Add the peanut butter and maple syrup or honey to a large mixing bowl. Stir until smooth and combined. If your peanut butter is thick or dry, microwave the bowl for 10 to 15 seconds first to make mixing easier.
170 grams smooth peanut butter, 80 to 100 grams maple syrup or honey
Add the oat flourr and salt (if using). Stir until a thick dough forms. The mixture should feel slightly sticky.
60 grams oat flour, Pinch of salt
Gently fold in the crisp cereal.
180 grams pea or soy protein crisp cereal
Roll the mixture into balls using your hands or a cookie scoop. You should get around 16 balls depending on size.
If you are making the chocolate crunch coating, roll each ball in additional soy or pea crisps now while the balls are still soft and slightly tacky so the crisps stick well.
Place on a lined tray and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes until firm.
Optional chocolate crunch coating:
Melt the dark chocolate with the coconut oil in 20 second bursts in the microwave, stirring between each, until smooth.
60 grams dark chocolate, ¼ teaspoon coconut oil
Dip the crisp-coated chilled balls into the melted chocolate and refrigerate until the chocolate has set, about 10 minutes.
Video
Notes
How to make oat flour at home: simply blend oats in a food processor or blender until they form a fine flour texture.Measuring crisp cereal: The 180g (2 cups) measurement in this recipe is based on pea and soy crisp cereal. If you are using a different brand of crispy rice cereal e.g., rice krispies or organic puffed rice cereal please measure in cups rather than grams.For the chocolate crunch coating, I like to first roll the balls in extra soy or pea crisps before dipping them into the melted chocolate. I personally found this the easiest way to get lots of crunchy texture on the outside. You could also stir the extra crisps directly into the melted chocolate and coat the balls that way, but I found it a little harder to get an even crunchy coating using that method.Peanut butter notes: Natural drippy peanut butter made with just peanuts and salt works best. If your peanut butter is very thick or dry, microwave it with the maple syrup or honey for 10 to 15 seconds to make mixing easier.Dietary swaps:
For nut-free: swap peanut butter for sunflower seed butter or pumpkin seed butter.
For gluten-free: use certified gluten-free crisp cereal.
For vegan: use maple syrup and dairy-free dark chocolate.
Storage: Keep in the fridge for up to 1 week and the freexer for up to 3 months. The nutritional calculations listed include the chocolate crunch coating. If you decide to exclude this, the nutrition is 138 calories per ball with 10 grams of protein.