Notice the title of the recipe 👆🏻. THE Buckeyes. That wasn’t by accident. I get very irritated when I see buckeyes being sold and they aren’t up to par with my expectations. Born and raised in Ohio, I also attended THE Ohio State University. So buckeyes are very near and dear to my heart. I grew up with my mother making these quite often, especially on game-day Saturdays and at Christmas time. I know that there are a lot of recipes out there for buckeyes, some even have a similar ingredient list to mine… but this is the only way to make real buckeyes, in my opinion. 

There aren’t many ingredients to these delightful little nuggets, but there is a little difficulty in the execution. So I will do my best to give every little detail on how to get this right. It took me a while to get the measurements for my ingredients because this is something that I don’t usually measure, you usually know by the feel and the look. But let’s do this!

Let me show you how I made The Buckeyes 👇🏻

Grab a large bowl. Add your softened butter, peanut butter, vanilla and confectioners sugar. The peanut butter has to be regular, creamy peanut butter. It can NOT be the oily, all-natural stuff. Quite honestly, I use Jiff. It’s my favorite for this. If your confectioners sugar is lumpy, go ahead and sift it. Even though we are going to be mixing it by hand, you don’t want to have little pellets of confectioners sugar in your buckeyes. That will ruin your day. 

Go ahead and start mixing it by hand. You almost want to be kneading it like dough. It’s gonna take a while, maybe 5-10 minutes to get everything incorporated. You want to make sure there are no clumps of butter or sugar. You also want to make sure you have the right consistency. The dough should not be sticky- you should be able to roll it into a ball without it coming off in your palms. But, make sure it isn’t too dry either. If you feel like you need to add more sugar, do so a tablespoon or two at a time. Here’s what it should look like…

The dough almost even looks slightly dry, but you can see that I rolled a ball and it is the perfect consistency. Make sure the dough isn’t sticky. 

Roll the dough into balls. Squeeze the dough in your palm first, to make sure there are no clumps of anything. Then roll it into a ball and pat the sides so that it is smooth and has a nice shape. The balls should be about the size of ping pong balls. Any heavier and they can get hard to dip, any smaller and it becomes a bit monotonous to dip. Place the rolled balls onto a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the dough is rolled. 

Here they are, all lined up. Aren’t they pretty? Sometimes it’s hard for me to not eat one. 

Place the balls in the freezer to firm up. You’ll want them cold enough to stick to the toothpick a little, but definitely not frozen solid. 10-15 minutes is ideal. That will give you time to melt your chocolate. 

Melting Chocolate:

There are two ways to melt chocolate for these babies. One way is by using the microwave. I don’t do it that way. If you do melt your chocolate in the microwave, melt it in 30 second intervals and stir it in between each time. If you scorch your chocolate, there is no saving it, so just be careful.

The method that I use is a double boiler. Basically, you want to grab a tall sauce pan, fill it halfway with water. Then place a glass bowl or stainless steel bowl over top. The bowl has to trap the steam from the water, so it has to fit snugly (please make sure it won’t melt either). Bring the water in the saucepan to a boil and then turn it to medium or low, you want it just at a very gentle simmer. Then place your bowl on top. The water should NOT be touching the bowl. It is the steam from the water that is going to melt your chocolate. Add your chocolate to the bowl along with your shortening. As a general rule, I use one tablespoon of shortening per cup of chocolate. 

Here is my double boiler…

It’s going to take a little bit to melt the chocolate. The microwave method is definitely faster, but with this method, you have more control over the temperature of your chocolate. Stir rather frequently. Be careful not to burn your hand as the bowl starts to heat up.

Here’s my chocolate as it’s starting to melt. Make sure you water isn’t boiling or that the water level hasn’t become too low. Take care to not get water in your chocolate- that will ruin it. Keep stirring. 

Once your chocolate is nice and smooth, carefully remove it from the sauce pan (remember the bowl is hot). 

