These no bake Keto Peanut Butter Balls are an easy and delicious low carb treat for peanut butter lovers. Dipped in sugar free chocolate, they can easily be made into keto buckeyes too! 2g net carbs per serving.
I am so excited to be re-introducing these keto peanut butter balls. Yes, full on, giddy excitement. Is that weird? Does that show me to be the foodie dork that I really am?
Well I’ve made my peace with that, because I am a total foodie dork. And I fully embrace my dorkiness.
Like many of you, I am a diehard peanut butter lover. And I love easy recipes like Keto Peanut Butter Mousse and Keto Peanut Butter Fudge. But these keto peanut butter balls have been one of my favorites for a long time.
They’ve been on my site for over 10 years now! You just know they’ve got to be good.
What’s in a name?
You may be finding the various names for these little treats a bit confusing. I don’t blame you.
I originally called them Keto Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles, because the center reminded me so much of cookie dough. But it’s a long and cumbersome name and not one that is familiar to many people. So I shortened it to peanut butter balls.
But they can also be made into keto buckeyes. What’s a buckeye you ask? Well, the folks in Ohio can tell you. It’s their state tree and it has little nuts that have a dark outer skin with a beige eye in the center.
The only real difference between buckeye candies and peanut butter balls is how far you dip them into chocolate. For this batch of keto peanut butter balls, I dipped some all the way in and left some with the classic eye in the center.
Two keto candies for the price of one!
How to make Keto Peanut Butter Balls
These are so easy to make and require no baking. They’re a popular holiday treat so grab your kids or a friend, and let’s get started!
- Melt the butter and peanut butter. You can do this in the microwave in a bowl, or you can do it in a pan over very low heat.
- Stir in the sweetener and vanilla. You do need a powdered sweetener for this recipe, to give them peanut butter balls the right consistency. Granular sweeteners will be gritty and liquid sweeteners won’t give them enough bulk.
- Stir in the peanut flour. Peanut flour gives these keto buckeyes the right flavor and consistency. You need to work it in until the dough resembles a stiff cookie dough. If it seems too sticky to roll into balls, add a bit more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
See the FAQ section for more information about peanut flour. - Roll into balls and freeze. They are much easier to dip in chocolate when frozen.
- Melt the chocolate. I always recommend melting double boiler style with a bit of cocoa butter to thin it out a bit.
- Dip the peanut butter balls. You can drop them in and toss them around with a fork, to cover completely, or you can use a thin skewer to dip them only most of the way, for buckeyes.
- Let the chocolate set. Because these keto peanut butter balls are frozen, the chocolate will set quickly. If you plan to garnish with chopped peanuts, do it right away after dipping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, for the most part it’s the same thing. However, some peanut butter powders have added sugars so make sure you read the labels carefully.
This is a little trickier. The advantage to using peanut flour is that it’s very dry and powdery and creates a thick dough, whereas almond flour is more coarse and contains more fat. So you may find that you need some coconut flour to create the right consistency.
Peanut flour also provides much of the peanut butter flavor, so you may find that more mild when using almond flour.
Absolutely! Just swap coconut oil for the butter and away you go.
You certainly can. I do find that sugar free milk chocolate and white chocolate are more finicky when melting so stay nearby, keep your heat very low, and stir constantly.
Storage information
Unless you live in a very hot climate, the peanut butter balls are fine on the counter in a covered container for up to 5 days. They will last in the fridge for 10 days.
You can also keep the un-dipped peanut butter balls in the freezer for several months and dip them whenever you are ready. The dipped balls can be stored in the freezer as well, but the chocolate may take on a bit of a greyish, dull appearance.
More delicious keto truffle recipes
- Lemon Cake Balls
- Keto Chocolate Truffles
- Sugar Free Keto Pecan Pie Truffles
- Samoa Truffles
- Keto German Chocolate Truffles
- The Best Keto Rum Balls
Keto Peanut Butter Balls
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Cookie Dough:
- 5 tbsp (71 tbsp) butter
- 1/4 cup (64.5 g) peanut butter
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (90 g) lightly roasted peanut flour
Chocolate Coating:
- 3 ounces (85.05 g) sugar-free dark chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 ounce (14.17 g) cocoa butter , or 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp finely chopped salted peanuts, optional
Instructions
Cookie Dough
- Line a large baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment paper.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter and peanut butter together. Stir in the sweetener and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add the peanut flour and stir until a stiff dough forms. Add more flour if your dough seems too sticky to roll into balls.
- Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour
Chocolate Coating
- Place the chocolate and cocoa butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth.
- Drop the frozen peanut butter balls in chocolate and use a fork to roll around to coat. Lift out and tap the fork firmly against the side of the the bowl to remove excess chocolate.
- If making buckeyes, use a small skewer to dip the peanut butter balls most of the way into the chocolate, swirling to coat. Leave just the very top of the ball uncoated.
- Place back on the baking sheet and sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if desired. The chocolate will set quickly if the dough balls are frozen so sprinkle each truffle right after dipping in chocolate.
Nutrition
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Carolyn, these definitely have the wow factor. They look amazing and i'm sure they taste even better! I wish I had some of these around my house. I didn't get halloween candy, you know!?
I may have visions of chocolate and PB all night long 🙂 These look (and sound) amazing!
These deserve an OMG! Chocolate and PB and then you throw cookie dough in the mix? Oh dear…I'm in love!
These are lovely! I made some peanut butter truffles this week too (my post will be up later)so there must be something in the air up here in MA this week! 😀
those truffles look outstanding!! I would have no problem devouring those tasty little treats…thanks for a great gluten free recipe!
Cheers
Dennis
I think you are cook, just now in the other way. You re making such cool things in the kitchen !! 🙂
These truffles look amazing 🙂 Can't imagine more perfect truffles at least yet 🙂
Beth and Lauren and anyone else…erythritol is a low carb sweetener so you could easily sub sugar in this recipe. If you wanted to, you could omit erythritol and stevia and put in 3/4 cup of sugar or so. You might have to experiment with it to get the sweetness you want.
Wow, those look incredibly decadent…with the perfect texture! Yummy!
oh WOW these look great! I'm curious along with Lauren – what does the erythritol do? My book club would love these, too – can't wait to test them out!
Peanut butter and chocolate are always a hit in my tummy. I love these little truffles you created. The look like the perfect companion to a good book and a cup of tea. P.S. I don't think book clubs are uncool 🙂
I love your truffles, so please ignore the fact that I'm mumbling under my breath about how you don't even look like you're old enough to have graduated college, let alone to have three kids, doggonit.
I wish I could find a book club by me, but I had to settle with being on our housing association's social committee. How lame is that? Not cool.
These look delicious. I love peanut butter and chocolate, especially dark chocolate. I don't know if I could stop at eating one or too.
I've never been cool 😉
These look fabulous! I am surprised you had leftovers, I would have been a bit greedy if I were a member of your book club hehe. I was thinking the other day that I wanted to make something peanut buttery chocolatey! These are perfect.
PS Lindt is my fave chocolate for baking!
These look super divine! Funny how life changes and what we think is cool just changes. You are now doing cool things just wrapped up a in a different package. I just recently joined a book club and really enjoy it. We are reading – "On the corner of bitter and sweet". Happy Sunday!!
yup, cookie dough balls are in trend, yours is the third one I read today :))
the photos are stunning as usual
i wanted to join a book club too but couldn't find one close to house 🙁
enjoy the rest of the weekend, Carolyn
Looks absolutely divine, just looking at it makes me drool…
Here's another low carb recipe that uses oats. It has sugar but you can easily substitute: http://easilygoodeats.blogspot.com/2010/11/no-bake-chocolate-oat-squares.html
These looks similar to the peanut butter balls I used to make. Glad you are discovering more ways to use the peanut flour and sharing it with us.
Peanut butter and chocolate the best combo ever! These look so good. You are convincing me to find some peanut flour and experiment!
This recipe is spot on! I have been craving peanut butter like crazy. I found some peanut butter powder that had only 2 carbs per search at my local health food store. I will be making this again!
What does the erythritol do? Is there anything else you could use as a replacement?
Can I use almond flour instead of peanut flour?
looks beautiful this would be lovely homemade gifts