This 3-Ingredient, No-Bake Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Ball Recipe is simple to make and will take you back to your childhood with the first bite!
Nothing fancy but they sure bring back some memories. With only 3 ingredients, they’re simple and a healthy treat for my kids in their lunch boxes or as an afternoon snack!
How To Make Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Balls
These easy Peanut Butter Balls are a breeze to make!
Step 1: In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, honey and dry milk and mix together.
Step 2: Form into balls, roll in toppings and chill.
That’s it!
Make up a batch rolled in different toppings – corn flakes, powdered sugar, coconut, pecans – whatever your heart desires! Here’s a little secret between you and me – substitute powdered sugar for the powdered milk. OH. MY. GOODNESS! That’s all I’ll say!
Enjoy these Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter balls the next time you’re looking for a good for you treat! They’re gonna take you back!
How to Store Peanut Butter Balls
These tasty treats don’t last long around my house, but I keep them stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Need to store them longer? You can freeze them too!
Frequently Asked Questions About Peanut Butter Balls
1. Can you use raw oats in peanut butter balls?
Yes! Eating raw oats won’t hurt you – they’re a common ingredient in ‘energy balls’. They are just as tasty as roasted oats but provide a different, chewier texture.
2. Are peanut butter balls healthy?
Peanut butter contains all the healthy fiber and nutrients from peanuts, and can also help as a snack for controlling hunger.
No-Bake Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Balls
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Peanut Butter
- 1 Cup Honey
- 2 Cups Dry Powdered Milk
- Various toppings to roll in - cornflakes powdered sugar, nuts, etc...
Instructions
- Mix the peanut butter, honey and dry milk together in a bowl.
- Just a scoop of your choice and form into a ball.
- Roll in toppings
- Chill for 20 minutes
If you like this recipe, you’ll love these, too!!
Always had these for after-schoo snack when I was a latchkey kid in the 1980’s! We always smashed one M&M candy on the top.. Super excited to make them for my kiddos!
After 35 years of searching for my favorite recipe of my childhood thanks to my 2nd grade teacher Miss Callahan, I finally found the exact ingredients! I knew it was powdered milk and honey, and we were able to roll in whatever topping (I chose coconut) and thank God here it is! No powdered sugar ( makes too sweet unless possibly dusted) but the key ingredients I remembered were powdered milk and honey! I’m ecstatic!! Thank you SO MUCH!!
I remember these from my childhood! They were so fun to make and eat!
Good memories and great recipe. Thanks for sharing! J
I’m a 72 year old grandmother and great mother. When I was in elementary school we had
the peanut butter balls made out of dry milk. Made these for my children back in the day. Lost the recipe and now found you. Thank You! Thank You Kasey! Will be making some for Christmas.
Would it be possible to substitute the honey for real maple syrup?
Hi Kendra! Maple syrup would make the flavor a bit more caramel like. It would likely be delicious! Tweak away! This recipe is so easy to tweak on a small scale: 1 tablespoon peanut butter, 1 tablespoon maple syrup and 2 tablespoons dried milk. We are trying subbing almond flour for the milk tonight.
These were popular at my preschool over 40 years ago in Northern California. The teachers would make these and it was heaven at first bite. I had looked these up some time back and knew it was PB, honey and powdered milk, but I wasn’t sure on the ratios. Thanks so much for sharing. I’ll be making these soon and reliving the glory years, haha 🙂
I come from the puritan school of thought when it comes to PB balls: Only PB, honey and milk powder; rolled into balls and chilled. Nothing else! 🙂 However, you’ve gotten me curious on the whole powdered sugar thing. I wonder how 1 cup each of PB, honey, powdered milk, and powdered sugar would work? It seems that they would be tongue-numbingly sweet. I would love a little description on the flavor, texture, and sweetness level on your 2 cup powdered sugar variant, and also if you think my suggested variant on your variant would work?
Thanks again!
Hi Kasey,
Thank you, thank you. I’ve been looking for this recipe for some time. I had it once but lost it. I ,also, went to a school where we had good old fashioned home cooked meals. And the Peanut Balls were always a highlight for dessert. I am so glad that I kept looking. Thank you, again.
This is crazy… I am from WV and have wondered for years how these were made. I typed in peanut butter balls and didn’t come up with anything, so I typed in school lunch peanut butter balls and here I am. I knew I was on the right path when the first sentence mentions WV! Thank you 🤯🥰
YAY! I’m so glad this helped!!
I have been trying to remember this for years! I had a kid’s book in Elementary that had this recipe in it. I used to make these all the time as a kid. I remembered tonight, out of nowhere, they had powdered milk in them. I finally found it!! Thank you!!!!
I made peanut butter balls omg my granddaughter loves them I rolled them in 1 minute oats I love them as well & it dont take long to make thank you
My daughter called up, asking for my recipe for peanut butter balls. I saw your recipe and said “This is the one!”. I grew up in rural Vermont and out school cook knew how to make great meals featuring the ingredients supplied to schools by the state. We had a lot more crushed cornflakes, blended into the other ingredients. They sure bring back fond memories. I loved Mrs. Hershberger’s flaky biscuits with shredded cheddar cheese, slathered with butter.
How are these stored? Should they be refrigerated or can they be stored at room temp? Is there an alternative ingredient to dry milk?
These recipes look yummy!
Could I substitute something else for the dry milk in
The PEANUT BUTTER BALLS,
You can use powdered coffee creamer.
Where at in WV? We had these delicious peanut butter balls at Sardis Elementary School when I was younger. Beautiful memories…TY
I’m from Huntington originally. 🙂