Peanut butter balls*

My family has few traditions, which always baffled me growing up. We're sturdy German stock, and you'd figure we'd claim something from our heritage to recreate every year. Nope. No beer, no sausage, no Black Forest cake, no pretzels, not even German potato salad. Likewise, my family didn't bind days with food (no Friday pizza nights at my house.) One of the only constants was a handful of holiday treats we would make every single year. Some have come and gone as my mom discovered new recipes and our tastes changed, but the only one to remain is Peanut Butter Balls. Without fail, we'd make two batches of peanut butter balls every single Christmas, as did my aunt and Grandma (although theirs tasted different.) It's a super sweet concoction and despite the few ingredients involved, I soon noticed subtle differences between our peanut butter balls and others. My Grandma's were smaller, and she used a different coating chocolate (plus she used wax, which is pretty common with the recipe but fills me with horror.) My aunt's version was closer to my grandmothers, but she only used creamy peanut butter and melted chocolate chips. Ours were bigger and more irregularly shaped, with crunchy peanut butter and NO WAX. Over the years, however, I've become so accustomed to rolling these cookies that I can usually make a whole batch of them nearly the same size. That's what three decades of rolling can do, I guess.

Peanut butter balls were an addiction, and despite our love of them, they were only made in December. The only time I strayed from this concept was when we were moving from Atlanta. I made a batch for our goodbye party. Folks loved them (although they were gooier in the heat), but I felt like I was being sacrilegious making them five months too early. (I'm still fascinated by these delicious or holiday foods that are never made outside of Christmas or Thanksgiving. Who says you can't have green bean casserole in February or pumpkin pie in June?)

Peanut butter balls conjure up the idea of family, of delicious comfort foods, of holiday get-togethers. I love them. Even now, when Jeremy and I make entirely new cookies and candies each year, I still make peanut butter balls.

Here's the original recipe (with comments and revisions later)

2 c. crushed graham cracker crumbs

2 c. powdered sugar

2 c. peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)

1/4 c. melted margerine or butter

A large block of confectioner's chocolate or chocolate of your choice

Mix the first four ingredients in a bowl. It will be messy, but it's easier to mix with your hands. When thoroughly mixed, roll into 1 - 1 1/2 inch balls and stack in a separate container. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours, or until the balls are more solid and easier to handle. Melt chocolate over low heat or a double broiler (some use the microwave, which is okay too). Jeremy prefers to add a small handful of finely chopped chocolate at this point to temper the chocolate and make it set better, but you don't have to. Dip balls in chocolate until coated, and using two forks, try to drain as much excess chocolate as possible. Place on cookie sheets covered in wax paper and refrigerate until the chocolate is set. Transfer to a tupperware container and keep in a cool place.

Growing up, we always used the Skippy-esque processed peanut butter and chunks of milk chocolate. It's too sweet for me these days, so these are my suggestions. This morning I'm wondering if you could cut the powdered sugar by 1/2 c. I now use organic no-salt, no-added sugar creamy peanut butter from the co-op (I tried using the jarred oil-on-top peanut butter once, and it was too dry to combine with the other ingredients.) For true decadence or for those with peanut allergies, you could use almond butter instead. We buy large blocks of 70% cacao dark chocolate from Trader Joe's, which produces a much richer, less sweeter coating. (Although my sister, a milk chocolate eater, doesn't like our version. But we do.)

They're easy and yummy and my favorite food tradition.

*My friend is hosting an online food blog theme party about food that is closely linked to memory, so this is my contribution. Here's her blog: The Skinny Gourmet