The Good Earth Peanut Company

Recipe #14 Contest Winner

Peanut Butter Truffles

10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 18-ounce jar chunky peanut butter
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound (4 4-ounce bars) semisweet chocolate (bars for baking available in the baking section of the grocery store)
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped peanuts (without skins)
waxed paper
cookie sheet
toothpicks

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Put the melted butter and the peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt into a large bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Roll the peanut butter mixture into small balls and place on the waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Freeze for about 20 minutes. Break or chop the chocolate into small chunks with the 1 teaspoon of butter and melt in the top of a double boiler. Mix well and make sure there are no lumps. Turn down the heat to lowest setting. Remove the peanut butter balls from the freezer. Stick a toothpick in each peanut butter ball. Holding the toothpicks, swirl the peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate so that it almost covers the peanut butter balls. You should still see some of the peanut butter at the top. Dip each chocolate covered peanut butter ball into the chopped nuts and place onto the waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Place in refrigerator. Store in refrigerator for about a week or in the freezer for 2 to 3 weeks. Makes about 60 peanut butter truffles.

Leslie Pew

The Judges

Daniel Rogov

Daniel has been writing about food and wine for more years than he will admit in public. For the last twenty years he has been the Wine and Restaurant Critic for the Israeli Daily, Ha'Aretz. Rogov also contributes regularly on dining and wine to several European newspapers and magazines; and is an advisor to Hugh Johnson's "Pocket Wine Encyclopaedia" and contributes to Tom Stevenson’s “Wine Report”. His own book “Rogov’s Guide to Israeli Wines has just been published by Toby press and can be ordered through Amazon or Barnes and Nobles. He also maintains Rogov's Ramblings, an internet site devoted to wine, gastronomy and travel.

Jenise Stone

Jenise is a an avid foodie and accomplished cook from Los Angeles who contributes to the Food Lovers Discussion Group, an internet bulletin board devoted to food chat, recipe sharing and friendship.

Robin Garr

Robin Garr has been involved in wine appreciation online since the mid-1980s, serving as a manager of CompuServe's Wine Forum for nearly a decade before the evolution of the World Wide Web. He created the Wine Lovers' Page in 1994 as one of the first independent wine-education Websites, and has presided over its growth as the largest, most popular and most highly awarded wine destination on the Internet. He began its Wine Lovers' Discussion Group, the first Web-based interactive community for the intelligent and civil discussion of wine online, in 1996; and he launched his popular E-mail newsletter, The 30 Second Wine Advisor, at the start of 1999.