Buckeye Balls or Buckeye Candy: Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls
Buckeye balls are chocolate covered peanut butter balls that are a cross between a truffle and a peanut butter cup. This is why they are also called Buckeye Candy. They are super easy to make!
Why are they called Buckeye Balls?
They are called Buckeye Balls because they resemble the chestnut of Ohio’s State Tree, the Buckeye, when dipped in chocolate leaving the top of the peanut butter ball showing.
How Buckeye Balls Came to Be.
Gail Tabor shared the first recipe in the Arizona Republic in 1983. She said her mother made chocolate covered peanut butter balls for her at Christmas in 1964, and she loved them so much she begged for the recipe.
When she dipped the first one, the chocolate didn’t quite cover all of the peanut butter ball, and she told her husband, “Hey, it looks like a buckeye.” From then on, it became her family tradition to make Buckeye candy for the Ohio State-Michigan game where they cheered for the Ohio Buckeyes, of course.
Are Buckeye Balls a cookie or a candy?
This is a question that has been asked many times.
Some consider Buckeye Balls (like Wikipedia) a confection, which makes them a candy.
But there are others who list Buckeye Balls as a no-bake cookie (such as Allrecipes.)
Maybe they’re a candy if they’re totally covered in chocolate, and a cookie when they’re 2/3 covered in chocolate?
I guess you’re going to have to make some and decide for yourself!
Buckeye Balls or Buckeye Candy: Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls
4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalKeep the screen of your device on while cooking
Ingredients
1 jar 1 Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter (12 oz)
1 lb 1 powdered sugar
¼ lb butter
1 tsp 1 vanilla extract
6 oz 6 semi sweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp 2 vegetable shortening
Directions
- Beat peanut butter, sugar, butter and vanilla in a large bowl with electric mixer until creamy. Shape into balls. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.
- Place the shortening and chocolate chips in a bowl and microwave in 20-second increments until it melts to the desired consistency for dipping balls. (It will re-solidify after melting when it sits at room temperature, so melt it immediately before you use it.)
- Place wax paper on cookie sheet. Dip balls in chocolate mixture using toothpicks or skewers. (You can dip 2/3 of the ball, leaving the top so it looks like a buckeye chestnut, or cover the whole ball with chocolate like a candy.) Place on wax paper until chocolate has hardened. Refrigerate until serving, for at least 30 minutes.
- You can keep Buckeye balls in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze in resealable bag for up to 3 months
Notes
- Want to make Mexican Buckeye Candy? Add 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper to peanut butter mixture before shaping the balls.
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