Our Classic Buckeye Recipe Is The Perfect Combination Candy, Creamy Peanut Butter And Luscious Chocolate. Homemade, Easy To Make, And Amazing!
I experienced this buckeye recipe when I was a kid. I stopped in my tracks and gazed wide-eyed upon the culinary goddess who prepared them. How was this level of deliciousness possible? Would regular food ever taste the same? And why had my parents been holding out on me for so long? With this easy buckeye recipe, you too can become a force for shocking the youth out of their gastronomical complacency.
Easy candy recipes with few ingredients are the way to go during the bustling holiday season, and buckeye balls sure fit that bill. You need only seven (seven!) ingredients and twenty minutes in the kitchen. No extra trips to the store, no slaving away after the kids have gone to bed. And you can be proud when you bring these puppies to the Christmas parties on your calendar. They look and taste gourmet, but in reality, they’re a bargain basement deal (our secret)!
WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT THE RECIPE:
- You can’t beat 7 ingredient candy!
- Peanut butter and chocolate YUM ♥
- They look beautiful without decorating.
What Are Buckeye Candies?
This buckeye candy recipe bears a family resemblance to my Buckeye Brownie Recipe, in that they both feature beyond indulgent layers of peanut butter and chocolate goodness! The curiously named Buckeyes (we’ll get to this mystery below!) are irresistible chocolate dipped peanut butter fudge confections.
SAVE THIS BUCKEYE RECIPE
TO YOUR DESSERT BOARD FOR LATER
WE’D LOVE TO BE FRIENDS ON PINTEREST! WE’RE ALWAYS PINNING TASTY RECIPES!
What Ingredients Do You Need To Make Buckeye Recipe?
This buckeye balls recipe is as crazy simple as it is crazy delicious. It takes only twenty minutes to prepare. For the peanut butter ball base, you just need creamy peanut butter, regular butter, confectioners sugar, a little salt, and vanilla.
The delicious peanut butter buckeyes are coated with semisweet chocolate chips melted and mixed with a little vegetable shortening. If you are hooked on this luxurious peanut butter chocolate combo, check out my Buckeye Cookies Recipe.
How Do You Make Buckeyes?
The best buckeye recipe is one made from scratch with the help of little hands. If you don’t have enough of those to go around at the moment, your own two will get the job done in a few short minutes.
Just blend and shape the peanut butter balls, freeze them for an hour, then dip them in melted chocolate. The most delicate step of this recipe is removing the dipping toothpick and smoothing over the small hole. Serve warm or chilled!
Buckeye Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Cups Creamy Peanut Butter
- 1/2 Cup Butter, Softened
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 3 Cups Confectioner's Sugar, Or More As Needed
- 2 Cups Semisweet Chocolate Chips
- 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Shortening
Instructions
- Add peanut butter, softened butter, vanilla, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Using a hand-held electric mixer, cream together ingredients well blended.
- Gradually mix in confectioners sugar, beating until well combined.
- Shape into 1 inch balls and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for 60 minutes.
- In a microwave safe bowl melt the chocolate chips and vegetable shortening on high for 45 seconds. Remove from microwave and stir vigorously. If needed, microwave at 15-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until mixture is melted.
- Remove peanut butter balls from freezer. Insert a toothpick in the top center of a peanut butter ball and dip 3/4 of the ball, into melted chocolate, leaving the top without chocolate. allow excess chocolate to drip. Place back on the baking tray.
- Remove the toothpick and smooth out the hole with a small offset spatula or your fingertip.
- Allow chocolate to set before serving. Buckeye's can be served at room temperature or cold. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
Fans Also Made:
Nutrition
Recipe Notes For Buckeye Recipe:
What peanut butter to use: Buckeye recipe Jif peanut butter style is a classic choice, but you are free to experiment, drawing encouragement from Gail Tabor’s inspired creation! Try your favorite homemade variety for a nuttier, earthier taste.
Wax variation: Some folks who shall remain nameless have put out a buckeye recipe with paraffin wax. I am not even going to get into this one! Please use only food in your cooking! While sometimes non-toxic, wax can cause digestive obstructions and does not add any nutritional value.
Baker’s chocolate variation: A buckeye recipe with bakers chocolate, on the other hand, is doable. Select a sweetened variety, and break it up into smaller chunks before microwaving if you purchase the kind that comes in bars.
Graham cracker variation: Some people make this buckeye recipe with graham crackers. Use finely ground crackers for a smooth texture, or crumbled ones for a bit of a crunch. You will need one cup of graham cracker crumbs for this variation (made using about a dozen whole graham crackers), and you should add another half stick of butter to even out the recipe. Sprinkle leftover crumbs on top at the end for some additional texture!
No shortening variation: You can easily make these buckeye balls recipe without shortening if you so desire. Just leave it out of the chocolate coating, no other tweaks required. The shortening makes the coating a bit smoother to work with as you are dipping, but it is by no means necessary.
Can You Make Buckeye Recipe Ahead Of Time?
Yes! That’s another awesome feature of this sweet. Buckeyes can be stored for a couple weeks on the counter or in the fridge, and they can be frozen for even longer. (Note: if you use a fancy peanut butter variety that requires refrigeration, follow those instructions for buckeye storage as well.) Make a batch today to avoid holiday party crunch time shenanigans!
How Do You Freeze Buckeye Recipe?
Layer buckeyes in a freezer safe bag, Tupperware, or another airtight container, using wax paper between layers, and store for up to several months in the freezer. Remember to smooth the toothpick hole before freezing, because it will be harder to do this later!
Why Are They Called Buckeye Balls?
To get the full picture of the dramatic origin of the peanut butter buckeyes recipe, you need to read the story in the inventor’s own words. On June 10, 2012, Guy Lucas, the son of a journalist who wrote under the name “Gail Tabor,” blogged about a weathered old newspaper clipping he found in his mother’s belongings.
Ms. Tabor was a notorious dog lover and voice for the voiceless. She was married to an ardent Ohio State Buckeye fan. One day, as she was preparing a chocolate covered peanut ball recipe that her mother had sent her, she failed to completely coat the candies. She noted that the result looked like the nut of the state tree of Ohio: the buckeye. (Buckeye nuts are dark, round, and smooth with a peanut-colored spot on top.) The rest is not quite history, for the recipe was first a closely guarded secret, then falsely attributed to a sticky-fingered scoundrel from Oklahoma! Now you know the basics of the famous Ohio State buckeye recipe.
What Is The Best Way To Melt Chocolate?
There are many elaborate methods of chocolate melting, involving saucepans, double boilers, slow cookers, and more, but I prefer the good new-fashioned microwave method. As long as you don’t scorch the chocolate, which is easy to avoid if you keep an eye on the goods, this method really has no downsides. It is faster and cleaner, and probably saves energy! Just be sure to use a microwave safe bowl, and stir at regular intervals to check the melting progression.
OMG, Buckeyes are my absolute favorite! I can’t wait to try your recipes!!!