Once upon a time, when I was probably no older than in grade school and sadly, not a whole lot shorter than I am today, a friend of a friend of my mother’s presented her with a bag of peanut butter and chocolate candies that my mother and I, chocolate and peanut butter fiends, went ballistic over. Here in this plastic bag (that we kept in the freezer, a history of hiding foods I have no self-control around in the freezer long predates this site) were all of the awesomeness of Reese’s peanut butter cups but, a) larger and b) homemade. We had to have the recipe.
No, we really had to have the recipe. We asked. We might have begged a little. But we were shut down, because this friend of a friend was writing a cookbook, and needed to save the recipe for future publication. Now, I don’t think my mother is especially one to hold grudges, but I tell you, it’s probably been more than 20 years since then and I mentioned chocolate peanut butter balls to my mother this week and she said, flatly, “I am still waiting for that cookbook.” You could say it’s kind of a running joke.
Of course, the joke is on us, as it turns out we were two states away from them, the whole time. A few years ago, I was watching one of those travel programs on the Food Network and Mark Summers spent a whole segment these chocolate and peanut butter bonbons, famous especially in Ohio where they are dipped in a way to resemble the nut of the buckeye tree.
The classic recipe — which I suspect anyone from or near the state of Ohio has been making since they were tall enough to reach the kitchen counter — uses an avalanche of sugar, as all good candy should. In the new cookbook from Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, the guys behind the Baked bakeries in Brooklyn and Charleston and a first cookbook that I suspect you are as obsessed with as I am, they re-engineer the buckeye for modern tastes — half the sugar, some graham cracker crumbs for sturdiness, a slip of cream cheese but keep most of the butter intact. Thank goodness for that. The result is the candy my mother and I ate straight from the freezer in record time back then, now calling out to me from mine until I can find some hapless victims to hand them off to.
Oh, and about that: Earlier this week I made a batch of candy (a different one; would it be inappropriate for me to ask you to do some crunches on my behalf this weekend?) that I was certain would flop. Instead, the opposite happened, they became a danger to themselves and others who inhabited this apartment and I demanded my husband bring them to work to share with coworkers. They went over better than I expected and my husband emailed me several times that day, asking if I’d share the recipe. Which I can’t. It will be in my cookbook, you see, and they’ll just have to wait.
More of this: Since Halloween week in the Smitten Kitchen is always equated to some format of peanut butter or rice crispies (and two years ago, also from Baked, both) I obviously had to make these this week. But if this is not the peanut butter confection you were looking for, I have just the new category for you.
Also: ROAR.
One year ago: Baked Chicken Meatballs
Two years ago: Peanut Butter Crispy Bars
Three years ago: Cranberry, Caramel and Almond Tart
Four years ago: Easiest Baked Mac-and-Cheese
Buckeyes
Adapted, just a little, from Baked Explorations
Yield: 36 to 42 tablespoon-sized candies; I made 64 with a #70 (1/2-ounce) scoop and got 64
The classic recipes for buckeyes I’ve found on the web use up to twice the amount of powdered sugar (yes, 6 cups) and two full sticks of butter for the same amount of peanut butter. This variation is less aggressively sweet, with a little tang from cream cheese and warm flavors from the graham crumbs. The only thing I wished it had was salt — perhaps a quarter teaspoon? Maybe a half teaspoon of something light and flaky? I think that salt really brings out the flavor in a peanut butter candy (try just the peanut butter portion of a Reese’s peanut butter cup alone if you don’t believe me), especially against a chocolate coating.
1/4 cup (2 ounces or 55 grams) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups (190 grams) peanut butter (I use smooth, but you can use chunky if you are looking for more texture) (previous weight was 145 grams, which is too low)
1 cup (about 130 grams) graham cracker crumbs (from about 14 graham crackers)
Salt (optional, see note up top)
3 cups (360 grams) confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
10 tablespoons (5 ounces or 140 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
12 ounces (340 grams) dark chocolate (60 to 72%), coarsely chopped
Make the filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together until combined. Add the graham cracker crumbs and beat for 10 seconds. Add the sugar and butter, and mix on the lowest speed until it stops floating off everywhere, then increase the speed until the ingredients are combined. Scrape down the whole bowl well, then mix again. The mixture will be quite sturdy and a little dry — perfect for shaping. Set it aside while you prepare the coating.
Make the coating: Melt the chocolate either over a double boiler, stirring until it is completely smooth or in a microwave in 30 then 10 second increments, stirring before you start it again until it is completely smooth. Let it cool to tepid (about 100 degrees, though I’d go a little cooler next time for a thicker coating; I had a few ounces of chocolate leftover) while you shape the peanut butter centers. [Alternately, you can temper the chocolate (fairly simply instructions here) for a perfect showy finish.]
Assemble the candies: Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scoop out slightly more than one tablespoon’s worth of filling (their suggestion; I used a scoop that made them a little smaller) and use your hands to form it into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared sheet and repeat the process until all of the candies have been shaped. They can sit close to each other but make sure they are not touching.
Using a fork or large skewer, dip each ball into the chocolate and roll it about so that almost the entire candy is coating, leaving a small circle uncoated. Play around with a few practice pieces; I found it easiest to stick the skewer in the side, angle the bowl I was using towards it and make sure it became submerged as I rolled the candy around. But don’t fuss too much; even the “ugly” ones won’t go to waste.
Chill the buckeyes until they are set, about 30 minutes.
Do ahead: Buckeyes will keep in the fridge for what the book says is 3 days, but I’d say at least a week, should you keep them in a lockbox and hide the key.
Nothing reminds me of Christmas more than buckeyes. They are the cookie that my mom let me help make every year, and just one bite takes me back in time!
Thank you Deb! GO BUCKS!
Yes! Saw these on the Flickr feed and was eagerly anticipating the post… Thank you for fueling my husband’s chocolate and peanut butter obsession. :-)
Oh. Dear. Goodness. YUM
Peanut butter and chocolate? Two great tastes that taste great together!
Oh no. Now I HAVE to make these today. Goodbye, skinny jeans.
Ooooh delicious! And yours are gorgeous! And we cannot wait for that cookbook of yours…!
I wonder if these could be made with sunflower seed butter. They look fabu.
I was recently in New Hampshire and it seemed these Buckeyes were everywhere…general stores, bakeries, even at the gas stations…I was wondering if it was a delicacy native to that area as well? Either way, my husband a peanut butter lover quite enjoyed them :)
I had forgotten what a relatively easy candy this is (in candy-making world). Very Halloween-ish.
Oh yum Deb! How do you think these would fare with milk chocolate? Too sweet?
A treat I always had growing up on saturdays! GO BUCKEYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh WOW, this looks like trouble! I love the idea!
It took me forever to find the Jacob link, but it was well worth it! Although that little lion doesn’t need an artificial mane, he has a pretty spectacular one of his own!
sounds like something I need to make, eat half, and bring the rest to work! ;)
A friend of mine in high school made peanut butter balls one Christmas that I devoured. The recipe is very similar to the filling for these (minus the cream cheese). I always thought they’d be even better dipped in chocolate (I mean, duh). Thanks for the inspiration. Your buckeyes are making my mouth water.
What a perfect party treat! Mostly because I’d have to bring them to a group of people–otherwise I’m pretty sure I’d eat the entire batch on my own.
My mom has been making these forever, I think it is what got my husband to propose!
I grew up making and eating these, I Love Buckeyes. Though as an adult now, I could probably only have one, as they are super sweet! But they make great gifts for the holidays.
I never heard them called buckeyes before – just peanut butter balls. Mmmm, peanut butter.
Living in the buckeye capitol (columbus,Ohio) these little guys come out in massive quantities around the holidays every year. I usually make them as christmas presents for friends (especially since I go to grad school in Wisconsin, where few people have heard of these amazing Ohio delicacies). I was always a little perturbed by the amount of sugar I was consuming, so I love how much less this recipe uses! I’ll have to try it this winter.
THESE are my favorite! Ever since I was a little girl! We make them every Christmas and always make “way too many” on purpose :)
Are you and Dana Treat in cahoots? First the spicy squash, now the buckeyes! ;)
They look gorgeous. I wish I could get those little scoops you have in one of your pics.
Here is a link to my recipe, posted to my blog a couple of years ago. This may be closer to the ones you & your Mom enjoyed all those years ago, sort of a purist’s version. This is one of those treats people always go crazy for. Smash hit, every time.
http://locoinlomo.blogspot.com/2008/12/need-some-last-minute-treats-for.html
Oh course, your photos are more luscious than mine!
