make these over and over every year in December. You simply have to have them for Christmas Adventure weekend. Eli and all his friends always want these every day after school just before the holiday break. And I love to accommodate them. We have to have a pile of them when we wrap presents, and every year at our big winter party, if folks don’t see them they will ask. Plus, of course they have to be on the table on the actual day, and there had better be plenty for the next week too. One year, during the worst of the HQCS, I gained nine pounds in December alone. I credit these delicious little menaces. They are not complicated. But they do take time. Worth it, though, since the people you make them for will worship you.
A pound of peanut butter—I prefer all creamy. Some people use half crunchy, half creamy.
3 cups Rice Krispies—these must be fresh. And I think they’re essential. They add a bit of depth.
¼ bar of paraffin wax—or you can use just a bit of Crisco if you don’t have (or prefer not to use) paraffin. If you’re gifting these, paraffin is kind of essential. If not, you can really leave it out and be okay. It won’t be as pretty, but you don’t have eyeballs in your stomach! If you use only ¼ bar you will not taste it and they will look lovely.
Mix together the peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, and Rice Krispies. Stir, stir, stir. Form into small balls. Smaller than Ping-Pong balls. Maybe about bouncy-ball size. Put them in the freezer.
While the inside is becoming a hard little middle of love, get out your double boiler, choco chips, and paraffin wax. (No double broiler? No problem. Fill a big pan with water and set a smaller pan on top. Voila! You have a double broiler.) Melt the chocolate and paraffin together. Without the paraffin wax, the candy won’t get quite as hard and therefore will become somewhat of a messy disaster when you eat them. Which is no big deal if you are just eating the batch yourself.
After you’ve dunked each ball, let it sit on wax paper for a while and harden. You can speed this up by putting them in the fridge. You’ll probably eat a few while they wait and that is okay. You are just testing them for the fam.