Buckeye Candy
A sweet Ohio tradition, Buckeye candy combines creamy peanut butter and chocolate, inspired by the state's iconic tree nut. Perfect for holidays and treats!
Equipment
- Normal Kitchen Utensils
- 25-30 Toothpicks
- Parchment or Wax Paper
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 C Creamy Peanut Butter
- 1 1/2 C Chocolate Chips Milk, Semi Sweet or Dark (About 9 Oz.)
- 1 Lb Powdered Sugar Roughly 4 Cups, Not Packed
- 1 Stick Butter Softened but Not Melted
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Shortening (Optional) but Recommended
- 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
- Mix the butter, powdered sugar, peanut butter and vanilla in a large bowl. It will look like a lot of powdered sugar, but trust me, it will mix. You will have to mix everything with your hands (a mixer might work, but I haven't tried), but you have to form the balls by hand anyway, so get in there!. Squeeze everything together to mash the butter and peanut butter into the sugar. It will ultimately form what looks like wet sand.1 1/2 C Creamy Peanut Butter, 1 Lb Powdered Sugar, 1 Stick Butter, 1 tsp Vanilla
- Once the mixture is evenly mixed throughout, start rolling into balls. I like to take a small handful of the mixture and squeeze it tightly in my hand. That helps form it together and push out any air. After that, it is a matter of channeling your inner kindergartener and rolling it into a ball. The diameter of the ball should be around 1.5 to 2 inches - getting you to 25-30 buckeyes.
- Repeat the above step until all of the mixture has been rolled into balls. Place the balls into a flat dish lined with parchment or wax paper, cover and freeze for a half hour, or refrigerate for at least an hour to overnight.
- While the balls chill, heat your chocolate and (optional) shortening over a double boiler. Essentially, take a pot with a little water in it, and place a second pot (or heat-safe bowl) on top of that. The bottom pot heats the top pot with steam for more even heating. And the chocolate and shortening goes in the top pot. Heat the chocolate over low heat, stirring often, until it is completely melting. Don't let it get too hot (usually 89 degrees) or it might break temper and not be as shiny when it cools. The shortening does give you a little wiggle room here. Note: the top pot doesn't have to sit completely on top of the bottom pot (as in a true double boiler). I have simply placed the top pot inside the bottom pot and used the water temperate to heat it. Try to use the smallest pot/bowl possible for the chocolate, so it stays deeper for easier dipping.1 1/2 C Chocolate Chips, 1 1/2 Tbsp Shortening
- When the peanut butter balls are chilled, stick a toothpick into the top of each one. You will use the toothpicks to dip them.
- Dip each ball into the melted chocolate, leaving a little peanut butter exposed at the top to mimic the look of a buckeye. Shake off any excess chocolate back into the pot.Note: the chocolate may not be deep enough to fully submerge the peanut butter balls, so you can dip them in at an angle and rotate them in the chocolate to achieve the same effect.
- Once the peanut butter balls are dipped, place them back onto the parchment/wax paper lined dish and put them back into the freezer or refrigerator to set the chocolate (5-15 minutes).
- When the chocolate is set, remove the toothpicks. You can close the hole the toothpicks leave by pinching them shut with your fingers, and then dabbing the peanut butter with your fingertip until the surface becomes uniform.
- After that, the buckeyes are ready to serve!
Notes
It is easy to double the number of buckeyes by halving their size. You may just need to add more chocolate and shortening to cover them all. Add 1/2 Tbsp of Shortening per 1/2 C of added chocolate chips.