A chocolate-and-peanut-butter-lover’s dream: all-natural peanut butter mixed with rice crisps, pretzels, caramel or toffee, and covered in milk, dark or white chocolate.

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April 2006

Product Reviews / Kosher Nibbles / Kosher Candy

Jer’s Gourmet Peanut Butter Balls

Have A Ball With These Peanut Butter and Chocolate Confections

CAPSULE SUMMARY: Peanut butter lovers who haven’t yet discovered Jer’s are in for a treat. Peanut butter centers covered in dark, milk or white chocolate are available in four varieties: peanut butter mixed with rice crisps, caramel, pretzels, or toffee. You can customize boxes to get the varieties you like.

When it comes to food, there are a few things we’re drawn to at THE NIBBLE™. First and foremost, of course, is great taste; if that’s not part of the equation, we’re not interested. But we also care about the details. We love, for example, to find products that are all-natural. If they’re kosher-certified as well, even better. And we have a particular soft spot for small-scale artisans, especially if they have a compelling backstory.

Often we’ll find products with two or three of these characteristics. With Jer’s Handmade Chocolates, though, we hit the jackpot: delicious, all-natural, kosher-certified chocolate-covered peanut butter balls created by Jer himself, a successful businessman turned peanut-butter-ball-maker.

Though the company has only been around since 2002, the seed for Jer’s Handmade Chocolates was planted about 15 years before that. Jerry Swain was home from college for Thanksgiving and, needing a break from studying, decided to experiment with peanut butter balls in his parents’ kitchen. His creations were a hit with his family, so when break was over, he took them back to his dormitory, where they were, of course, quickly devoured. For the rest of his college career he made them every year at finals time, and for nine years after he graduated he hosted a party that became known as “Jer’s Ball” thanks to the star confections. The party was so successful that after the first couple of years, Swain decided to turn it into a fund-raiser for local food banks.
Photo at right: Caramellas

Still, despite their popularity, it didn’t occur to Swain in those days to turn his peanut butter balls into a business. Instead he went the traditional route, working first in corporate America, and later as an independent consultant. He never stopped making the balls, though, for friends and fund-raisers alike, and finally one day it dawned on him that he could turn his favorite hobby into a full-time business.

The rest, as they say, is history. Jer’s Handmade Chocolates was born, and Swain and his crew have been making the irresistible peanut butter balls ever since. And while the company has outgrown Swain’s parents’ kitchen, not much has changed about the balls themselves. They are entirely handmade, in small batches to ensure freshness and quality. They are also, as we mentioned, all-natural, even the peanut butter—a refreshing change from other peanut butter candies that use homogenized or stabilized peanut butter.
Photo at left: Presto Change-O

The balls are the peanut butter cup lover’s vision of a box of bonbons: all peanut butter centers enrobed in chocolate. There’s no Forrest Gumpian quandary of not knowing what you’re getting: if you’ve ordered a mixed box, the drizzle patterns clearly indicate the flavors. The equally-delicious options include:

• Original IncrediBall™: As Jer himself says, this is “the ball that started it all.” All-natural peanut butter mixed with rice crisps, covered in milk, dark or white chocolate. Pure and simple, and the crisps add a nice crunch.
• Pretzo Change-O™: All-natural peanut butter mixed with bits of crunchy pretzels, covered in milk, dark or white chocolate. We love how the salt from the pretzels contrasts with the sweetness of the chocolate.
• Cara Mella™: A layer of caramel topped with all-natural peanut butter, covered in milk or dark chocolate. The caramel adds a nice depth of flavor.
• Toffee Break™: All-natural peanut butter mixed with crunchy homemade toffee bits, covered in milk, dark or white chocolate. If you’re a toffee-lover, you’ll adore this ball.

The balls are offered in a number of different boxes and quantities—from the Mini Gift Box, with three balls, to the Signature Gift Basket, which holds three 1-pound boxes—making them ideal for gift-giving. And—we love this feature—several of the options allow you to choose exactly which chocolates go in your box. Love the IncrediBall? Fill an entire box with them. Want some of each flavor, but all covered in dark chocolate? You got it. Itching to try each variety in each of the chocolate coatings? Not a problem. Unlike most boxes of assorted chocolates, with Jer's you never have to worry about getting stuck with the unwanted piece at the end. There's no such thing!

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