Recipe Difficulty: Easy

Recipe Tags:

• Chocolate 
• Peanut Butter Balls
• Rice Krispies
• Healthy Snack
• Power Balls
• Easy Vegan Treats 

Peanut Butter Balls Recipe Notes
These are one of my favourite, easy treats. I think they work great as a healthier holiday treat, but I make them year round.  I mix in dried cranberries in these, and I personally wouldn't leave them out. I love the sweet/tart contrast. So good. Chia seeds are optional, just something I add for a little nutritional boost. These balls are naturally sweetened with maple syrup. (other than whatever the chocolate ingredients are.)

I go for good quality chocolate when I make these. I would rather have no chocolate than poor quality chocolate to be honest. You can choose, if you prefer dark chocolate do that, or semi-sweet would be good too. I buy a brand called camino chocolate often, and also there is one called Enjoy Life that is accessible at the grocery stores around me.  You can find a lot of vegan options on amazon if sourcing things is difficult. 

Enjoy Life Dark & Semi Sweet Chocolate

​More recipe Tips
The trick to rolling the peanut butter rice krispie balls is using damp hands. You'll most likely have to rinse your hands off a couple of times during the rolling process. 
I prefer to use an organic brown rice crispy cereal instead of the snap, crackle, pop rice krispies variety. Use whatever you prefer. I usually double the recipe that I am sharing here. The recipe here made 20ish balls but since I buy the cereal just for the purpose of making these peanut butter balls, I go for the double batch more often than not. They can be stored in the freezer, and then just take them out ahead of time when you want a chocolate peanut butter ball treat. I like them best at room temperature. 

These peanut butter balls with rice krispies are

•  sweet 
•  salty
•  peanut butter-y
•  chocolate-y
•  addictive
•  super easy
•  no bake

Yield : 20 chocolate peanut butter balls

Ingredients: 

•   2 cups rice cereal
•   1 cups natural peanut butter
•   1/2 cup dried cranberries
•   1/4 cup maple syrup
•   2 tbsp chia seeds (optional...I add them because they are healthy!)
•   1 tsp vanilla
•   couple pinches kosher salt
•   250 grams dark chocolate
•   4 tsp coconut oil

Method:

1.  Combine everything in a bowl except for the dark chocolate and coconut oil. Use a spatula to     stir it around until you have a homogeneous mixture.
2.  Using damp hands roll into balls and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.  
3.  Melt dark chocolate and coconut oil together in a double boiler.
4.  Use a fork to dip balls in the chocolate and place again on baking sheet.
5.  If you want, refrigerate them at this point just to harden for a few minutes, then you can          drizzle with any remaining melted chocolate.
6.  A sprinkle of sea salt is a great touch before chocolate has hardened if you wish.

Recipe Difficulty: Medium (if you have made lots of biscuits in your life, then I'd say this is easy, if making biscuits and baking is a new to you thing, there is a bit of skill to it, but it isn't the most complicated thing in the world... you can do it!)

Recipe Keywords: Biscuits, Vegan, Jalapeno Cheddar, Chili, Comfort Food, Baking

Biscuits From the Past
 I have made more biscuits in my life than I could ever count and I can't write a biscuit post without a quick walk down memory lane. When I was fresh out of my first year of the Culinary Arts program at the CIC in Charlottetown, I started my internship at the Pearl Eatery in North Rustico, PEI. I'll never forget Maxine Delaney showing me how to make her recipe. Folding the dough over several times to create beautifully flaky, perfect biscuits. This was a daily ritual, one for each guest before their meal...not to mention the time I had to make 300 for a function we did. Oh my. 

My Vegan Biscuits Recipe Notes
With all that being said, these are so good!!! I am proud of my veganized version and I think, Maxine, you would approve.  For my first trial I used Daiya vegan cheddar, and for the 2nd trial I used Parmela Sharp  Cheddar. The Parmela is a bit pricier but in this context it was the clear winner, it is aged 60 days and made from cultured cashew milk. Some fresh chopped jalapeño adds lots of flavour, but they aren't at all spicy. Next time I make chili I will be whipping up a batch of these. For the butter I used Melt Organic Buttery Spread. It is one of my favourites and I recommend checking out their site & products. The cheese and the butter I picked up at Sobeys. Onto the recipe. This is a small batch, double it if you're feeding a crowd.