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An easy Peanut Butter Buckeyes recipe. While popular in Ohio, The Buckeye State, anyone can get excited about peanut butter balls dipped in melted chocolate!
Named for their uncanny resemblance to a Buckeye nut, these Peanut Butter Buckeyes are the sweet of choice for many Ohio State fans during football season.
However, even a devoted Badgers fan such as myself can enjoy a taste Ohio-themed treat now and again! Especially when the matter at hand involves peanut butter and chocolate.
How do you make Buckeye candy?
The peanut butter filling is a combination of melted white chocolate, butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Mix these until combined, then roll into 1/4-inch balls.
Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
How do you dip Peanut Butter Balls in chocolate?
Next, using a toothpick, dip the peanut butter balls in melted chocolate.
By using a toothpick, and by only dipping them 50%, you get the signature Buckeye look.
Can you freeze homemade Buckeye candy?
Yes, these freeze really well!
Arrange the chocolate-dipped candies in a single layer on a baking sheet or plate and put in the freezer for 30 minutes, until frozen solid. Then, transfer to a freezer-safe bag and freeze up to 1 month.
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Peanut Butter Buckeyes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 ounces white chocolate chips
- 2 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar (12 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (12 ounces)
Instructions
- Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper. In a small bowl, microwave the white chocolate chips at 50 percent power until melted, stirring occasionally, about 1 minute. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- In a stand up mixer fitted with the paddle, beat peanut butter, the melted white chocolate, butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt on medium speed, just until combined, about 1 minute. Roll the dough into 1 ¼ inch balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Place in the freezer until firm, about 30 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, microwave the semisweet chocolate chips at 50 percent power until melted, stirring occasionally, about 1 ½ to 2 minutes. Using a toothpick, dip chilled dough balls into the melted chocolate, leaving the top quarter uncovered. Return the balls to the freezer until the chocolate is set, about 1 hour. Serve.
Recipe Video
Notes
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I am curious, some recipes say “salted butter or unsalted “, which would be better ?
Also some say sifted powder sugar while others say unsorted? I am making these for my brothers wedding and want them to be perfect! 😊 any help/suggestions
Thanks
Hi Sara, personally I always buy salted butter. I definitely understand the logic of “buy unsalted butter so you can control the salt; every butter manufacturer uses a different amount of salt and you don’t know how much” and all that jazz. However, in my experience, salted butter across all brands tastes pretty much the same (at least in terms of saltiness; there are definitely quality differences if you’re talking about Kroger brand vs. Kerrygold, but that has nothing to do with the salt). I have never tasted a salted butter anywhere and felt like “WOW that was way too salty!” No brand wants to be that guy. When I do end up buying unsalted butter, it sits in my fridge unless I’m doing a lot of baking, and then when I end up putting it on toast out of desperation I am so crabby about it because it doesn’t taste as good. If I know I’ll be doing a lot of baking (like 10 cookie recipes for Christmas) I’ll buy unsalted butter, but it’s just so I “feel better,” I can never actually taste the difference. And I know my mom never bought unsalted butter growing up, and her cookies were fine! Having said ALL of that (sorry this reply got out of control), this recipe has 1/8 teaspoon salt in it. If you use salted butter but are worried about it, you could always leave that out. I don’t know if I’ve helped you or made the situation worse. If I were making these, I would use salted butter. They won’t taste salty; there is way too much sugar (between peanut butter and actual sugar, not to mention the chocolate) for them to taste salty. Good luck! Thank you! -Meggan
Help?!?! In step two you include vanilla in the list of ingredients to mix together….but I don’t see vanilla included in the ingredients list. Can you let me know how much vanilla to add? Thanks!!
Hi Janice! I’m so sorry about this! I looked it over what is posted compared to my original recipe and there was definitely an error by not including the vanilla in the ingredients list. I’m so sorry about that! I have made changes to the recipe, please see the updated one. I also made a change to the amount of white chocolate chips so please note that as well. Have a great day!
THANK YOU!! That was super quick!
Don’t worry Meggan, you don’t want that kind of negative feedback anyway! People are just too sensitive (and a little crazy). Thanks for sharing this recipe! Never made these with white chocolate before!
After that snappy answer I won’t be asking any more questions. You could have just said you don’t have any ideas or that decision was up to me. Don’t bother replying I’ll not visit this sight again.
I’m so sorry! I was at a birthday party all day. I was going to say white chocolate (which is not really chocolate, but you might not like that either), or some kind of melted candy coating (like those Wilton baking chips). Especially if you could flavor the melted candies with something, like banana. Or a salted caramel drizzle would be nice, if you like peanut butter and caramel together. I’m sorry again for not replying sooner. My last idea is to roll them in toasted coconut. I understand if you won’t be back to the site. Take care. -Meggan
Thank you so much for such a prompt reply. I know it probably sounded kind of weird, but believe it or not I’m not to keen on chocolate. Do you have any ideas as to what I could dip them in?
Do the buckeye balls have to be dipped in chocolate?
No, but they won’t look like Buckeyes if you don’t. Did you want to dip them in something else, or do you just want to devour the peanut butter part? Rhetorical question, your peanut butter plans are none of my business. :D -Meggan
safe to say these were an explosion of awesomeness in our mouths! super easy to make an a party favorite now