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Makes about 30 bonbons

Bonbon is a French word that literally means “goodies” (bon means “good”). In the old days, gentlemen would present their ladies with fancy boxes filled with bonbons. You can place the bonbons in tiny foil holders and put them in fancy boxes to give away as gifts, too.

If you have any bonbons left over the next day, which is unlikely, you can store them in an airtight container at cool room temperature for weeks.

These are called “1-2-3” because you'll be done before you finish counting to three. Also, they are so irresistible that they'll be gone in the same amount of time.

1-2-3 Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bonbons for Kids

1½ cups confectioners' sugar

1½ cups creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup crisp rice cereal

10 ounces milk chocolate, melted, for coating

Combine the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low speed until the mixture begins to come together. Beat on high speed until it reaches a dough-like consistency, with no crumbs. If it's too sticky, add a bit more confectioners' sugar; if it's too dry, add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time. (It's better to avoid adding the milk, as the rice cereal will begin to lose its crunch after several hours due to the added moisture.) Add the rice cereal and mix until combined.

Form the mixture into 1½-inch balls and line them up on parchment paper. Using two forks, dip the balls one at a time into the melted chocolate, turn to coat, and then lift out, allowing the excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. Place the coated candies back onto the parchment paper. Try to wait until the chocolate has set before you eat them. To speed things up, you can put the bonbons in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, but no longer than that. The condensation can ruin the chocolate.

Makes about 30 bonbons

When melting the milk chocolate for the coating, be careful not to overheat the chocolate or it will be ruined. Chop the chocolate and microwave it for 2 minutes, stopping to stir every 30 seconds. If it feels very warm, but you can still see pieces of chocolate, just keep stirring. It may take a good few minutes.

Sources

Author's note: While I used the sources below for my research, any errors in historical fact are my own.

Books

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