Maybe roll the completed buckeye in a little bit of coarse sea salt, so the chocolate has a slight salty coating. They would look less like buckeyes, but still give you that salty taste you (understandably) are looking for.
I am going to the store to makes these for a potluck tonight. Good lord, they’re beautiful.
Thank you for spreading the word on what us Ohioans have known about for…well…forever. Go Bucks!
This Columbus, Ohio (ground zero for buckeye popularity) loves you just a little more for this. Thank you, Deb!
these are right up my street, can’t wait to try them! and LOVE that picture of your little curly-cued lion.
LOVE buckeyes! I am actually from Ohio, and you are right, we were enjoying these right out of the womb. ;) Great job with these, and they make fabulous christmas gifts!
I love buckeyes, but last time I made them, they were absolutely disgusting. The recipe was horrible.
I’m definitely going to have to try this one.
what could be better than a bite-sized treat filled with peanut butter and chocolate?
I happily ate the buckeyes a co-worker shared with me a few years ago and requested the recipe. She graciously shared and I have never made them. Her version called for paraffin melted with the peanut butter and I could not bring myself to do it. This one looks much better. Care to further whet out appetite for your cookbook by sharing the name of the candy you sent into work with Alex?
-Robin
Why, oh why, did I marry a man who is allergic to peanuts?!
And — OMG — “ROAR”!! Absolutely adorable. Happy trick or treating.
You should try them with sunbutter! It’s even better!!
I have been searching high and low for a good version of this recipe since a friend of mine made these in 2006, so excited to go to the store right now and get everything I need!
PS Thanks for the new Peanut Butter archive!
We made these all the time when I was little, but with rice krispies. Graham crackers seems ingenious!
Your buckeye pictures instantly took me back to my days growing up in Columbus. Thanks so much for posting this! They are my favorite treat – I make a vegan version of them as I can’t eat dairy.
I don’t think I can wait until 2012 for your cookbook. Aaaah, but I’ll definitely be snatching it off the shelf on the first day!
Interesting … the buckeyes my grandmother used to make (which I insisted she teach me, tout suite! I am just as much a Reese’s victim as you) have rice crispies in them, probably instead of the graham you used, for structure. Adds a nice interesting crunch, and it’s a great combination of favorite flavors/sweets. I’m going to bet that with my adult tooth, I’d probably prefer the graham, though.
I also have a recipe for ‘gold bars’ from a catering place I used to work at; it uses brown sugar for that little bit of crunch (and a contrasting sweetness. interestingly, it doesn’t dissolve, but does add ‘crunch’ or texture). I’d be happy to share the recipe if you’re interested – I think you have my email from this comment’s submission.
Nope, I’ve lived in Ohio all my life and never made them. My cousin does make them though for Christmas. I will try these!
As an Ohioan transplanted in Virginia, I see these treats labeled “peanut butter balls” and I am saddened. Thank you for calling them Buckeyes! And as any ohioan knows, all treats with the wonderful combination of peanut butter and chocolate are said to be buckeye flavored. They are also awesome as bars if you don’t want to do any of the tedious shaping and dipping-just spread the peanut butter in a dish and pour the melted chocolate on it. Cut it once it has set.
this is just a great “all around” post!
eagerly awaited seeing the little l gaga in his costume & loved “roar”
it is always nice to read about the “family” side in your posts & now this
recipe from the baked boys..i love their first book & baked explorations has great recipes…love their modern twist.
i eye-balled the buckeyes as well as their chocolate coffee cake with dark chocolate ganache.
deb, i am going to bake the buckeyes & hope that you will consider adapting the chocolate coffee cake as i would like to see your spin on this!
Oh, I’m definitely making these!!!
One question, did you use natural peanut butter or a regular commercial peanut butter?
My mom and I have made these every year for as long as I can remember, though I’ve never heard them called buckeyes before. I guess that would be because we’re from a different O state – Oregon!
My hubby would love these, anything with peanut butter and chocolate- watch out!
Oh Lord have mercy! My reaction upon reading your recipe and seeing photos of these beautiful buckeyes is very similar to what Jacob is doing in his costume. ROAR indeed!!!
Boy these bring back memories – such a classic! The only problem is that it is hard to eat just one of these divine little nuggets!
my husband’s family makes these every christmas and may have played a part in my deciding to marry him! ours too live in the freezer.
I fell in love with the peanut butter-cream cheese combo when I made that chocolate peanut butter cake you presented from the Sky High book. The tang of the cream cheese complemented the otherwise, too sweet peanut butter frosting layer beautifully . And..I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used that peanut butter-chocolate mixture from the peanut crispy bars as a frosting layer on a peanut butter cookie based bar to the filling in thumb print cookies. Amazing! You are so right though, peanut butter sweets need salt to keep them from being too sticky sweet. I’ve seen these buckeye candies but I’ve never made them. Will now!
It seems that every time I visit your website I find a recipe that I HAVE to make…this instant. Shoes are on, and I’m scribbling a list of groceries.
Yesterday for instance, it was your maple cream pie…(which has a very flavorful and light filling, but I didn’t get the crust right) and today I’m thinking I want to make these, put them in a giant bowl, and eat them like popcorn while watching a spooky Halloween movie.
I covet your recipes, but also your fabulous cookbook collection. Since I just spent 600 dollars on college textbooks, sadly I can’t afford Sunday Suppers at Lucques.Thanks so much for sharing your favorite recipes and your sweet tooth with the world.
As a long-time buckeye lover, I initially balked at the graham and cream cheese included in the filling…but graham and cream cheese can do no wrong, so I’m off to try this version ASAP!
YUM!! I had something similar to these when I was little and can still remember their deliciousness…and didn’t have the recipe either. I’m going to make these very soon…maybe today…house cleaning can wait, right?
Why, Deb, why? And on Halloween weekend, no less? I’m in trouble (especially since it’s raining AND I have all the ingredients on hand). Le sigh.
Definitely going to try this recipe! Quite fitting since I am a buckeye
How I do love chocolate and peanut butter together… but I’ve never had a buckeye!! As long as I kind find some peanut butter I like (here in Greece) we’ll be trying them soon. Thanks!
SO Excited to see a new take on these. My husband and I have an ongoing debate about Buckeyes, because there are probably 100’s of versions of the recipe. I don’t label anything that is baked first and then coated in chocolate to be a “real” Buckeye, so your recipe qualifies! I’m excited to try it.
Don’t forget – it’s not truly a Buckeye if the entire peanut butter ball is coated in chocolate. You have to have the little “eye” for it to be a true Buckeye!
They look delish. I’ll have to make these the next time my dad visits. He was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. I’m sure he would love these Buckeyes!
I’m sure I’ve posted here at least once or twice but mostly I’m a lurker. But being from Ohio, I have to post. In my family, I am infamous for eating all the holiday buckeyes directly from the freezer well before December 25th. Don’t try to hide the key – I’ll find it. I can promise you that buckeyes are just as good frozen as they are when they’re slightly soft from sitting in a warm kitchen while cookies bake. We will make these – and the usual half batch of our secret Ohio buckeye family recipe (which I will share if asked). Thanks for this updated version.
Well, I’d have to take exception to Grace’s comment that hardly anyone in WI knows about buckeyes. I grew up there (a long time ago) and my mom and I made these every year for Christmas. Of course, they weren’t called buckeyes, just plain old chocolate peanut butter balls. I love, love, love these and will try your version for an updated comparison.
My grandmother grew up in Ohio and we make these every Christmas. I had no idea they were an Ohio-thing, but that everyone made them for Christmas. They are absolutely my favorite cookie/candy.
Although I grew up in Michigan and AM PROUD TO BE A MICHIGAN WOLVERINE… I will have to put certain sports rivalries aside. In the name of goodwill, peanut butter, and chocolate.
I’m sorry! There was just way too much Buckeye spirit going on here. GO BLUE!
I can’t wait for your cookbook. There are a lot of food blogs out there, but I have to say yours is my favorite, Deb! The recipes and posts are always brief, unfussy, practical, and fricken delicious. Also, your insanely adorable child has allowed me to entertain the hope that maybe, just maybe, I can achieve painfully cute offspring without having to reproduce with an Asian guy.
Hilarious story! I try to be understanding but it IS frustrating when people freely hand out a product that is the makings of an addiction but won’t share the instructions for alleviating its pangs. ; )
these would be way too dangerous to have in my house! we can’t even stay out of the reeses cups we bought for the trick or treaters…and they’re not even good!
THANK YOU, not only for this recipe and the baked reference (i neeeeed their books), but also for the links to other PB & chocolate combinations. would it be so wrong if i made both buckeyes AND PB crispy bars in one weekend? surely it wouldn’t. i also can’t believe you mentioned this great treat you made, and then sweetly refused to share it. can we get a countdown to the cookbook widget on your sidebar, or something?
