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When September rolls around each year, people are excited because it means the start of football season.
I, on the other hand, am usually less than thrilled. It means Sunday and Monday nights are filled with footballs games, meaning nothing good is on tv.
So this September, I decided to have an attitude change. I was going to convince myself to like football.
I mean, I like the idea of liking football.. rallying around a team, feeling like you’re a part of something, following your team’s progression through the season. So I tried. I think I watched part of 2 games. But I couldn’t get hooked. It was slow moving and it seemed like every other player was running out of bounds and than a flag was thrown. Plus, how am I suppose to relate to a 30 year old professional football player?
I just couldn’t do it.
But I can do football food and football shaped treats :)
See, there is something I like about football! The football itself!! Ha.
If you have some tips on how I can start to like football, please leave me a comment, I would like to be able to enjoy America’s favorite sport.
In the meantime, I’ll leave the football watching to the football fans and I’ll stick to making the game day food. This recipe for peanut butter stuffed chocolate footballs only calls for 9 ingredients! It does require a little bit of time because the chocolate needs to harden once you dip the peanut butter stuffed sandwiches. And piping on the details of the footballs can take up to 20 minutes, depending on how many you make.
Next week is football week on the blog! We’ll be sharing 3 new football treats to get you geared up for Super Bowl!
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Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Footballs
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- Townhouse Pretzel Crackers, oval shaped
- Chocolate candiquik, 1/2 to 1 whole package, depending on how many you make
- 2-3 tbsp vegetable shortening
Royal Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ tbsp meringue powder
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp water
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and cream cheese until smooth and evenly mixed.
- Using your fingers, take some of the peanut butter mixture and place it on a pretzel cracker, then stack another cracker on top to create a sandwich. Continue this process until you have made your desired amount of sandwiches. Place the sandwiches on a baking sheet and place them in the freeze for 15 minutes.
- While the sandwiches are hardening begin to melt the chocolate and vegetable shortening in a small saucepan over low (number 2-3) heat. It may take up to 10 minutes to completely melt the chocolate, stir occasionally as it melts.
- Set a cooling rack on the counter near where you will be dipping the sandwiches. I like to place a baking sheet underneath my cooling rack, so the drips of chocolate go onto that and not my counter, or place a piece of wax paper underneath the cooling rack. Spray the rack with non-stick cooking spray, this will prevent the melted chocolate from sticking to the rack, making the sandwiches easier to remove once cooled.
- Once the chocolate is melted, remove the sandwiches from the freezer.
- To dip, place 1 sandwich in the saucepan with melted chocolate. Use a spoon to spoon chocolate on top of the sandwich, if needed. To remove the sandwich, use a fork to lift it out of the chocolate. To remove excess chocolate from the sandwich while it’s on the fork, tap your wrist 2 times with your other hand, to get the excess chocolate to fall back into the chocolate bowl. Scrape the bottom of the fork on the edge of the saucepan to remove more chocolate, then move the sandwich to the cooling rack. Use a toothpick to help get the sandwich off the fork and onto the rack smoothly.
- Continue this process until all of the sandwiches are dipped. Allow them to harden at room temperature.
- While the sandwiches are hardening, mix the royal icing.
- Combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water in a small mixing bowl and mix on low speed until the icing has a matte appearance, about 3-5 minutes.
- Transfer the icing to a squeeze bottle and begin to add the details on the footballs. I found it easiest to start by drawing the curved lines near the ends, then adding the straight line in the middle on all of the footballs, then go back and add the vertical stitch marks to all of the footballs.
- When all of the footballs are finished and set, store them in an air tight container.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
You need to care about a team first. :) Pick a team for any reason and really work at caring whether they win or lose. I am a huge sports fan but my hubby not so much. Try going to a live game where the crowd really gets into it–but make sure you are rooting for the home team. Love these treats–pinned!
Laura, going to a live game is a GREAT idea!
These are so perfect for a party! That’s pretty much the only reason I like to watch football…for the food!
Haha, we’re twins Jaren!
Oh my goodness! They are just so so adorable. I would love to get a bite of one.
I suppose you could make just one, but why not make 30?!
Beth, these are so cute and I know they taste great because that is a similar peanut butter filling I use to make mock peanut butter cups! We are going to a superbowl party no matter who is playing (but we hope our Packer team will be in it!), and I plan to make these as my contribution towards the desserts. Thanks for sharing!
Yay Gail! I am so excited! My husband’s family LOVES the packers!
I’m not a big football fan either, but I’m a huge fan of these peanut butter stuffed chocolate footballs ;)
Awww, thanks friend!
I share your thoughts Beth, I just cannot get into football. As in actually sit down and watch a whole game. I love making snacks for our football mad guests though! These are darling!
I sure hope our football loving friends appreciate the fun football food we make for them!
Have you tried these with cream cheese instead of peanut butter?
Hi Andrea, do you mean just cream cheese and omitting the peanut butter? I am sure you could do it, I have not tried it that way. I prefer to mix the peanut butter with the cream cheese because I don’t like the taste of cream cheese by itself. Let me know how it goes!
I’m making these tmrw for Sunday’s game! About how many does one batch with the above ingredient calculations yield?
Hi Shannon! It really depends on how many crackers come in the box, so when you’re at the store you could look to see how many are in the box and half that number and that should be a good estimate (there could be a few broken ones). Let me know how they turn out!
Do these footballs have to be Refrigerated since they contain cream cheese?
Thank you
Refrigerated would be best!