Now it’s time to dip your balls. I’m trying to find ways to word all of this, but even as I’m typing it, I’m giggling like a twelve year old. Oh geez. 

So anyway, when it comes to dipping, set yourself up for success. Pull out about 5-6 toothpicks and line another baking sheet with wax paper- this is where your dipped buckeyes will go. I like to put a few rolled up towels under my bowl of chocolate so that my chocolate is pooling to one side and is deep enough to dip the buckeyes. Here’s my dipping station…

Pick up a dough ball and place the toothpick down through the middle of it. Do NOT put the toothpick in it and THEN pick it up. You want to limit the amount of time the dough is on the toothpick to prevent it from slipping. Pick it up and place the toothpick in it. Do NOT push the toothpick all the way through, about halfway is good. Dip the ball into the chocolate, leaving a little bit undipped so it resembles a buckeye. GENTLY shake your hand up and down to shake off the excess chocolate. Bring it over to your new tray and gently push the buckeye off with your finger (touching only the undipped part). Repeat with the other balls. 

Tip: You should replace your toothpick every once in a while as the peanut butter builds up on it. If the buckeyes get too warm, pop them back into the freezer for a few minutes. Same goes with your chocolate- if it starts to become too solid, heat it back up by popping it in the microwave or setting it back on the double boiler for a few minutes. 

Once all of the buckeyes are dipped, you have the option of leaving the toothpick hole or smudging it to hide it. Personally, I think they’re cute with the toothpick hole and I’m not over fond of rubbing the tops of all the cookies, but the choice is yours. Set your tray of buckeyes in the refrigerator until the chocolate sets, about 20 minutes. Store in the refrigerator in an air-tight container. 

Aren’t they pretty?

Enjoy!!

Have you tried this recipe? Please leave me your thoughts in the comments below.

Print Recipe

THE Buckeyes

Prep Time

25 Minutes

Passive Time

15 Minutes

Servings

Buckeyes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened
• 1 Tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract
• 4 Cups Confectioner's Sugar
• 2 Cups Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
• 2 Tbsp Crisco Vegetable Shortening

Prep Time 25 Minutes Passive Time 15 Minutes Servings Buckeyes Ingredients 1 1/2 Cups Creamy Peanut Butter 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened 1 Tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract 4 Cups Confectioner's Sugar 2 Cups Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips 2 Tbsp Crisco Vegetable Shortening

Instructions

1. To a large bowl, add the peanut butter, vanilla, softened butter and confectioners sugar. Mix very well with your hands, almost kneading it like dough.
2. Add more confectioners sugar if you need to, but only a tablespoon or two at a time. The dough should not be sticky. You should be able to roll it in your palms without it sticking to them.
3. Roll the dough into balls. They should be about the size of a ping pong ball or smaller. If they are too large, they will be too heavy to dip in the chocolate.
4. Place rolled balls onto a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes while you work on the chocolate.
5. Melt your chocolate and shortening by either using a double boiler or in the microwave. See notes above.
6. Remove dough balls from the freezer. Grab a few toothpicks to have handy. Line another baking sheet with wax paper and set the two baking sheets next to one another and your chocolate nearby.
7. Prop your chocolate bowl up at an angle so the chocolate is pooling to one side. Pick up a dough ball and place the toothpick in the center. Gently dip it in the chocolate, leaving some undipped at the top (to look like a buckeye). Gently shake off excess chocolate. Place dipped buckeye on new wax paper-lined baking sheet, gently pushing it off the toothpick with your finger (touching the undipped part).
8. Repeat with other dough balls. If your dough balls become too warm or are slipping off of the toothpick, pop them back in the freezer for a few minutes. Replace your toothpick every once in a while as the peanut butter builds up on it. Reheat chocolate if it becomes to solid.
9. Once buckeyes are all dipped, place them in the refrigerator and allow chocolate to set. Keep refrigerated in an air tight container.

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