I am totally going to make these with my daughters! My three year old thinks peanut butter is a food group in itself! Great recipe!!
Perfect circular storytelling. Knew it was coming, and it was still funny.
I have this cookbook and it’s FABULOUS! I need to make the buckeyes! My sister made buckeyes every Christmas, but she’s been gone for five years now, so it’s my turn.
these looks so yummy! i loveee peanut butter and chocolate
Since I am a non-school-spirited person that resides near Ohio State, and since I spend every Saturday of football season trapped in my home listening to bros scream and throw beer bottles, this was probably the last thing I wanted to see. BUT, I will admit they look delicious. I’ve made peanut butter cups with a similar filling, and they are always gone in seconds.
My aunt made buckeyes and rum balls every year at Christmas when I was little. After tasting both, I left the rum balls to the adults and would pass surreptitiously through the kitchen at every opportunity to snag another buckeye. Thank you for this post– I knew what it was as soon as I saw the title, and I’ve been dying to resurrect the tradition for several years now!
yep! we were making these from the time we were able to reach the counter! keeping them in the freezer and scarfing them when no one is looking is also a time-honored tradition! :)
It has been fun to introduce them to our friends as we move around the country!
Go Bucks!
Can I beg you to add weights to this recipe? And I don’t have the stamina to bake graham crackers to make into crumbs- could you suggest a substitution that might be available in Europe.
Also, my husband thanks you for the spice cake: he’s eaten it all over three days.
G — I meant to add weights, but forgot. My apologies. I can dig some up from other recipes I’ve weighed, add them in. If you can’t get graham crackers, I hear digestive biscuits are similar.
Never heard of these before – do you say buck-ee or buck-eye? Don’t wanna make a fool of myself if I ever visit Ohio…
I have had a couple versions of these buckeyes. My grandma makes them every Christmas. She gives each grandkid a sandwich bag full of them and I just throw mine right in the trash (when I get home, obviously…). She uses store brand peanut butter, cheap waxy chocolate and when you open the bag, you can smell the old musty aroma from her house (and the faint smell of cigarette smoke). So one year my mom tried to make a “gourmet” version using Skippy (our favorite PB) and ghiradeli chocolate and they were very very good (anything would be an improvement) but I’m with you on the sugar ratio, still too sweet.
My husband’s grandma makes them with rice crispies and I think they are not as good as having the smooth peanut butter center.
So now I HAVE to make these today. Halloween party tomorrow, at least I won’t eat all of them myself. I think if I use salted butter, that will take care of the need for adding salt.
Hi Deb, Happy Halloween. I haven’t heard of or seen these before. What a great treat!
Magda
YUM! This version sounds delicious! My family has been making these since before I was born, and growing up in Ohio (born and raised! Go Bucks!) these were THE treat to make. They are such a family favorite between my husband and I, that we had boxes of buckeyes for our favors at our wedding 3 years ago. We still hear talk about the awesome buckeyes. :D I can’t WAIT to try these!! Maybe I’ll whip some up during the OSU Buckeyes game…..
seeing these brought such a smile to my face! for years, i’ve been making a version that uses rice crispy cereal instead of graham cracker crumbs. they’ve got a fabulous chewy, crunchy bite to them. my family affectionately calls them “christmas balls” and they fill tins under our tree every year! yum!
Bummer, these have gluten in them. I’d love a standard buckeye recipe. I could probably sub in almond flour for graham cracker crumbs, though.
Yummy! Going to make these for Christmas ;) Or maybe I won’t be able to wait and will make them before! Great pics, too.
I just made these and they are as delicious as they are pretty! I couldn’t get them to stay on the skewer, so I just rolled them around the chocolate with a spoon — less professional looking, to be sure. I sprinkled a little kosher salt on them, and in future will up the salt sprinkling to a quick roll. Thanks for suggesting the salt.
These are so much better than Reese’s! Thanks for sharing!!
The first time I tried Buckeyes was in elementary school and I thought I died and went to heaven! It was at my best friend Jeri’s house and I loved going over her house, her family always made the best treats. Yum!
Oooh, chocolate and peanut butter!
-Brenda
You have such great pictures! I’ve never made these because I’m intimidated by the amount of time they look like they take. Do you have an estimate for how long it took you to put these all together? Could the PB part be put in the fridge if I just wanted to make a few at a time?
Yup. Ohioian here – I make them every Christmas [the original massive amounts of powdered sugar recipe] and the thing that always makes me laugh is starting out with these adorable little buckeyes at one end of the wax paper, and by the time I’m finished dipping the other 67, they’ve become softball sized, because clearly I got sick of rolling peanut butter. :)
I love me some buckeyes. Consider the craving evoked.
A question: do you use natural peanut butter or the kind processed with sugar and stabilizers? It does make a difference and would be useful information in the recipe itself. And does anyone know how long these keep and whether or not they ship well…do they require refrigeration?
I have been making a version of these for years – only difference is that ours have rice crispies added – might be just the crunch yours are missing!
how cute are those?! i know what i’m making for office treats in a couple weeks :)
So glad your recipe doesn’t need wax! When I got my relative’s friend’s recipe, theirs included some sort of wax that I couldn’t find.
And I’m waiting for your cookbook! I just love how you tied the two stories together. While I’m no fan of PB, and I’m just going to skip the recipe part. I loved reading your post. Maybe a memoir after the cookbook? I will not be able to put the book down until I’m finished.
I JUST made some in the shape of acorns this past week! I big puffy heart buckeyes! Yum :). In case you want to see them all acorny: http://www.thestoriesofa2z.com/2010/10/last-night-i-couldnt-sleep-and-so.html
Chocolate and peanut butter. Such a perfect combination! These look absolutely yummy!
Oh I have never in my life had one of these- how deprived am I!!!!yum-yum!
Deb,
I laughed when I saw the picture and read your story as I’m born, bred and raised in Ohio, a graduate of The Ohio State University, Go Bucks, and have made these with my mother forever! I make these every year during the week of the Ohio State-Michigan Football game. Will have to run into town to get cream cheese for this recipe. I can’t wait to try it because I’ve always thought the version all good Buckeyes make is too sweet. By the way you can keep the peanut butter mixture in the frig and make them a little at a time.
How marvelously delicious looking! love the hand dipped chocolate aspect.
my sister in law used to make these every single christmas, along with about 10 other candies and cookies. last year, we were without them, and i was sad and, alright, a little angry too. you see, since she’s been “dieting”, we have all suffered. ha – not anymore!!!
As a native Ohioan, I got SO excited when I saw this post! I took some to my host family when I stayed in France and explaining the term ‘buckeye’ was a bit tricky in French.
THANKS AND LETS GO BUCKS!!!
i had several friends from ohio when i went to college in indiana. one year i even got my own tupperware filled with buckeyes. i didn’t share.
thank you for sharing this recipe with the world!
hmmm, these look suspiciously similar to my mother-in-law’s “bon-bons”. Except those have chopped walnuts & coconut in the PB mix, and are completely coated in chocolate. I really like your recipe, love that it doesn’t require wax for the chocolate coating (like MIL’s does), so I’ll be trying it soon. I would also like to know what kind of PB you’re using, because we only buy the “natural” kind around here and have already had issues with a few recipes. My guys love anything with PB in it, so I’d love to make these and know that I don’t have to worry about them falling apart.
I had to laugh when you said peanut butter or rice krispies because the version we make has peanut butter, butter, and rice krispies for the center but we dip the entire thing in chocolate.
I’m with Carter. What kind of peanut butter? natural or processed?
Peanut butter — Skippy. I am not wholesome when it comes to peanut butter, especially the stuff I use for baking.
I love the part about trying to get the recipe! We have a running joke about a certain someone in our church congregation who refuses to share her recipes – much like the individual that you mention – she’s a wonderful cook and caterer, but she always refuses requests to share.
I’d totally respect her position not to share, but she has absolutely no problem asking others for their recipes!
Oh, my aunt used to send us these for Christmas back in the early 80s. In the Deep South, they were just called ‘peanut butter balls’, no fancy names, but they were so, so good.
Have to love this treat!
These are always a big hit although mine are a little different–rice krispies instead of some of that other stuff. oh….and i call mine “salty balls” ala Chef from South Park ;)
Thanks for posting this! I am from Ohio but now live in Mass, and miss making, receiving, and sharing these – especially at Christmastime. My waistline does not miss them, however. :)
Deb, I think I love you. I grew up in NE Indiana, very near Ohio, and have made Buckeyes every year for Christmas since I was a very little girl (they’re perfect for little helping hands). I’ve always associated them with Christmas, and oddly, have always thought of them as a cookie. But you’re right, they’re CANDY! And very easy-to-make candy at that! A Halloween tradition is born.
