Crispy Peanut Butter Balls

Makes 2 dozen

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Active time: 10 minutes

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Start to finish: 40 minutes, including 30 minutes to chill

VARIATIONS

Use milk instead of orange juice, omit the orange zest, and add ¹/₂ teaspoon ground cinnamon to the peanut butter and honey mixture before adding the cereal.

Substitute almond butter for the peanut butter. If using natural almond butter, add ¹/₂ cup confectioners’ sugar.

Add ³/₄ cup chopped dried fruit.

Add ³/₄ cup miniature chocolate chips or butterscotch chips.

The granola you choose to make these healthful snack balls changes the nature of the mixture. My favorite mixture contains nuts as well as dried cranberries.

¹/₂ cup peanut butter

3 tablespoons honey

2 cups granola cereal

2 to 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

Vegetable oil spray

1. Whisk peanut butter and honey in mixing bowl until smooth. Add granola, orange juice, and orange zest, and stir with a strong spatula until mixed well. Add additional orange juice, if necessary, so mixture stays together.

2. Spray your hands with vegetable oil spray. Make mixture into 1¹/₂-inch balls, and arrange balls on a baking sheet. Refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Note: The balls can be stored refrigerated up to 1 week. Place them in an airtight container with sheets of plastic wrap in between the layers.

Peanuts, which are actually a legume and not a nut, are used in cuisines around the world, but peanut butter is an American invention, developed in 1890 and first promoted as a health food at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.