How To Make Peanut Butter Balls
Peanut butter balls were a staple in our school lunchrooms. Word got around fast on the day the lunch ladies were making them and we all looked forward to the single serving we got on our trays come noon meal. Single serving for everyone but my brother.
My brother, who never once passed up a chance to be unusually cruel to me, managed to singlehandedly wrap every one of the hair netted lunch ladies around his little finger. While we all surfaced with our single peanut butter ball, Bill waltzed to his table with at least three. Alright, so maybe he wasn’t always unusually cruel. He did let me be a backup singer when he was singing Buddy Holly, but that wasn’t my point here.
This is a great snack for children and grown ups alike. They are kept in ziploc bags in the freezer and when we manage to have any (they are eaten so fast!), I often see my husband or son coming back from the freezer with a handful at a time. Full of all sorts of goodness, its one snack that will not only tide your family over until you can finish up supper, but one you can feel good about letting them have.
Note about honey: If you have children under the age of two, substitute corn syrup as raw honey poses health risks.
I can go into why but don’t I go off on enough tangents as it is?
I make a LOT of these at a time so I need a dishpan.
Feel free to half this recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 C honey or corn syrup
- 3 C creamy peanut butter
- 5 C dry milk powder
- 6 C quick oats
Instructions
- Mix all together with hand mixer. Form into balls with hands and freeze on waxed paper lined cookie sheets until hardened. Store in freezer in ziploc bags. (Makes about 100)
Nutrition
If my brother shows up, only let him have one. ~grins~
ok, I have a question, which may or may not be silly. When you put these in the lunch box, do you add a freezer pack/cold pack to keep them cold? or is room temp OK?
Hey Diane! no sillly questions here! I store them in the freezer but they are just fine at room temp. When I send them in lunches I get them out of the freezer and put them in a little baggie or container. I usually put an ice pack in the lunchbox to keep things cool in general but you don’t have to do anything special for these.
Hope this helps!
Gratefully,
Christy
My grandma makes these, but she rolls them in cornflakes! So good!
What is it about peanut butter and cafeterias? Our grade school used to make “peanut butter treats” and I dearly wish I had the recipe for them! They were pressed in a pan, but it was peanut butter and something mixed with it on the bottom and then there was a chocolate layer on top. Sometimes they put chopped peanuts on top and sometimes not, but they were delicious! A lot of schools nowadays have banned my dear friend peanut butter (including telling kids they can’t bring their own peanut butter sandwich from home). 🙁
Andrea-
There is a reason for this. Kids who have anaphylactic allergies to peanuts cannot be around other kids eating peanut butter sandwiches. Not all people who have peanut allergies are this severe (I’m not)… but severe peanut allergies are a disability, and parents can ask for accommodations at public schools.
I made this recipe with SunButter, a great alternative to peanut butter that can be bought at Wal-Mart, most grocery stores that have a “specialty” food selection, or health food stores.
I was just wondering…you think you could throw all of these ingregients into a food processor and pulse it several times to get it mixed quickly? Love my processor and like to use it when I can. Love your recipes!
This is the recipe that brought me to your sight…I had these in elementary school, my grandmother was a cook there. Instead of oats, they were made with crushed graham crackers and were put into sheet pans and cut into squares. I asked my grandmother, for years, for the recipe and she would always say, ” don’t have one, just a little of this and a little of that” When she, unexpectedly, passed away, this is the recipe I wanted more than anything. I had a total meltdown and cried for days, when I realized I had let the opportunity pass. After alot of searching, yours came the closest and I have made them many times since. Thanks a million!!!!
Oooh – and I have to say: that dish in the top picture is absolutely gorgeous! I love it.
Hey Amanda! thank you!
That is a milk glass pattern by Anchor Hocking called “old colony”. I have a compote bowl and a few little plates that are in the same pattern and its a favorite of mine as well. That was a little candy dish but I didn’t get it with the lid (one of these days..).
I also have a GORGEOUS cake platter that is huge in that pattern but alas, it has not come out from it’s hiding place since the move. It is somewhere with my Davy Crockett and Strawberry Shortcake milk glass mugs 🙂
These look like they would be perfect for our Wednesday night children’s group! Thanks for the wonderful recipe! 🙂