Oh, now you’re making me wish I still had some buckeyes in my freezer. I made them in February, with a slightly different recipe (I used rice krispies in mine, and it was absolutely as good as that sounds). I truly think they taste best frozen.
Here’s my recipe: http://www.onehundredeggs.com/?p=225
Those will always remind me of Pittsburgh, we’d have the real buckeyes all over our street. I always preferred the nuts to the candy but these look super cute!
One of my freshman year roommates was from Ohio and her mom used to send us buckeyes every couple of months. I still remember my first bite. Simply amazing. Needless to say, this part of the care package never lasted very long! I’ve actually looked for a recipe many times over the last few years, but a lot of them call for wax (which makes me nervous and seems a bit odd). Can’t wait to try this recipe.
YUMMY! I’ve never been a fan of buckeyes but I think the graham crumbs could change my mind. I cannot wait to make these.
Yum! I have made Buckeye’s before! I think i had the recipe that called for all the sugar though. Your chocolates are so pretty, that it made me wonder how you managed to get the Buckeye’s OFF the scewer.
I made some of these using the usual typical recipe. They looked really cool. Really cool. But were WAY too sweet for me. So I’m glad to see this recipe. I got a chocolate candy dipper ( a little metal spiral attached to a handle and a candy dipping fork) so I didn’t have to prick them with a skewer.
Will be trying this.
Thanks for posting… growing up in Ohio and now living in NYC, I have been making these and turning my friends in the city into Buckeye lovers for years :)
We have these candies regularly, but we’re in Ohio and Ohio State Buckeyes football fans, so these are pretty much a staple every Saturday when a game is on since they’re named so perfectly :)
Have been making these since I was about 6 years of age with my mom and siblings; it is a family favorite. To get the salt component I use salted butter; it is just enough. Have also made these with almond butter, and with cashew butter (my favorite, with dark chocolate).
Oh my! I’ve heard many praises of buckeyes, but I’ve never actually tried one. They sound delicious, and incredibly addictive! Definitely want to give these a try!
The paraffin wax in many recipes is melted with the chocolate to make it set better and be shinier. It’s completely unnecessary (buckeyes are plenty appetizing without it), but also pretty common on fruits and in commercially-produced candy. You probably eat it all the time.
I came on here tonight to look for your chocolate pudding recipe to make for/with my boys… I saw this, and decided to make them instead! Several handfuls of peanut butter mixture didn’t make it to the chocolate.
Oh, and I used gingersnaps in place of graham crackers, to use what I had in the pantry, and I replaced 1 cup of the sugar with flour, to cut even more of the “sweet”. And I nixed the cream cheese, as I have a dairy allergy. But these are so good!
Yummy! Perfect for Halloween!!! Well, perfect for any day if you ask me ;)
Mmmm. Yum.
Oh my mother of goodness! I NEED to make these NOW!
i grew up in ohio and all of our moms used to make them all the time! i haven’t had one in AGES! i plan on making these tomorrow and giving them to the kiddos in our bldg. for halloween :)
my boyfriend’s brother makes these and they’re so good. they’re big around the holidays. I appreciate a recipe with less sugar and butter!
Must make these for my dad since he’s from Ohio and went to Ohio State — he’s lived in California since he graduated from college. I have a cousin who always says she’ll share recipes but NEVER does. Anyone have a good coffee crunch cake recipe?
how dare you write a post without a link to a picture of your beautiful little peanut butter (no doubt) eater…
gorgeous pictures. someone in vail, colorado will be making these tomorrow, but i don’t think they’ll last long.
Oh my. A relative once gave me a similar recipe in a church social quantity. I’ve never made them – I can only drool from afar since my husband is deathly allergic to peanuts. They just wouldn’t be the same with almond or hazelnut butter (though that doesn’t sound too bad).
HECK, yeah.
We moved from Seattle to Ohio nearly two years ago, and I am here to tell you that Buckeyes (the candy, not the nut) are, hands down, THE. BEST. THING. about the state. (There’s a lot more to it, but I’m a little biased in the direction of chocolate and peanut butter). The commercial kinds are mostly pale wan sad blobs. But the homemade version? SWOON.
I’ve been using the Saveur recipe since we landed. Can’t quite imagine graham crumbs… may have to give these a go. And yes, the salt, it is everything.
I LOVE BUCKEYES! My mom has been making them since before I can remember. I made some for work last year, and they were gone in 5 minutes flat! I might have to try your adapted recipe.
I’ve already made these! And I’ve got a question for you, Deb. My PB balls kept breaking when I tried to roll them in the chocolate…would just disintegrate. Do you have any tips, or thoughts? The flavors, at least, are spot on. You share my wariness of overly-sweet desserts, so I knew the balance of PB and sugar would be good, and it was! Yum!
Julie — Yes! When that happens, smoosh and knead them back up in your palm. The warmth makes it softer and meltier again, and you can then roll it back into a smooth ball.
Amanda — Ginger snaps sound very very good! I’m on a Speculoos kick and somehow, I think it might remind me of the spread.
Yay! Thanks so much for posting this! My mother also used to make these for me when I was a kid and I’ve asked her several times for the recipe, but she keeps “forgetting” to pass it down. :P I love these things and look forward to making them soon.
P.S. I’m planning on making mine with natural peanut butter I adore from a local company since I always have a jar on hand. We’ll see how it turns out.
Wow…my late grandfather used to make these for Christmas every year and I have not had one since he passed in 1990. He used Rice Krispes too……I think it’s time to start the tradition again :). Thanks for posting!
Jacob is such a cute lion. My boy was a lion for his first Hallowe’en – when he was 9 months old so thanks for the memories. And the buckeyes look amazing. You and Dana have now both posted recipes (danatreat.com) – I’d never heard of them before.
These look amazing! I’m so excited to make my own cancy for Halloween tomorrow – these may have to be a last minute addition to the list! I bet the cream cheese adds just enough soomthness and tang. Perfect!
Oh my gosh! What a blast from the past! I grew up in the midwest and loved these but hadn’t seen or thought about them in years!! Thanks for bringing about such a strong memory for me! Yours are beautiful by the way – my mom’s were always delicious but not as visually appealing.
I love the idea of more peanut butter filling and a smooth layer of chocolate. YUM.
These look just like you were born and raised in O- H!… I- O!! . You’ve done all us buckeyes proud! :o)
Hooray! I owe some friends at work a plate of treats, and these are perfect.
I’m gluten free, and I think I’m going to sub GF rice crispies for the graham crackers. At least for the first round. YUM.
I’ve always wanted to try buckeyes because peanut butter and chocolate are only the most awesome flavour combination ever! These wil definitely be the new Christmas cookie I try this year, but I’ll have to test them first! :)
My family has our own version of a recipe that looks similar to these and sounds similar to the description, but we make them completely different. We call them “cannonballs” instead also. For ours we completely dip them, and we get baker’s wax (or gulf wax, which is safe to put in food, and has no flavor) and we melt it into the chocolate. This gives the chocolate a nice glossy finish like you’d see in a candy shop and makes it so it doesn’t melt in your hand quite so quickly. For ingredient differences we don’t put cream cheese, butter or graham crackers (or rice krispies). Instead we use peanut butter (chunky or creamy with chopped walnuts, whichever we feel like), chopped pitted dates, an egg, and confectioners sugar. That’s it. I know some people would raise an eye on the raw egg thing, but seriously, the amount of egg versus the volume of candies that this makes really makes any kind of health risk seem null and void (me and all of my family have eaten these every year around Christmas since I can remember, and no one has ever gotten sick from them, I think that’s saying something- and we eat a LOT of them! lol). I’m guessing that my family’s version and this taste 100% different, then again we’re from New England and not Ohio, so maybe that has something to do with the differences :)
These are favorites of our family, too, and we always called them peanut butter balls. As such, there was no “excuse” to have that still-pale spot on them. My mother brilliantly solved this “problem” (it’s all a matter of perspective, as my THE Ohio State alum friend can attest) by sterilizing a curved upholstery needle.
Using the curved needle, one can completely immerse the ball in the chocolate without risking losing it off the end entirely. When I gave these to my in-laws last Christmas, I thought they were going to beat me up when I told them the big secret for getting the balls completely covered! I think they wanted it to be harder ;-)
These are one of my husband’s favorites, and they don’t last long around here, either.
