

5. We like to wear food grade vinyl gloves as the peanut butter dough is sticky.

6. Add the coconut flour. Knead in to the mixture until well combined.You should have a good texture that easily will roll into little balls without crumbling.

7. We used a cookie scoop about 3/4 full to scoop out the dough for the balls.

8. Cover with abeego wrap, or some kind of wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours so the balls will get nice and firm before dipping into chocolate.

Chocolate Dip:

1. Cut the chocolate into small pieces.

2. Place the chocolate and coconut oil into a chocolate melting pot or double boiler on low heat.

3. To dip the coconut balls, use a toothpick and dip each peanut butter ball into the melted chocolate to coat. Place back onto the parchment paper.

4. Refrigerate to harden. Once hardened if you want you can put them into little individual colorful paper baking cups or leave as is and store in the refrigerator in a container with a sealing lid.

ENJOY!

Return to this Peanut Butter Balls Dipped in Dark Chocolate recipe or check out more recipes at Grandmother's Kitchen

We love peanut butter (and almond butter too). It is so delicious and recent evidence suggests that it may even be helpful for keeping blood sugar from spiking. A 2018 study suggests that eating 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter lessens the blood sugar spike and overall glycemic response to high-glycemic meals. It may be an easy and practical way to prevent evelated blood sugar increases.(2)

Each peanut butter ball is about 100 calories, with 3 grams of protein, 1.5 grams of dietary fiber, and 4 grams of sugar. The dark chocolate we use adds 7% of the daily nutrient recommendation for magnesium also. This is a great afternoon snack that is balanced and super satisfying.

References: (1) Leyva-Soto A1, Chavez-Santoscoy RA2, Lara-Jacobo LR3, Chavez-Santoscoy AV4, Gonzalez-Cobian LN5. Daily Consumption of Chocolate Rich in Flavonoids Decreases Cellular Genotoxicity and Improves Biochemical Parameters of Lipid and Glucose Metabolism. Molecules. 2018 Sep 1;23(9). pii: E2220. doi: 10.3390/molecules23092220.

(2)Lilly LN1, Heiss CJ1, Maragoudakis SF1, Braden KL1, Smith SE2. The Effect of Added Peanut Butter on the Glycemic Response to a High-Glycemic Index Meal: A Pilot Study. J Am Coll Nutr. 2018 Nov 5:1-7. doi: 10.1080/07315724.2018.1519404.