3 Weeks Before Christmas - Peanut Butter Balls & Holiday Check List

Family photo with our tree
we picked out from
Meyer Family Trees, rural Hampton, Iowa

It's the last day of November and it officially feels like the Christmas season.  We picked out and put up our Christmas Tree yesterday and the only gifts I still need to finish are the ones I'm personally making.  Black Friday was very successful for me - But I personally always aim for getting as much, if not all, of my shopping done that day because it is a chance to shop without kids!  Now is the time that I start to make Christmas cookies each week, so I will have a variety of goodies for Christmas plates for all of our holiday gatherings.  So I thought for this week's holiday recipe I had to share my family's favorite Christmas cookie, Peanut Butter Balls.

Peanut Butter Balls are a simple and delicious holiday treat that you can get your whole family involved in.  We eat these so much that I've adapted the recipe based on a whole jar of peanut butter ;)  (Peanut butter is one of the hardest and messiest things to measure so why not just use a whole jar!)  These are always the first Christmas cookie we make and usually the last too, because one batch just doesn't last us all month.  And, if you're looking for some more Christmas Cookie ideas, check out my Iowa Christmas Cookie Exchange for 16 delicious treats from Iowa bloggers.

This week's Holiday Check List includes a lot of items, and I'm hoping to gradually check items off each day.  I need to finish my Christmas sewing projects, I'd really like to start wrapping gifts, and I need to start on everything involved in making our Christmas letter.  To see my complete check list for this week be sure to check it out here.

And, you can get caught up on my previous week's Holiday Check Lists and Holiday Recipes by clicking on the links below:

Horchata Pumpkin Waffles and 1 Week Before Thanksgiving Check List

Pecan Pie and Thanksgiving Week Check List

What is your favorite Christmas cookie?  Do you have a family favorite where one batch is never enough.  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

Christmas Goodie Must - Peanut Butter Balls

Black Friday means several things to me:

• First - I get most of my shopping done (and without kids)!
• Second - I start playing Christmas carols in the car and in the house.
• And Third - I start stocking up on Christmas goodies!

I love making Christmas cookie plates as gifts and to bring to Christmas parties, so I start making, freezing and storing Christmas goodies today.  Each week I try to make a couple different varieties of goodies so I have a diversity of goodies for my cookie plates (and so I have enough to make it till the end of Christmas).  One Christmas goodie that it seems inevitable that I end up making a few batches of is my family's favorite - Peanut Butter Balls (affectionately known as Christmas Crack to My Farmer!)

Peanut Butter Balls

18 oz jar Creamy Peanut Butter (Many brands have decreased their jar size over the last few years so if you can't find an 18oz jar you'll be fine, but you might want to add an extra scoop of peanut butter to your recipe.  If you live in Iowa, I personally know that Fareway still sells their generic brand at an 18 oz size.)

2 cups Powdered Sugar

4 Tbsp Butter, soften

5 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Chocolate Almond Bark, melted

Combine first four ingredients.  The mixture should be able to stick and stay together, and at the same time not leave peanut butter all over your hands.  Roll mixture into balls about the size of a quarter.  Dip balls into melted almond bark.  (If your almond bark is really thick, add a tablespoon of shortening to the almond bark to thin it out slightly but not changing the flavor.)  Refrigerate or keep in cold storage.

***Chef's Note*** I like to use a spoon to help cover each peanut butter ball in almond bark and then spoon the ball onto a fork to drain off excess chocolate before letting it set on a cookie sheet with parchment paper on it.

What is your family's favorite Christmas goodie?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

Also, be sure to check out my blog this weekend for a Christmas Cookie Exchange round-up post!