AND, your son is the most adorable lion I have ever seen in all my life. Just sayin’ ;-)
peanut butter heaven! and the best part is that it requires no baking! i’ll have to try these during the holidays. :D
Deb, I am a three-year lurker and fan of your blog, but I threw a birthday party last week for 18 people (9 of them under the age of four!) and everything I made was from your site: the beef chili from a couple of weeks ago, the cauliflower Parmesan cake ( it stole the show), the Best Birthday Cake with Instant Fudge frosting, and the pumpkin bread pudding. It was all greeted rapturously and I am writing to thank you for these and many, many other recipes I have made over the years. Love the pics of your beautiful baby, awaiting your cookbook eagerly. thanks!!
This transplanted Michigander living in California with Hoosier parents and grands from Ohio knows and loves the traditional recipe Buckeyes many years now. Will try your changed up recipe with salt. :-)
My grandmother had a recipe for these, but instead they were eloquently called “Chocolate Balls”. The filling in her recipe lacked the cream cheese, and added shredded coconut. I make them every year around the holidays, and they’re a big hit!
I’m torn between running out and making these tomorrow and knowing that it’s the LAST think I should do. Definitely can’t trust myself around these frozen or not.
Yum! I love peanut butter, and have been eating lots of flourless PB cookies these days. I have always been into these Buckeyes, but rarely see them around. It is great to see a recipe for them, so thank you! Fabulous pictures of course! It is a great old fashioned candy. I just did a blog post on some other old fashioned candies, it was fun, but the manufactured ones were in the end not very yum, these homemade ones on the other hand look delicious! thanks for the inspiring blog, it gets me going!
I make these every Christmas – a slightly different version. I follow the same process but after I have made a sheets worth of PB balls, I chill them in the freezer for 15 minutes or so before dipping them in the chocolate. I have also been known to stick the tray out on the back porch and let mother nature do the chilling – no need to make room in the freezer that way. I think it makes them easier to work with during the coating process. These are so easy to make and super impressive to give as a gift.
I actually just bought this cookbook a week ago! I’ve been going through it every night instead of being productive (and I’m a student, so that’s really bad), and it is the most delicious books I’ve ever owned. I was a little put off by the cream cheese, but if it works, I’ll have to try it then!
YUM. Just made these tonight. Mine aren’t as pretty as yours, but they sure are delicious! Great with a glass of milk. I really can’t imagine eating these made with twice as much sugar!
My husband and I lived in Ohio last summer and I’ve been looking for a good buckeye recipe since then. A lot of them seemed a bit too sweet for my taste. I can’t wait to try this recipe! The addition of graham crackers sounds wonderful, and I might just have to try Amanda’s suggestion for gingersnaps as well!
O-H…I-O!!!
Having been born and raised right here in Columbus OH, I can attest to the fact that there is no other candy like a buckeye! And I certainly grew up making buckeyes. No buckeye is safe from me, whether it be frozen or not!
I’m not so sure about the adaptations, though. I tend to be a purist when it comes to my buckeyes!
They look great, but I think the chocolate could use a little gulf wax for some shine…
Ohhh buckeyes with less sugar! My husband loves buckeyes but I have never made them for him because I hate to contribute to his sugar addiction. Maaaybe this Christmas I’ll surprise him with this recipe. :-)
I have to say thanks, not just for the recipe, but for alerting me to the fact that there is an actual sequel to ‘Baked’, otherwise known as my new bible. I’m a pastry chef and have collected cook books for years, and the only three books that are as worn as my ‘Baked’ book are ‘The Cake Bible’, ‘The Pie and Pastry Bible’ (both by Rose Levy Beranbaum) and ‘Kathleen’s Bake Shop Cookbook’ by Kathleen King, owner of Tate’s Bake Shop in Southampton, NY. I just ordered Baked take two, and cannot wait for it to arrive!!! Thank you! Snaps to you for your blog – I’m a newbie and love what you do. Well done.
At the risk of enraging all the people who love buckeyes out there, I have to ask, do you think it would work if I roll the filling out, cut it into disks, then use them to make a replica of Reese’s in mini muffin cups? I have a friend who is a Reese’s fanatic, and she would appreciate it so much. I promise I will make a batch of buckeyes too!
What to do when it’s 4am and you can’t sleep? Make a batch of these! Sexy Nerd is going to be so surprised when he wakes up :)
I actually use to carry a real buckeye in my purse for good luck. I think the addition of Graham cracker crumbs sounds great. I know you like slaw recipes and I’m posting ine today with pumpkin seeds.
These look great, and for someone who is currently going through an (un)healthy peanut butter obsession (currently? I meant permanantly) these are gonna go down a treat!
These are one of my favorite all-time recipes! I LOVE them. Yours turn out way prettier than mine…oh well!
My University of Florida son married his Ohio State high school sweetheart this past weekend. As favors, she passed out bags of Buckeye Balls that she had handmade. They were a hit. In the south, where we are from, we make something very close. Mine are made with a sleve of graham cracker crumbs, butter, cream cheese, XXX sugar, peanutbutter, and a teaspoon or so of peanutbutter flavoring. After rolling into to balls, they are chilled and then dipped into tempered milk chocolate. Either recipe (the south’s or the north’s), anything with peanutbutter and chocolate is always a winner!
As good as these buckeyes look, I will say that mine are the best in existence. I can only give hints about what makes them so spectacular b/c unlike kind and magnanimous Deb, I am selfish and propietary with my recipes. Mine have super chunky peanut butter and salted, crushed peanuts along with the graham crackers and quite a bit more than a quarter teaspoon of salt. Salty sweet is the finest of the flavors! And I always have the already made filling balls in my freezer, so I can dip up a few at any given time into a quick, bittersweet ganche, as they are so much easier to dip when the interiors are frozen.
how is it possible that you make buckeyes look elegant? seems that’s a contradiction in terms, but you’ve done it! way cool.
I make a version of these fabulous treats with crushed pretzels instead of graham crackers. Football shapes for SuperBowl parties, decorated with white icing laces.
I don’t think it’s safe for me to make these. :)
I love buckeyes… these look amazing! Yum! Happy Halloween :-)
I’m an Ohio native that (happily) ended up in Ann Arbor for graduate school, which has banished me to football limbo for probably the rest of my life. BUT the awesomeness of these Buckeyes is the one thing that all of my friends (Ohio and Michigan) can agree on!
Tip: Use the “natural” peanut butter that’s nothing but peanuts and salt. It really brings out more flavor than the Jiff; just be sure to mix it up first if the oil has separated.
These are such a fun treat, and you can beat the simplicity. Perfect for Halloween!
I am not from Ohio (Kansas), but we have had these little treats, well forever. We just dip the whole thing in chocolate, and call it a peanut butter ball. I had never heard it called a buckeye. I even served them at my wedding reception 28 years ago. It was really fun to watch all the people hovering around the peanut butter balls!
wow they look amazing, unfortunately my son is highly allergic to peanuts :( so I’ll just have to imagine how good they are.
I grew up in IN but my Mom grew up in Cincinnati. She made buckeyes every Christmas season that were amazing. Even with her recipe, none of us could replicate hers. I’ll definitely give your version a go!
What a GREAT ROAR!!!
Oh yes, I’m from Ohio and buckeyes are a famous Christmas delight. My grandma always made them and they were delicious. I always make mine less sweet as well, looking forward to trying this version.
A couple of things:
Graeter’s Ice Cream and Velvet Ice Cream (both in Ohio) make a ‘buckeye ice cream’, in case anyone is interested.
While in Slovenia, we visited a ‘sea salt shop’, which sold the equivalent of fleur de sels in cloth bags, mined from the coast of Slovenia. They also sold delicious chocolate bars which were flavored with the sea salts. Perhaps fleur de sels inside your chocolate would give it that sweet/salty flavor? Or sprinkled on top? Fleur de sels has that special taste. Of course this would raise the cost of ingredients to a level that some might not like.
I’ve got some gluten free graham crackers in the house and some fresh ground almond butter! Now both my husband (peanut allergy) and my self (wheat allergy) can have these!
ooh I can’t wait to make these! Maybe as part of a holiday basket, think they would get too melty unrefrigerated for a couple hours?
We have a family recipe that is a slight variation on this called Clark Balls, after the Clark Candy bars. Much more of a cookie texture, with more graham crackers in them, but very much along the same line.
And Deb, one question — these Clark Balls/Buckeyes are my husband’s absolute favorite xmas treat, but he was recently diagnosed a diabetic. Do you think that substituting stevia for the sugar would work in this?
