Peanut butter and chocolate. The combo is life. The pairing is sweet and salty and joyful.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of sugar-free peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup of butter
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla
  • 3/4 cup of coconut flour
  • 1/3 cup of Lakanto Monkfruit sweetner
  • 2 cups of sugar-free chocolate chips

I love these yummy treats. They sit in your fridge, eager to satisfy your next craving. They are good between meals or after meals. I will skip the Cliff bar, Keto chocolate protein bar or Halo ice cream serving for this. It’s a filling snack (especially if you eat 3 or 4). Going overboard is quite tempting.

So I am going to provide my hacks for making this quickly AND ingredient alternatives depending on just how keto you want to go.

Steps for Beautiful Buckeyes

I don’t have any pics of the ones I made. I ate them too fast!

  1. Whisk peanut butter, butter (Make sure it is room temperature!) and vanilla in medium size mixing bowl.
  2. Mix in flour and sweetner. The resulting mixture should be a paste-like texture.
  3. Put bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes.
  4. Get out an ungreased baking sheet (use wax paper on the sheet for easier cleaning). Remove mixing bowl from fridge and use an ice cream server to scoop into balls. Use hands to mold if necessary.
  5. Melt chocolate using a double boiler*.
  6. Using grilling skewers pick up peanut butter balls and dip in melted chocolate. Return to baking sheet and put in the fridge for one hour.

*About double boiling. I am still learning the art of double boiling – which you can do with a bowl resting on a saucepan with a few inches of boiling water. I prefer using a metal bowl versus a glass bowl. I haven’t perfected this art, and you can try microwaving the chocolate instead. Just remember, chocolate can be tricky so make sure you stir it often and make sure it doesn’t burn.

Once buckeyes are chilled, store in a large freezer bag, or air-tight tupperware. My first time doing this, I kept them in the freezer. This makes this less messy, but harder to chew. Next round I kept in the fridge, which makes them look like a chocolate-y mess, but tastes a bit better.

Lazy Peanut Butter Balls Recipe

These aren’t as pretty, but taste just as good.

  1. Whisk all ingredients in a bowl, adding the chocolate chips last.
  2. Use a spoon to roll into peanut butter balls and put them in a brownie pan or pyrex dish.
  3. Cover and store inthe fridge.
Lazy peanut butter balls

Choosing Your Ingredients

Do you want to be die hard about your diet? Or do you want a modified treat that is still a whole lot better than grabbing a Snickers? Check out these ingredient options that include choices for making it healthier if you want. The porportions are essentially the same, but feel free to modify at the end if the texture isn’t quite righte.

2 cups of sugar-free peanut butter – Hardore keto-ers can use Crazy Richards Creamy Peanut Butter or Justin’s Classic Peanut Butter Spread. I use regular creamy peanut butter, which has sugar.

3/4 cup of butter – Unsalted, softened to room temperature. (If you don’t have butter on hand, you can try cream cheese, which will make your snack a bit saltier).

1 teaspoon of vanilla – Not required, but adds extra flavor

3/4 cup of coconut flour – You can use another type of keto flour, but I think this one is tasty. Another option to make these more filling, is to use protein powder.

1/3 cup of Lakanto Monkfruit sweetner – You may not need this if you use regular peanut butter. Other keto sweetners include Swerve or Yakon syrup (like molasses). I have only tried Monkfruit and I like that one.

2 cups of sugar-free chocolate chips – The sugar-free ones are good, but you can also try dark chocolate chips (70% cocoa at least) or just cheat and use semi-sweet chips.

Why Keto?

Lately, I’ve been following some loose keto guidelines in my meal planning. I call this keto light, modified keto, and sometimes, just eating healthier than my usual. I did keto once before and lost about 12 lbs in a month. It was great. I was very strict about no sweets, breads, pasta, dessert or booze. I did not calorie count. I was casual about choosing some fruits and veggies that still are carby. But it worked!

The big confession: I don’t think I was ever actually in ketosis, which is the goal of this diet. I just didn’t stick to the plan at that level. Well this round, 4 years later, I’ve been even more casual. It’s not really working. But in the process, I am cooking a lot more veggies, trying new meat marinades, and making lots and lots of peanut butter balls/buckeyes/fat bombs. So, I wanted to share the fun, tasty treats that have been chilling in my fridge lately.

*If you like this post, let me know and I will share my berry cobbler adventure.