The combination of chocolate and peanut butter is an obvious winner for anyone who has ever tasted a peanut butter cup, and buckeyes are no exception.
Named for their resemblance to the nut of the buckeye tree, these chocolate-dipped peanut butter treats are easy to make at home with very little work.
Even though I grew up in the Midwest, where Peanut Butter Buckeyes are popular, I was strangely oblivious to them until I moved to California. One day, a coworker at my day job brought a tray of buckeyes into the office, and I quickly devoured a few too many, rendering myself relatively useless from the sugar aftershock for the rest of the afternoon.
I remember going home and proclaiming my love for this new confection to my partner. He gave me the side eye. “How have you never heard of these before?” was his response. Apparently I have been missing out all my life.
These chocolate-coated rounds of sweetened peanut butter look nearly identical to the nut from a buckeye tree, a tree native to the midwestern United States and the state tree of Ohio. This explains why the confection is so popular in Ohio and the surrounding states like Indiana, where my partner is from.
The candy looks so much like the nut that, when he was a kid, my partner’s parents would always instruct him, “Now, remember, you can eat these peanut butter candies, but don’t eat the actual nuts on the ground!” To this day, he still remembers that warning and repeats it every time he eats one.
My own warning is to to limit yourself to eating just a few buckeyes at a time. Otherwise, you may find yourself falling into the same sugar aftershock that I did when I initially discovered my love for them!
Peanut Butter Balls (Buckeyes) Recipe
It may sound fussy, but make sure to sift the powdered sugar into the peanut butter using a strainer or you'll wind up with clumps in your buckeyes.
Also, keep in mind that you need to chill the peanut butter balls after forming them, and again after you dip them in the chocolate, so plan accordingly.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (390 g) smooth peanut butter (not "natural")
- 1/2 cup (115 g / 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 1/2 cups (400 g) powdered sugar
- 3 cups (525 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Read More: Peanut Butter Balls (Buckeyes)
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