I’ve had a recipe for buckeye balls in my possession for fifteen years, yet have never made them. Why? Because I went to Wisconsin, and everyone from the Big Ten hates Ohio State. :)
I love chocolate and peanut butter though – I also have been known to hide goodies in the freezer – and in my family, we have a different confection that uses butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and rice krispies; all ingredients are mixed and fully dipped in chocolate.
I was hoping for a real buckeye recipe (I’ve got a bucket full), but these sound wonderful! I’ll try them with sunflower butter since we’re not having peanuts at the moment.
I was just discussing buckeyes with a co-worker the other day. She had never had them before and since I haven’t made them in awhile I declared that I will make her some. These sound much, much better than the traditional recipe my friend gave me. I love the idea of a bit of crunch as you mentioned in your notes. Maybe I will try them keeping the graham crackers as course crumbs, not fine. Also, the first time I made buckeyes, I only had crunchy peanut butter and they turned out really well, just not as smooth and round. Now, I might just need to pull a Reese’s out of the candy for the trick or treaters to hold me over until then.
I’m not a big candy eater any more, but peanut butter cups are my weakness. I think I need to give these a try. Too bad I have not time this weekend, or I’d run out and get more peanut butter and powdered sugar!
Haven’t made these in years – but when I was a kid growing up in Columbus, I made them a lot … and the best recipe always used Graham Cracker crumbs … you get the ‘Reese’s Cup’ texture that way … now I think I need to make them again seeing this reminder! <3
OOh -just saw the post from Almut – Buckeye nuts are not for human consumption. Make them into necklaces/earrings(if you have the itty bitty ones!)/bracelets with Scarlet and Grey beads and sell that at the OSU games instead :D ~ the big joke has always been why does OSU have a useless nut as it’s mascot ;o) !!
Best birthday gift ever!! Thank you!
These come with perfect timing as it is OSU football season and I’m surrounded by fans everywhere I go. I’ve made a buckeye recipe before, but I’d like to compare this one to the ones I have previously (maybe this means I have to make 2 separate batches and eat all of both of them to figure out which I like best?).
I totally read through this whole post thinking “If she didn’t post pics of that baby in his costume – !!!” The recipe looks fantastic, but Jacob wins. :-) (definitely making the recipe tonight with my four-year-old niece tonight, though!)
One of the best treats EVER
I just made these. Needed something for last minute trick or treaters and was determined to not buy anything new. I used 1/2 crushed pretzels & 1/2 almond meal instead of graham crackers and added minced ginger chips from Trader Joe’s. I should have reduced the sugar a bit for my taste, but they are yummy. Let’s see how the kiddies in my building like them!
These look to die for (and very halloweeny)!
I have a rather unrelated question but it seems like the right people to ask:
Does anyone know how to make black frosting? My little brother now wants a pirate cake for his birthday and it is supposed to have a skull a cross bones onit; but it is beyond me how to make the frosting black! any ideas??
My grandmother made these when I was growing up (yes, I’m from Ohio) and after she passed away, I took over. It’s a favorite of mine (and my husband’s) every Christmas. I was actually craving these during the majority of my pregnancy, but refrained from making them as I would have consumed the entire batch myself in just a few days if not hours. So soon they will be mine again!
I love these and haven’t made them in years because I will inhale all of them. They are delicious!
Wow! Everyone has a buckeye story, it seems! Well, I’m just another Ohioan who made buckeyes every holiday season with her mother. Now I live on the west coast and my friends don’t even know what buckeyes are. This was a serious blast from the past. Thanks!
Well, all I can say is thank you. I saw these and had to make them – little did I know that they would be a hit with my brother (of whom hates nearly everything – including chocolate – in which makes me a little embarrassed to call him my brother)
Everything, to him, is too much, too little . . . it gets a little annoying, but these are just perfect. Thanks for giving me a recipe in which he won’t simply scoff and walk away . . and my sanity thanks you as well.
Om nom! J’s an Ohioan, so we get these at xmas time. I think he said he grew up with them having Rice Krispies mixed in. Delish.
I had a very late night pregnancy craving…. and I made these at 11pm. They are *were* sooo good. People have been squirreling them away from my house all day today. Should not have shared – Oh well, I’ll just have to make more!
OK, now I have one more thing to put in the Christmas boxes I give to volunteers at church. It will break the monotony of fudge and homemade cookies.
I had to smile when I saw this post..our family makes these every single holiday season! and yes, the are certainly addictive!
love,
cathy b. @ brightbakes
my gosh, my grandma used to make these and we never had any idea what was in them or what the recipe was…PROBLEM SOLVED. childhood memories, commence repeating.
These will be happening, even if there’s to be a british biscuit sub -im thinking trialling half with ginger snaps and half with digestives to see which is best. Chunky pb gets my vote as I think its the best for flavour…certainly cries out to me and my spoon loudest from the cupboard! Demerara sugar might add some of that crunch factor, too -and I’ve got a potential extra centre jostling for attention in the brain-pan, methinks. I live on pb, chocolate, squash and brownies pretty much, so this month’s been a good one but this? This is my dream come true, right here :)
And a peanut butter archive? Is it christmas already, deb? Your blog’s already my favourite; now I think I just love you! Haha, happy halloween :)
I love the idea of a contemporary version with a little crunch, I’ll have to advocate for that next time we’re making these (and I know we will!). On the tempering, we are lucky enough to have a good friend with a tempering machine, which makes the entire process super-easy: http://flic.kr/p/8jMYZJ
1) these look very very yummy
2) your lion is adorable
3) you crack me up
Oh my, as a transplanted Buckeye who has made Buckeyes every year for the last 30 years AND made over 500 of them as favors for my son’s wedding, I feel I must put in my two cents here and tell you that this is not the traditional “Buckeyes” recipe. Make no mistake, the recipe itself sounds absolutely delicious, but real Buckeyes contain no cream cheese nor graham cracker crumbs. I’m certainly going to try this recipe though, just to see how it tastes! Here’s my version: http://www.othersideoffifty.com/2009/12/buckeyes.html
Love your blog!
I am so sad for non-Ohioans just because they don’t grow up making/eating buckeyes! GO BUCKS!
Oh, Buckeyes!! I’m curious about adding cream cheese and crushed graham crackers, but I believe you when you say this version was good. I’ve made buckeyes for Christmas every single year since…well, for a long time now. When you live in Ohio, as I do, it is practically mandatory to know how to make these candies! After I make my usual big batch, I allow them time to get solid and cool on the countertop. I find they keep perfectly well in metal tins with tight-fitting lids. I use cut out rounds of wax paper for each layer and they will last for months, if prying hands stay away. Thanks for properly calling them Buckeyes, our favorite team is The Ohio State University–GO BUCKS!!!
Ha, count me in as one of the native Ohioans crawling out of the woodwork. It was a shock when I left the state and discovered that most people didn’t know what these were, or even what a buckeye tree is. Thanks for spreading the word.
Oh! These look wonderful! I might have to wait until the bucket of leftover rice crispy chunks (from the treats I made for my mom’s party at work) is gone to try ’em out, though…..or maybe not =)
This is so totally my family’s favorite fall treat. I’ve never made it with the graham cracker crumbs, can’t wait to try this recipie! Holiday cookies are the reason that there is a lock on the freezer.Heading into the kitchen now…
I went ahead and started making these before I realized using my TJ’s peanut butter was not a good idea. They were far, far, too crumbly. But – if you add corn syrup a little bit at a time while you’re blending, you can slowly come to the described consistency (I probably used 1-2 tablespoons, but it’d depend on your preferred peanut butter brand).
I’m from Ohio and love buckeyes! Surprisingly I’ve never made them. And thanks for putting together a “peanut butter” category. Now I know where to look when I need my next fix.
We make buckeyes every Christmas season. It’s a family tradition that cannot be skipped! Our recipe is a little different. It was passed down from a great grandmother that lived in Ohio, the buckeye state. Nothing says Christmas like the taste of a buckeye!
I made these last night, with a 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, and they turned out great. But unfortunately, I forgot to add the cream cheese! Sad. Better go console myself with more buckeyes.
oh yum, yum, yummmm!
Hi, I’m from Ohio and I also grew up with Buckeyes at all major holidays.
I have a question: Can I use regular sugar instead of powdered? If I melt it into a syrup it would be just as smooth as confectioner’s sugar, right?
Thanks!
Victoria
Chowhound recently featured a recipe for homemade Peanutbutta Cups that are very similar. That recipe uses a different ratio of Graham: sugar : peanut butter with less sugar and more peanut butter, although they use milk rather than dark chocolate which would add more sweetness. The process of creating the cup shape seems more tedious than the ball shape described here.
Ohh, Deb, you made a PEANUT BUTTER category! Oh no…it’s all over from here.
