Last fall, we used a recipe for chocolate balls.
Here is another one.
The two are very different – the only similarity is that they are covered with chocolate. The previous one used coconut, nuts and graham crackers, and this one has peanut butter and powdered sugar. They are both delicious and easy to prepare, and take the same amount of time forming the mixture into balls. Of course, with the difference in ingredients, the taste is different.
This recipe from Shirley Bigony of Broad Acres Baptist Church in Cayce, part of the Lexington Association. The Rev. Bill Geddings is the pastor. Broad Acres is especially strong in its missions program, supporting the local food bank among other activities. This summer, Shirley and her husband Andrew, choir director Jasmine Lee, and others are going on a mission trip to Helen, Ga.
Shirley, who grew up in the church, has served in many capacities, including Sunday school teacher for both children and adults, church training, church choir, and committees including the nominating committee, etc.
One thing she really enjoys is the church’s Hearts of Joy Ensemble, which goes each month to the women’s prison to present a music program. They are well received, and Shirley says that many tears are seen in the audience (and probably sometimes among the singers).
Shirley, who owns and operates the Style-Rite Beauty Salon in Cayce, and her husband, who works in the Lexington County Records Department, have two children. Their son, Adam Bigony, and his wife Christi live in Elgin. The most exciting event in their family recently was the birth of their first grandchild, little Ellis Paul Harris, son of their daughter Amanda Harris and her husband Ryan of Lexington.
Shirley’s recipe is a combination of others. She doesn’t like (or use) long, complicated recipes – and worked with other lists of ingredients until she got this combination, which she has been using for years. It is a church and family favorite. Some of the others asked for too much stuff, she says. This one tastes good, has simple ingredients, and is easily put together.
You may find that you can’t mix the ingredients properly with a spoon and will need to use your hands (of course you washed them, why ask?) both for blending the peanut butter, sugar and margarine and for forming the dry mixture into balls.
Shirley Bigony
This is a pleasant project for you, your children, or grandchildren (who, of course, washed their hands), and the recipe makes a lot so there will be plenty of sharing. These keep well and are perfect for your morning break or for any time of day. Whether you form them into 50-70 balls depending on size, they won’t last long!
We thank Shirley for sharing the recipe with us, and you will, too, when you are enjoying them with coffee after your … Sunday Dinner.
Shirley’s Chocolate Balls
1 18-ounce jar crunchy peanut butter
1 stick (4 ounces) margarine or butter
1 24-ounce package Plymouth Pantry Almond Bark
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar
Lay down a large sheet of wax paper or aluminum foil.
Melt margarine in a microwaveable bowl less than a minute. Remove.
Add the peanut butter and sugar. Stir. Then shape mixture into 1-inch balls and place on the wax paper.
After all the balls are shaped, melt the chocolate in a clean, microwaveable bowl about 2 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir. Drop several of the balls into the chocolate and swirl around in the chocolate gently. Lift out with a spoon and place on the wax paper. Let harden. Makes 50-70 balls. (If you can’t find this almond bark, Shirley says she gets it at Walmart food store.)