Vegan No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls With Rice Krispies

These vegan chocolate peanut butter balls with Rice Krispies are an easy, no-bake, 4-ingredient and absolutely addicting treat. AKA peanut butter bon bons, these delicious bites are crunchy, creamy, and slightly chewy! Even better, they are naturally dairy-free. They can also be prepared gluten-free or keto for a healthy, sweet and salty snack or dessert!

Ingredients for No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Ball Ingredients

The 4-ingredient peanut butter balls require just a few simple pantry staples!

• Peanut butter: I recommend using creamy peanut butter for these vegan peanut butter truffles. Avoid natural peanut butter where oils have separated and are sitting at the top of the jar.
• Puffed rice cereal: Rice Krispies aren’t actually vegan (or gluten-free)! However, there are many brands of puffed rice cereal that you can use for these vegan peanut butter balls (including most of the generic unbranded versions of Rice Krispies). You can also use chocolate-flavored crispy rice cereal or potentially puffed quinoa. Though I haven’t tried the latter, and it will be pricier (but a higher protein content!).
• Powdered sugar: You can use regular powdered sugar or a sugar-free option like powdered erythritol. If you want to avoid extra sweetness entirely, you could experiment with thickening the peanut butter mixture with either oat flour or coconut flour (or a combination of the two).
• Chocolate: I used dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. However, any high-quality (with cocoa butter rather than palm oil/other fats/oils) dairy-free chocolate (vegan milk, semi-sweet, bitter-sweet) should work. Use keto-approved (sugar-free) chocolate if preferred.

If you struggle with the chocolate melting to the correct dipping consistency (which shouldn’t be an issue when using high-quality chocolate), you could add a tablespoon or so of coconut oil or vegetable shortening to help make it more smooth. Here’s a guide to How to Melt Chocolate that you might find handy also!

Optional Add-ins & Recipe Variations

• Vanilla extract: Use natural vanilla extract for the best flavor. Just a few drops will enhance the flavor of these peanut butter bon bons.
• Sea salt: If the peanut butter you use is unsalted, you may want to add a pinch to enhance the flavors. You can also sprinkle each vegan chocolate peanut butter truffle with a bit of flaky sea salt. They’ll look beautiful, have a little crunch, and taste great!
• Graham crackers: Instead of using puffed rice cereal, you could create chocolate peanut butter balls with crushed graham crackers.
• Peanut butter protein balls: Instead of the powdered sugar or flours mentioned above, you could thicken the peanut butter mixture with your favorite plain or vanilla protein powder. The chocolate peanut butter protein balls make for an excellent pre or post-workout snack!
• Omit the chocolate: If you’d prefer your crunchy peanut butter balls to be chocolate-free, no problem! Just skip that step.
• Crunchy Buckeye balls: Use a toothpick and make sure to only dip the chocolate Buckeyes 3/4 of the way into the chocolate.
• Gluten-free chocolate peanut butter balls: Just make sure to use a crispy puffed rice cereal that’s labeled gluten free. Rice Krispies (and some other brands) use malt flavor, which is not gluten free.
• Optional toppings: There are several toppings you could choose to sprinkle over or roll the vegan peanut butter truffles into. These include shredded coconut, chopped nuts, freeze-dried Berry powder or pieces, cookie crumbs, etc. You could also use a vegan white chocolate or dark chocolate drizzle.

How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls?

How to dip: You can dip the chocolate peanut butter balls with either a small fork or a toothpick. Insert the toothpicks into the peanut butter bon bons before placing them in the fridge to harden. That way, they won’t slip off as you’re dipping. If you want to make chocolate buckeye balls, only dip the peanut butter balls ¾ way into the chocolate.

How to use the double broiler method: Place a small heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (making sure the water isn’t touching the bottom of the bowl). Add your vegan chocolate chips or chopped dairy-free chocolate to the bowl, mixing constantly until melted. To microwave the vegan chocolate, I recommend doing so in 15-20 second increments in a microwave-safe bowl. Be careful not to burn/scorch the chocolate.

Toni’s Recipe Tips and Notes

• Adjust the amount of thickener added: The amount needed will vary based on the type of peanut butter you use and the thickener (powdered sugar vs. flour vs. protein powder).
• To avoid a crumbly dough: Add the powdered sugar (or thickener of your choice) with the peanut butter incrementally. If you accidentally add too much, add a teaspoon at a time of your favorite dairy-free milk until it forms a dough.
• Don’t skip the chilling step: Otherwise, you’ll find that dipping the peanut butter bon bons is a mess as they’ll melt into the hot vegan chocolate.
• To keep the dairy-free chocolate melted for dipping: I recommend using the double boiler method and keeping it over low heat even once the vegan chocolate has melted. That will keep it from hardening while you’re dipping all your no-bake peanut butter balls.
• If the mixture is too soft: It may help to place the bowl in the refrigerator or freezer for 15 to 20 minutes and then roll the crunchy peanut butter balls again. Work quickly, as they’ll soften the longer they sit at room temperature.
• To gift the no-bake peanut butter balls: You could place a few within a cellophane candy bag, biscuit tin, or even mug, tied nicely with a pretty bow. It’s best to use tempered vegan chocolate if you plan to have them at room temperature for extended periods.

FAQs

Serving Suggestions

Looking for more healthy snacks and treats to keep in rotation or to share with friends?

• Chocolate Dipped: Melt more chocolate for a feast (or some freezer prepping!) of chocolate coconut balls, peanut clusters, chocolate fruit bars, chocolate covered strawberries, or peanut butter cracker sandwiches. Combine a few of those for an extra-special gift-bag or basket, perfect for teacher gifts, co-workers, and gym friends!
• Sweet Treats: Make a dessert tray to share (or keep for yourself!) with chocolate chip banana bites, Biscoff fudge, peanut butter stuffed dates, and/or chocolate crinkle cookies.
• Savory Bites: Switch up the snacking with chai spiced popcorn, easy cucumber bites, or bagel bites.

Storage Instructions

Fridge: Store these vegan chocolate peanut butter balls with rice krispies in an airtight container or zip lock bag in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Freezer: You could also keep them in the freezer for up to three months.

Thaw: When you want to enjoy a chocolate peanut butter ball, allow it to thaw on the counter for just 10-15 minutes.

More Easy Vegan Peanut Butter Recipes:

Vegan Desserts

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bark

Vegan Desserts

Peanut Butter Stuffed Dates

Vegan Desserts

Easy Peanut Butter Granola

Vegan Desserts

Banana and Chocolate Chip Bars (Vegan!)

If you tried this vegan chocolate peanut butter balls with rice krispies recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks!

Photos by Alfonso Revilla