This recipe is a variation on one that is SACRED in our family (with 1/2 ton of powdered sugar and butter, no graham and no cream cheese)… we’ve been obsessed with them ever since our family friend Sherry introduced them at Christmastime when I was a kid. I can’t wait to try this new method! <3
Yum, and the link to the rest of your peanut butter yummy-ness, THANK YOU!
Wow, the candy is absolutely beautiful! I want to make some right now.
What are graham crackers? Are they sweet or savoury? Over in New Zealand we don’t get them and this recipe looks so good! What could I use instead?
these look incredible! as does every single recipe you post!!! :) you’re just inspirational!
Fantastic recipe! I made these tonight for a party and they were a huge success! Thank you!
Love the pictures and love the recipe!! Two Thumbs up!!
Oops, what did I do wrong with the chocolate? I used dark choc chips and melted until very smooth, but it never really allowed easy dipping. I ended up with a THICK coating of chocolate that only covered about 40 of the 60 I made. Good thing the uncovered 20 still made a nice treat to smuggle into a scary movie :), but any advice on smoothing out the chocolate further to allow easier rolling, would love to make again…
Oh, how I love buckeyes, especially straight from the freezer. As my family is from Ohio, this was definitely one of the sweets I most looked forward to when visiting grandma. I’ll have to try it with cream cheese and graham crackers- thanks for sharing!
Oh yes, I know about these. My MIL makes these (she’s from Ohio) and I’d temporarily forgotten about them in the haze of motherhood. Thanks for the reminder! (and I’m surprised to see the Baked boys have nicked a version of my mom’s chocolate bars…in her version the peanut butter is mixed into the rice krispie mix and the topping has chocolate and butterscotch. Yum!)
Grew up loving these in Ohio – even had them as favors at our Ohio wedding…but am with you on the over-sweetness. Can’t wait to try this version!
I do not have a kitchen stand mixer. Would the peanut butter mixture be too much for a hand mixer, or do you think it would be ok? Or would I be better off just using good old (wo)man power? I do have a small food processor I could use as well. I’m trying to make this the easiest on myself with as few casualties as possible, so anything you could tell me would be so helpful!
Oh, and my absolute favorite flavor combination of all time is dark chocolate and peanut butter, so thank you for this!
Oh dear. These are practically food-porn; since I had zilch for time this weekend, I had to console myself with a bar of Espresso Ritter-Sport and a jar of really lame german peanut butter. Can’t wait to try these, although my giggly arms will beg to differ.
o LOVE Reese’s cups and have found many recipes for replicating them at home, but to be honest, the whole process seems a bit daunting. How nice to be able to clone the taste with a process that seems so much more manageable. I’m with you on the salt front, and will likely add some maldon to my batch. Thx – S
Used to love these when my husband’s grandma would make them until I saw her making them and melting WAX into the chocolate to make it stick better. We stopped eating them after that. Maybe I can slip her this recipe :)
Oh my heavens – I must NOT make these under any circumstances (as I will promptly devour them!)
Becca
Haven’t decided yet on what I think is sweeter – the ROAR picture or the buckeyes. The little lion is so über-cute and the peanut butter candies look über-delicious! Tough choice! :)
Hi. They look amazing and plan to make them for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I wanted to ask you what tool you use to dip the balls into the chocolate. I cannot tell by the picture, but it looks like a must have. Thanks so much.
Beth — Ha. I couldn’t find a skewer and used this. It’s a little flat on the bottom and probably didn’t work as well as a skewer would. Or a chocolate dipping fork, if you wish to make an investment in future dipped candies.
Victoria — I think a hand mixer would work just fine.
Weronkikiwi — It will be published internationally as well! But the details have yet to be sorted out.
Victoria (216) — I am not confident that granulated sugar will have the same effect. It might be a little gritty, plus, powdered sugar also has some cornstarch in it which can work as a thickener so the same volume (and significantly different weight) of granulated sugar may not yield as firm of a candy.
As a Michigan grad, I can’t bring myself to make them as actual buckeyes, bars? yes, balls totally covered in chocolate? yes, logs even? yep. But I won’t call it a buckeye, because then I couldn’t enjoy it as much. Can’t wait to make these (but as balls)!
Oh, and Jacob is adorable. But you knew that.
Re: your salt comment, and @Ruth above, yes – something like a fleur de sel would be perfect. I don’t make these often (if I did, they would have to be in a freezer lockbox situation as well) but the last time I made them I used some maldon flakes and I’ll never make them without again…maldon’s not as fancy as fleur de sel, but I think for the cost difference, the maldon probably gets the job done. The best part about that type of salt is it doesn’t completely dissolve and stays crunchy through the entire life of the buckeye, so you bite into the peanut butter and get these great little crunches of salt that have a more interesting flavor & texture to go with the PB than just regular kosher salt. YUM.
My daughter & I had the same idea – to make these yummy treats! She cranked them out yesterday afternoon and I get to reap the rewards.
So perfect for the events of this past weekend! I must make these, peanut butter and chocolate are like Ozzie and Harriet and Bonnie and Clyde- meant to be together!
xoxo
bianca
I love buckeyes! We just call them peanut butter balls. My mom makes them every year for Christmas, and I have since taken over the tradition as well. We use a different recipe though – just butter, pb and powdered sugar. I posted about them last year (feel free to delete the link if it’s not appropriate). They’re so good!
http://www.whatmegansmaking.com/2009/12/peanut-butter-balls.html
My mother has been making something very similar at Christmas for years. She uses Rice Krispies in there which gives them a nice crunch and texture. And cover the entire thing in chocolate…make them less stressful in the making that way.
I just love them! When she lived in France, she made these and gave them out to her butcher, grocer, wine person, etc. and everyone just loved them! And everyone begged for the recipe. (Peanut butter, oddly, comes in a metal tin over there.) I am totally making these this holiday season.
Being from Michigan, I didn’t get to enjoy these treats as a kid. But, as an adult (now living in California), the end of November each year (just before “the game”), I get a little “care” package from some OSU friends. This year, I may try to beat them to the punch and return the favor. Your recipe would be perfect — and it gives me the perfect excuse to NOT have the entire batch at MY house!
Ah, buckeyes. I remember the recipe I made growing up used paraffin, which I would never consider doing nowadays. They were delicious and the buckeye cake and buckeyes I’ve made at other times are equally delicious. One of my favorite homemade candies!
Oh, and I will do some extra crunches for you. I like them, and I need to do more anyway after eating my way through Halloween (and even more red velvet brownie cake)!
Since I grew up in the state to the North we called these delicious treats WOLVERINEs and covered them entirely in chocolate (milk). I am definitely going to try your version as I agree the original recipe can be very sweet. Go Blue!
so funny. i am originally from the mid-west and very often find myself explaining to coloradans what a buckeye is – must put these on my november to-do list.
Awesome – however – watch out with temperature and using natural peanutbutter. I whipped together some natural PB that had seperated in a cabinet and used it a room temp (Should have been a warning sign but meh). That lead to one deliciously sloppy mess but worked itself out ok in the freezer!
Being from Ohio, these are always present at family gatherings, etc. I have made the peanut butter balls and the put them in the freezer for a little bit. I find that it makes them easier to handle when dipping them because the peanut butter can become soft. My mom is a white chocolate lover, so we have made a white chocolate version as well.
I just bought this cookbook – I love it. And them. I have been meaning to make these little lovelies!! Yours look amazing, as always.
A family favorite, and no one is from Ohio. And yes they are best straight from the freezer. Now you just need to do my Grandmother’s molasses cookies, and stained glass window fudge. Oh man am I suddenly craving sugar.
perfect timing! I’ve been looking at buckeye recipes to find one to add to my candy repertoire this year. I’ve already made and dipped cherry mash, apricot fondant is next…is it too early to admin I am preparing for Christmas? thanks for sharing!
OH dear! I grew up in Ohio and still go back…my mom never made them..others did..and we ate them..she had her own tried and true….I’m saving those for the cookbook :) ,,,
This looks so good, I neeeeed to make these. Tonight. If it tastes half as good as it looks, I might be hoarding them as well.
Looks like I’m one of the few who hasn’t heard of these before =) They look great – like a gourmet Reese’s cup! I’ll have to give these a try.
OOoooh, a BOOK!!! I just hope it will be possible to get it smuggled to Europe somehow ;)
Roar!
These sound amazing… I’m going to have to talk someone into making these for me sometime. :) Thanks for sharing.
Yum! Yum! I can not wait to try them. I love rich peanut butter candy. I think I am going to fight my husband for my share. He loves them, too. I would not worry about doing crunches. I am going to be the shape of the little candy pieces. Round and soft.
