This no-bake Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Ball is a cool and creamy treat and a sweet switch from the usual cheese ball appetizer. Easily made with 5 simple ingredients, this recipe tastes similar to peanut butter cheesecake but served as a delicious dessert dip that you can spread or scoop onto your favorite cookies or fruit slices.
Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Ball Dessert Dip
This Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Ball is a dessert dip version of my Football Cheese Ball and Bacon Cheddar Ranch Cheese Ball recipes, easily made with a cream cheese and peanut butter base and studded with crunchy colorful candy.
While the classic cheese ball is a popular appetizer for parties and large gatherings because they feed a crowd, they are served as a dip with crackers on the side. But unlike that traditional tailgate, football food, this no-bake sweet treat is decadently delicious and served with graham crackers instead of savory ones.
Decorate your peanut butter ball with leftover Halloween candy, customize and coat it with sprinkles for the holidays, or stud it with your team’s shirt colors for game day, this dessert is a fun and unique way to serve a sweet spread to your football fans, family, or friends.
Just like this Reese’s Peanut Butter Ball, dips do not always have to be savory and can also be served for dessert. For more scoopable spreads, try my Candy Cane Dip, Chocolate Cheesecake Dip, Caramel Apple Dip, and S’mores Dip recipes.
Why We Love This Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Ball Recipe
- Quick and easy to make.
- Only uses basic 4 ingredients plus candy for coating.
- Fun to prepare and decorate with kids.
- Simple recipe with make-ahead convenience.
- Tastes like peanut butter cheesecake without all the work.
- Deliciously decadent with a creamy center and a crunchy coating.
- Customize the colors for the holidays, parties, or special occasions.
- Perfect Super Bowl snack, game day dessert, or anytime appetizer.
Ingredients
- Cream cheese
- Creamy peanut butter
- Pure vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar
- Reese’s pieces candies
- Graham crackers
- Mini Chocolate Chips (optional): You can add mini chocolate chips to the peanut butter mixture before chilling in the refrigerator.
Substitutions and Additions
- Customize Your Colors: Feel free to use festive colors for different holidays and special occasions. Cover your peanut butter ball with green and red M&Ms for Christmas, red, pink, and white candy for Valentine’s Day, or customize your creation with your favorite football team’s colors.
- Double Dippers: Use your favorite cookies and crackers to double as a dessert and a dipper. You can try chocolate graham crackers, animal crackers, gingersnap cookies, vanilla wafers, hard pretzels, mini Hershey’s bars, apple slices, broken pieces of sugar cones (my favorite) or broken pieces of sugar cone bowls.
- Add-Ins: Add mini M&Ms or any flavored mini chocolate chips to the peanut butter mixture before chilling your peanut butter ball.
Recommended Tools
- Stand Mixer or handheld mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Plastic wrap
- Measuring tools
- Serving plate
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How to Make Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Ball
This no-bake Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Ball is so easy to make simply by beating 4 basic ingredients together, forming the mixture into a ball, and chilling it until you are ready to serve. With its creamy, sweet center and outside coating of crunchy and colorful candy, this is a delicious dessert that pairs with plenty of fun dippers.
- Beat together the cream cheese, peanut butter, and vanilla extract for 1 ½ – 2 minutes until smooth.
Pro-Tip: Use softened cream cheese to make it easier to mix and to prevent lumps. Don’t use natural peanut butter in this recipe because it has a tendency to separate easily from the oil. - Add the powdered sugar and continue mixing for another 1 – 1 ½ minutes.
Pro-Tip: For extra texture and chocolate, you can add mini chocolate chips to the peanut butter mixture before chilling in the refrigerator.
- Lay 2 pieces of plastic wrap on a flat surface in a crisscross pattern and spoon the peanut butter mixture into the center.
- Shape the peanut butter mixture into a ball.
- Tightly wrap it in the plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Unwrap the peanut butter ball just before serving and place in the center of a serving plate.
- Lightly press the Reese’s Pieces onto the surface of the peanut butter ball.
- Arrange the graham cracker pieces around the decorated peanut butter ball.
- Serve and enjoy!
Tips
- Use softened cream cheese to make it easier to mix and to prevent lumps.
- Don’t use natural peanut butter in this recipe because it has a tendency to separate easily from the oil.
- For extra texture and chocolate, you can add mini chocolate chips to the peanut butter mixture before chilling in the refrigerator.
- You can make the peanut butter ball a day ahead.
Storage Tips
- To Store: Store the peanut butter ball covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Store leftover graham crackers in a Ziploc baggie to keep the crackers from becoming stale.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the undecorated peanut butter ball for up to 1 month. Wrap in wax paper and then place in a Ziploc bag. Allow the peanut butter ball to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before decorating and serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
This is a great dessert to prep ahead of time. Make the peanut butter ball a day ahead of time and keep it wrapped in the fridge, then simply coat in the Reese’s Pieces before setting it out to serve.
There is no chocolate in this peanut butter ball. The candies are only filled with a peanut butter center. The box of Reese’s Pieces describes this treat as “peanut butter candy in a crunchy shell,”–no mention of chocolate!
Depending on what texture you want, you can use either crunchy peanut butter or creamy peanut butter. The advantage of using crunchy peanut butter is that you get the richness as well as the texture and crunch of the whole nuts.
Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Ball
Ingredients
- 8 ounce package cream cheese softened
- 1½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1¼ cup powdered sugar sifted
- ¾ cup Reese’s pieces candies
- 2 sleeves graham crackers broken into individual pieces (You can also use vanilla wafers, hard pretzels, mini Hershey’s bars, apple slices, broken pieces of sugar cones (my favorite) or broken pieces of sugar cone bowls.)
Instructions
- Using either a stand mixer, or a medium size mixing bowl and a handheld mixer on medium-high speed, beat together the softened cream cheese, creamy peanut butter and vanilla extract for 1 ½ – 2 minutes until smooth.
- Add the sifted powdered sugar and continue mixing for another 1 – 1 ½ minutes.
- Measure out 2 pieces of plastic wrap in a crisscross pattern. Spoon the peanut butter mixture into the center of the plastic wrap and shape into a ball. Tightly wrap the peanut butter ball in the plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Just before serving, unwrap the peanut butter ball and place in the center of a serving plate.
- Lightly press the Reese’s pieces onto the surface of the peanut butter ball. Arrange the graham cracker pieces around the decorated peanut butter ball.
Jenn’s Notes
- To Store: Store the peanut butter ball covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Store leftover graham crackers in a Ziploc baggie to keep the crackers from becoming stale.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the undecorated peanut butter ball for up to 1 month. Wrap in wax paper and then place in a Ziploc bag. Allow the peanut butter ball to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before decorating and serving.
- Use softened cream cheese to make it easier to mix and to prevent lumps.
- Don’t use natural peanut butter in this recipe because it has a tendency to separate easily from the oil.
- For extra texture and chocolate, you can add mini chocolate chips to the peanut butter mixture before chilling in the refrigerator.
- You can make the peanut butter ball a day ahead.
peanut butter freak…
thxs for the recipe can’t wait to try it Sunday at family dinner.
This is so GOOD! Made this for a work carry in and it disappeared quickly.
10 stars
Delicious peanut buttery goodness.