Make some buckeyes for the big game! The buckeye recipe calls for chocolate, peanut butter, and no baking.
Last weekend, we finally watched Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is one of the most well done kid-friendly shows I’ve seen in a long time. We loved it. In this show, they replaced every potentially offensive word with the word “cuss.” The kids think it’s hysterical, and we’re now using the word “cuss” a lot around the house. As in:
What the cuss is a buckeye?
I should just clarify up front that I am not from Ohio. I’ve never lived in Ohio, I’ve never been to Ohio, I’ve never even been anywhere near Ohio.
Okay, that might have been a little more clarity than necessary.
I’m from Utah, and in Utah, we don’t make Buckeyes. Well, we might make Buckeyes, but we certainly wouldn’t call them that. We’d probably call them chocolate peanut butter balls, because we’re super creative that way. Or we’d make them in the shape of a Beehive to show a little state pride. {Utah is the “Beehive State.”}
So I will admit to not really knowing what a Buckeye was, until recently. And now that I know, I have to be the one to tell you about it. I’m a touch obsessive that way.
You will tell all your friends you heard it from me, right?
The state tree of Ohio is the buckeye tree. It has this nut, which looks like this photo (right).
The nut is poisonous, so please don’t eat it. You can’t make any Ohio-State-Pride treats with such a nut. So the Ohiuns make this little ball of peanut butter dipped in chocolate, which looks a lot like the real Buckeye, but tastes much better and doesn’t give you indigestion.
This is really a very easy process. You just make your peanut-butter-balls and pop them in the freezer while you melt some chocolate.
Then you dip the frozen peanut butter in the warm chocolate, and let them chill for a few more minutes.
I ended up with more chocolate than I needed and so I went searching through the kitchen for things to dip in the excess chocolate. I mean, you can’t let chocolate go to waste right? So in addition to buckeyes, we have chocolate dipped pecan sandies, chocolate dipped strawberries, and chocolate almonds.
(I used 1 cup chips and 2 T. shortening. You may want to reduce to 3/4 cup chips and 1 1/2 T. shortening.)
Wait until after kickoff to bring these out. Trust me.
- ¾ cup peanut butter
- 5 T. butter, melted
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 2 T. shortening
- Mix together peanut butter, butter, and powdered sugar. Form into small balls, and place on a tray lined with parchment or wax paper.
- Freeze balls for about 10 minutes.
- Place chocolate and shortening in a dish, and microwave in 30-sec intervals, stirring between each, until completely melted and smooth.
- Dip frozen balls into chocolate, and put them back on the lined tray. Chill about 30 minutes to set. Store in refrigerator.
If you enjoy this recipe, you might also enjoy:
Peanut Butter Bars from Jen’s Favorite Cookies
Buckeye Bark from Big Red Kitchen
Buckeye Truffles from Six Sisters Stuff
Buckeyes Buckeye Recipe
This post linked up at: Gingersnap Crafts; Lady Behind the Curtain; Back for Seconds; Rattlebridge Farm; Romantic Home; Shabby Nest; Your Home Based Mom; Or So She Says; Cooking With Ruthie; Make Ahead Meals; I Should Be Mopping the Floor; Between Naps on the Porch;
I’ve known for a while what a buckeye (in edible dessert form) is thanks to the food blogging world, but I never knew where the name come from, nor had I ever seen the actual nut until now. So hanks for teaching me something new – and yes I definitely heard it from you. 🙂 I love that these balls are basically straight up peanut butter and chocolate with no baking involved to take away from that pure richness. And good call using the extra chocolate to cover…. everything!
I’m in Ohio….love those Buckeyes! I’ve been making them for Christmas for about 10 years now and they are always a hit!
Cool idea: make the chocolate be the inside and the peanut butter the outside and draw little lines on it to sort of resemble a football! 🙂
I would think mixing peanut butter chips with a little coconut oil (to harden the peanut butter) would definately work! 😛
Sounds like a fun idea, let me know how it works out!
Love this recipe! Will be linking back to this in my upcoming post 🙂
Thanks, Marla! I’ll watch for that!
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these are so cute! i have a couple of ca buckeye trees, love these. excellent pics too, just beautiful~
I love peanut butter! Thanks for sharing! Blessings, Tammy
Your buckeyes look awesome! I would love if you would share them on Inspired Weekends!
http://redcrowgreencrow.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/inspired-weekends-4/
Katie @ Horrific Knis
i love this recipe!!! they where quick and easy to make, and the directions where great and easy to understand..this is recipe one from the website and i certainly will not be my last..keep up the amazing work :o))
sorry wrong happy face..lol 🙂
A native Ohioan, I LOVE buckeyes but don’t think I’ve ever made them. Yours turned out great!
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I love these cookies because they are so easy and cute! Your pictures are beautiful! Thanks for the recipe! Pinned.
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Oh my PARTY IN MY MOUTH!!! Dangerously good,. A peanut butter cup without the hassle! YUMMY!!!!!
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Hey Jenn, if you put a mini chocolate chip in the dot in the middle of the buckeye cookie, you’d have a pupil in your buckeye cookie, something to be a special personal signature for your cookie.