Chocolate Peanut Butter Bon Bons

Called Gloria on Sunday, like I do every Sunday. She answered the way she always answers — "Mijo, you never call" — despite the fact that I call every single week and have for fifteen years. This is the game. I don't mind the game.

She told me Hector's ankles are swelling again. She said it like she was telling me the weather — casual, factual, like it wasn't the thing that's been sitting in her chest for five years. I asked if he'd been to the doctor. She said yes. I asked what the doctor said. She said, "What they always say. Take the pills, eat less salt, don't be seventy-five." Then she changed the subject to the price of chiles, which is how Gloria Medina tells you she's done talking about something.

I hung up and stood on the patio and looked at the Front Range and thought about driving to Las Cruces right then, nine hours, straight through. I didn't. I have practice tomorrow and four kids and a life here that requires me to be here. But the distance between Denver and Las Cruces gets heavier every time Gloria mentions his ankles, his blood sugar, his breathing. Four times a year isn't enough. I know this. I go anyway, four times a year, because that's what the job and the family and the money allow, and I carry the guilt of it the way I carry everything — quietly, under the shirt, next to the things that matter.

Lighter things: Sofia lost her second front tooth on Wednesday, at school, during lunch, in a carrot stick. She came home with the tooth in a Ziploc bag and a gap-toothed grin that made her look like a tiny, adorable hockey player. The Tooth Fairy left two dollars, which Lisa says is inflationary and I say is the going rate. Marco asked when his teeth would fall out. I said not for a while. He looked disappointed. That kid wants everything to happen right now, all at once, as fast as possible. He reminds me of someone.

Made green chile mac and cheese — elbow pasta, sharp cheddar, a little cream, and a full cup of diced roasted green chile folded in at the end. No béchamel, no roux, nothing fancy. You cook the pasta, you melt the cheese with cream in the pot, you stir in the chile, you eat it. All four kids cleaned their plates, which happens approximately twice a year and which I am documenting here as proof. Feed your people. The game is won at the table.

That night, after the plates were cleared and the mac and cheese pot was soaking in the sink, Sofia asked if we could make something sweet. I looked at the peanut butter jar still on the counter, the half-open bag of Rice Krispies Marco had been snacking from, and the chocolate chips Lisa keeps stashed in the back of the pantry—and I thought, yeah, we can do that. These bon bons are the kind of thing you make with your kids: no oven, no fuss, just melting and rolling and dipping, and everybody gets to help. Here’s exactly how we made them.

Prep Time: 1 hr 30 min | Cook Time: 5 min | Total Time: 1 hr 35 min | Servings: 36

Ingredients

2 cups peanut butter (we used smooth, you can use crunchy if you’d like)
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
3 cups Rice Krispies cereal, crushed by pulsing a few times in a food processor
2 to 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or your favorite melting chocolate), plus more as needed

Instructions

Melt the base. In a small saucepan, melt peanut butter and butter over low heat, whisking to combine.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, combine crushed Rice Krispies and 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar.
Combine wet and dry. Pour the melted peanut butter and butter mixture over the cereal mixture and stir to combine, using your hands as necessary. The mixture should be wet enough that you can form it into balls—add more confectioner’s sugar if it seems too wet, add a little more melted peanut butter if it seems too dry.
Portion and roll. Use a small scoop and portion out the bon bons onto a parchment or wax paper-lined cookie sheet. With your hands, roll each portion into balls and place back onto the cookie sheet.
Chill. Chill for about one hour.
Melt the chocolate. Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler (or in a metal bowl placed over a pan of simmering water) stirring the chocolate so it melts evenly and doesn’t scorch.
Dip the bon bons. Turn off the heat under the chocolate, but keep the bowl on the pan of hot water. One by one, dip each chilled peanut butter ball into the chocolate, using a fork to spin the ball around to fully coat. Place back on the lined cookie sheet.
Set the chocolate. Repeat this process until all of the balls are coated with chocolate (melt additional chocolate chips as needed). Place cookie sheet back into the refrigerator and chill until chocolate has set.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bon Bons — The Sweet Reward for Getting It Right