Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls (Peanut-Free Option)

Before I was diagnosed with a peanut allergy, I made these chocolate peanut butter balls with creamy peanut butter all the time! Even after my diagnosis, I have loved making these with SunButter (sunflower seed butter).

If you can eat peanuts, make the recipe as written. If you want a peanut-free option, use SunButter or almond butter.

(And, if you’re looking for more recipes that use SunButter, check out these scotcheroos and these no-bake sunflower seed chocolate bars.)

💛 Why you’ll love this recipe

• Creamy, chocolatey, and full of flavor.
• Easy to make.
• Perfect for holiday parties.
• Stores well at room temp or in the fridge.
• Freezer-friendly.
• Can be made allergy-friendly (peanut-free and tree nut-free).

➡️ Ingredients

⏲ How to make these chocolate peanut butter balls

This is an overview of the recipe’s instructions. The full instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Mix together peanut butter (or, for peanut-free, SunButter or almond butter) and melted butter then, in small batches, mix in powdered sweetener.
• Chill the mixture in the freezer before scooping some out, forming it into balls, and placing each ball on top of a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
• Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer to chill until they have firmed up.
• With about 5 minutes left of the balls chilling in the freezer, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave.
• Using a fork, carefully dip the chilled peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate then return them to the baking sheet. Optionally, use any remaining melted chocolate to drizzle atop chocolate-covered balls.
• Return the baking sheet back to the freezer until the chocolate has solidified.

👉 Ingredient substitution suggestions

• Unsweetened Peanut Butter: I use No-Sugar-Added SunButter here (due to my allergies) and it works great. Unsweetened almond butter or cashew butter will also work.
• Unsalted Butter: Ghee or coconut oil will work at a 1:1 substitution ratio.
• Powdered Sweetener: If you want to keep the carb content low, I would use powdered monk fruit sweetener. You can also use Classic Monk Fruit Sweetener, Golden Monk Fruit Sweetener, or erythritol here, but you will need to powder it in a blender or food processor before mixing it in with the other ingredients. If carbohydrates aren’t a concern, use powdered sugar.
• Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips: A sugar-free chocolate bar will work here (I like Lily’s). You can also use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I would suggest slightly decreasing the amount of powdered sweetener you add.

✨ Variations

• Use crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth peanut butter for some added texture.
• Sprinkle flakey sea salt on top of each of the balls.
• Sprinkle on chopped nuts, shredded coconut, or sunflower seeds.
• Sprinkle on colorful sprinkles – you can coordinate the sprinkle colors with whatever holiday you’re serving them at (like red, green, and white for Christmas or orange and white for Halloween!).

💬 FAQs

📚 More easy chocolate recipes

• Copycat Twix Bars
• No-Bake SunButter Chocolate Bars
• Milk Chocolate Sunflower Seed Clusters
• Double Chocolate Mug Cake