My mom would always make peanut butter balls for Christmas. I think it was the only Christmas “cookie” that everyone could almost universally agree on. But my wife is allergic to peanut butter (not confirmed, but suspected), so I don’t really bake anything with peanuts (then I eat it all, although this is not materially different than everything else). I did end up baking peanut butter cookies this year, but when I saw this recipe on Food52, I thought it would be a good alternative that she could enjoy, too.

When I told her the plan, I referred to these treats as “bon bons”, said with a (stellar) French accent. She laughed at me, and questioned, “bahn banz?” Alas, this became a running joke throughout the holiday season.

I took advantage of a holiday sale at Michael’s to buy some chocolate wafers and squeeze bottles for decorating. Half of the bon bons have this red/green drizzle, while the other half have a few flakes of coarse sea salt.

I was able to makes ~33 bon-bons with 2 tsp. cookie scoop (~1″ in diameter). Several commenters also noticed that the recipe made much more than the dozen indicated, but the balls in the pictures appear larger than 1″ in diameter. It’s also worth noting that the reviewers mention adding an extra two tablespoons of butter for more creaminess and some salt to cut the sugar, which is what the recipe below reflects.

DARK CHOCOLATE ALMOND BUTTER BON BONS
Based on this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

6 whole graham crackers
1/2 cup (128 g) smooth almond butter
3/4 cups (10 tbsp.) unsalted butter
2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Use a blender of food processor to turn graham crackers into a powder, then pour the powder into a large bowl.
2. In a microwavable bowl, heat the almond butter and butter together until smooth (2 30-second intervals, mixing in between). Stir until well-blended.
3. Pour almond butter/butter mixture into the graham cracker powder. Add the powdered sugar, the mix until combined into a dough.
4. Roll the dough into 1″ balls and spread out onto a parchment lined baking pan. Place pan in the refrigerator or freezer to harden.
5. In a microwavable bowl, melt chocolate chips until smooth.
6. Dunk each ball into the melted chocolate, then return to parchment-lined baking pan.
7. Keep in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to serve.