In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat peanut butter and butter until creamy and smooth. Gradually add in vanilla extract and powdered sugar with the mixture on low, speeding up once it becomes more combined. At this point you should have a cookie “dough” (depending on your brand of peanut butter you may need a little more sugar – add it 1-2 tablespoons at a time while mixing). Using a spatula, gently fold in crisped rice cereal so it gets distributed through the batter, adding more is desired. Be careful not to crush all the cereal so it stays crispy.

Once combined, roll dough into balls (mine were slightly more than teaspoon-sized) and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Some of the balls will have crisped rice edges sticking out and some may be crumbly – that’s okay, just roll as smooth as you can occasionally squeezing the dough together if needed. Refrigerate for 60-90 minutes. Melt chocolate in either the microwave (I melt in 30 second increments while stirring) or in a double boiler. Remove peanut butter balls from fridge and dip in chocolate, then place back on parchment. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. Store in the refrigerator!

Note: if you want the peanut butter drizzle, I simply melted 1/2 cup of peanut butter chips then used a spoon to drizzle.