Frozen Peanut Butter Balls

By KellyJo

Ingredients

• 8 ounces (227g) regular cream cheese (not low fat)
• 1 cup (256g) natural peanut butter (no sugar added)
• 2 1/4 cups (540g) Confectioners 'Swerve' or other sugar equivalent, divided (Buy Now)
• 1 tbsp (12g) vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp (2g) salt
• 1/2 cup (73g) chopped peanuts, toasted
• 24 each (0g) lollypop sticks (optional) (Buy Now)
• 2 oz (56g) cocoa butter (Buy Now)
• 1 tsp (3g) sugar-free vanilla whey protein (Buy Now)
• 1 each (50g) chocoperfection dark chocolate bar (Buy Now)

Details

Servings 16
Adapted from djfoodie.com

Preparation

Step 1

In an electric mixer (or with a firm mindset, a medium sized mixing bowl and a whisk), beat the cream cheese until smooth and all sense of lumps are gone. Make sure it's at least somewhat warm and very smooth. Add the peanut butter, 1 3/4 cup of powdered sweetener, vanilla and 1/2 tsp salt. Beat until well mixed, smooth and slightly airy.

Depending on the peanut butter and temperature, the mixture "might" be a bit too soft to roll into a ball. If so, cover and refrigerate the mixture until it firms up enough to roll into balls.

Once it's somewhat firm, with an ice cream scoop or two spoons, scoop out the mixture and roll into 1-inch balls (you should get about 24 of them). Place the balls on the plates with the peanuts and gently roll them around, until well coated with chopped nuts.

If you'd like, insert the candy sticks at this point. Place them on a tray and in the freezer to begin freezing.

For the white chocolate: Melt the cocoa butter over a double boiler, or the defrost mode in the microwave. Once melted, add 1/2 cup of powdered sweetener, the protein powder, vanilla and a dash of salt. Set aside and keep warm.

For the dark chocolate: Melt the chocolate bar over a double boiler, or the defrost mode in the microwave. Stir occasionally. If doing this over a double boiler, do not allow any water or steam to get into the chocolate or it will seize and will no longer work for our needs.

Note: I personally am a nut for squeeze bottles. I placed my chocolates into two different squeeze bottles (like condiment bottles for ketchup/mustard). This allows me to cover the hole with my finger and wildly shake the bottle, mixing the ingredients inside and then lightly squeezing and pouring the contents over the peanut butter balls, but this can also be done with a bowl and spoon ... it's just a bit less precise)

Remove the peanut butter balls from the freezer. Making sure the two chocolates are stirred, drizzle the chocolates over the peanut butter balls. Freeze again. After about 2 or 3 hours, they'll be nice and firm.