Buckeye Recipe
Most popular around Christmas, but good all year round, this Buckeye Recipe is a must for every treat platter. These chocolate and peanut butter candies are so popular you’ll want to make more than one batch!
Servings 18 candies
Calories 177kcal
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon shortening
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter and the butter together until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract.
- Sift the powdered sugar into the mixture and stir to combine. The mixture should be quite stiff. If needed, add more powdered sugar.
- Roll the dough into 18 tablespoon sized balls.* Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Put a toothpick into each ball and place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
- Combine the chocolate chips and the shortening in a bowl. Microwave on 50% power in 30 second intervals until the chocolate is melted. (I like to melt it until the chocolate is about 75% melted and then stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.)
- Remove the peanut butter balls from the freezer and dip into the melted chocolate, leaving a portion of the peanut butter showing on the top. Let any excess chocolate drip off. Return the ball to the parchment lined baking sheet.
- Once the buckeye has been dipped in chocolate, remove the toothpick. If desired, you can smooth over the hole with the back of a spoon or the tip of a butter knife.
- Let the balls sit until the chocolate has hardened, or transfer to the refrigerator for them to harden faster.
Notes
This makes 18 generously sized buckeyes. If you want to make them smaller, you can use about 2 teaspoons of the peanut butter mixture and you will get about 27 buckeyes.
You can also melt the chocolate in a double boiler instead of in the microwave.
The toothpicks will start to come out of the balls once they start thawing. If this happens and it’s hard to dip in the chocolate, put the balls back into the freezer for another 10-15 minutes.
Nutrition information provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should be used as a general guide.
Nutrition
Serving: 1buckeye | Calories: 177kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 7mg | Sodium: 46mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g