I’m from upstate NY and we make these every Christmas. My recipe is about the same as this one only it calls for 2 sticks of salted butter and no cream cheese. The origianl recipe called for paraffin to make the chocolate more dippable but for the last twenty years or so I’ve used a little crisco to make it the right consistency. It works just fine. I agree, you need to use a good grade of peanut butter (I use Peter Pan or Skippy) and real butter. I got the recipe from a co worker in 1967 and my kids all make them and now my grandkids. Love them and your recipes. Haven’t tried a bad one yet.
Growing up in Ohio Christmas is not complete without Buckeyes!
I made these. They’re fantastic.
can’t wait to try these…maybe even tonight… :). I have the unfortunate curse of being allergic to peanuts, but I will try almond or cashew butter. mmm
Oh – I want, but am much too lazy to make!
I used to make these every Christmas since I was eight (w/ help from my mom back then), but they were always totally emerged. I love how they look here. I wish you were looking for the recipe, I would have shared!
Its funny-in my recipe next to PB I made a note saying “Not cheap” Must have had a bad experience.
Ahh. Wish I had discovered your blog before I had to give up dairy. Anyway, would there be any harm in omitting the cream cheese or using Tofutti fake cream cheese (in taste and texture it’s a lot like the neufchatel or reduced fat cream cheese)? Just wondering…I like the idea of a lightened version of the original, but I guess I will have to make the original if I can’t use a dairy substitute here… :(
These look AWESOME! I love chocolate and peanut butter! My aunt made a similar recipe and it was on her Christmas sweets tray that she brought to Grandma’s every year. I just about made myself sick on them every year…I love ’em!
My Gram made these and they are sooooooooooo awesome. Now my daughter carries on the tradition.
Did I miss a link to a picture of The Adorable One? I cannot find him anywhere and it makes me sad.
Chocolate & peanut butter, they go together like peas in a pod. This is such a great photo tutorial, you make it look so easy & they’ve definatly got the wow factor from me. Thanks.
Sounds like a great recipe. I will give it a try.
Am amused by the insulin ad that appears at the bottom of this recipe. Intentional? Probably just a quirky coincidence.
I am going to try this one for sure! It seems close to our family holiday peanut buttercup recipe, only a little fancier. Ours is 1cup butter melted, 2 cups PB, 1 lb powdered sugar. Melted and mixed together and pressed into a cake pan. hershey choc. bars melted and spread on top. They are awesome. But like I said i think I want to give this one a try this year! Thanks!
i swear i don’t ever need to eat … i just browse smitten kitchen, and put on weight just thinking about the number of these i’d comsume if i gave in and made them (or just about any other of the fab recipes)
Oh my goodness. I think you were the devil in disguise this Halloween. It’s like your amazing chocolate peanut butter cake in portable form. I’m pretty sure that I will fantasize about eating them for a month solid until I break down, make a batch, freeze half, eat the unfrozen half, and then sneak the frozen half in the middle of the night. Maybe the man will get one. If he’s lucky. They look that good.
My mom always made these while I was growing up. And yes, I am from Ohio. Thanks for the reminder to snag this recipe from her. It’ll be interesting to compare the 2…and I think I have just a few taste testers already lined up.
I had never heard of these little delights until now but I am definitely going to have to try them! I too am a big pb and chocolate fan, but sadly here in the UK that combination isn’t well known, about the only thing you can get is Reese’s Cups every now and again in my local supermarket and they aren’t that popular.
I may make it my mission to bring peanut butter and chocolate to the UK’s attention!
There is nothing better than these fabulous little guys on a cold Autumn day with the OSU marching band playing “Hang On Sloopy ” in the background!!!
yes! deb! i am so excited to see this post. i was just home in ohio this weekend and ate some delicious buckeyes. i never make a trip home without eating at least one. they’ve been on my list of things to try making myself, and your recipe looks great!
If these are HALF as good as your Salted Rice Krispy Treats…they’ll be amazing!
I don’t particularly care for the orignal version of either recipe but I’m guessing your twist on this will equal the other treats! Testing to begin SOON!
I’m Canadian so maybe that is why buckeyes have never been part of my repertoire. I made yours and felt I had died and gone to heaven. In the last couple of days I have done some Canadian research and found that buckeyes made it into the ‘Great Canadian Cookies, Bars & Sauares’ cookbook by the CBC (that’s about as Canadian as it gets!). Granted, the recipe is attributed to a relative in Ohio, but I can still stake claim to making something Canadian! I am going to try the CBC version next. it only contains butter, peanut butter, icing sugar, and chocolate. This research is fun!
I love buckeyes… is that a sin when I’m a University of Michigan alum?
I’ve never had them but can’t wait to make them….
Oh, I just made them…they are SO GOOD. Can’t imagine what the ones with 6 cups of confectioner’s sugar were like – without the dark chocolate foil these would have been too sweet for me.
My absolute favorite! Thank you!!!
Deb, I was so excited so see this recipe as I just had my first buckeye/bon bon at a cute little restaurant near by and desperately wanted to make them ASAP!
Question: So these probably aren’t the best for mailing in a care package, but do you have any suggestions for baked goods that mail well, other than basic cookies?
Buckeye-love! As a lifelong Ohio resident, I grew up with the straight-up butter, pb and sugar variety with a little gulf wax in the chocolate coating for added shine. My mom couldn’t keep them in stock around the holidays. She’d freeze them and my siblings and I would dig them out of the freezer.I’m curious about your variety with the graham cracker and cream cheese–maybe some holiday taste testing.
I also live in a place where there are no graham crackers. I use Petit Beurre biscuits instead.
You should consider making an entire side-blog of chocolate and peanut butter recipes!
Ooo, I love these candies! My roommate in grad school would make them and I would sneak one when she wasn’t paying attention! Thanks for this recipe and looking forward to the others in the cookbook!
Yeah, any Ohioan knows about this one ;) Scandalous to add cream cheese, I dunno.. I agree with you, they are usually too sweet though, I may have to try this out. Thanks for spreading the Ohio love!
My friend’s mother made these as well. I have looked forever for this recipe. Thank you.
SO funny you made these!! I just made the peanut butter balls a few days ago and haven’t gotten back to finishing them. Might throw them in the freezer for a rainy day when I need a quick dessert… or when I’m craving peanut butter- which is always! Might as well save it until after all of our Halloween candy is finished!
These look perfect! I have been searching for just this for a while now. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! :)
you. are. dangerous. :)
My Mom used to make these at christmas when I was a kid. We loved them, but I bet she made the sugar loaded ones. I’d happily be your victim if all you are going to do is give me sweet things to eat. ;) Thanks for sharing a new twist on an old favorite.
Thank God someone adapted these. My m-i-l (a life-long resident of the Buckeye state) gave me a recipe for these that included WAX (and also handed me what looked like a 40-year-old box of the stuff with it). Needless to say, I’ve been searching for something a little more kosher ever since.
Fantastic Deb! We always had these for the holidays and I’ve already started thinking about holiday cookies!
These have been a Christmas time tradition in my family since I can remember. My Dad taught me to make them, and now I make them for my family. One tip if you’re obsessive like me and want the bottoms round instead of flat: Dip the balls in chocolate with a toothpick, and then keep the toothpick it, using it is a skewer to stick the buckeye in a cardboard box or Styrofoam block. The buckeyes dry upside down, and the bottom never flattens. Of course, like you said, no buckeye will go to waste for lack of beauty.
As a good little Buckeye, in every way, I cannot WAIT to try this this not-so-cloyingly-sweet recipe for the next football gathering I attend. I also have to admit that I panicked upon reaching the end of the post, then rescanned through it twice more, fearing that it might be…..FIRST POST SANS JACOB!
Then I saw “ROAR!” Whew!
I suppose that first Jacob-free post must occur someday, but hopefully not until he is well into his post-doctoral studies! ;-) He’s so cute, Deb, and the most delicious treat you have ever shared with us. Though I’m sure these Buckeyes rank up there too.
Wow! These look fantastic….and bring up great memories from my childhood. {I’m from Ohio. Go Bucks!} I had a question. Can these keep at room temperature? I’d love to box them up and give them out as gifts, but I’m not sure if they would become to soft? Thanks!
Hi Deb – I just tried to make these. The taste was amazing but I had some problems. First the pb balls kept disintegrating. So then I chilled them which helped. But I felt like my melted chocolate (bakers semi sweet) was too thick and I had a hard time getting an even coat and also getting them off the skewer/fork (i tried both) and onto the parchment without making a big mess. Like I said, they taste impossibly delicious (dreamily delicious). But they look like hell. Am I the only one?
I just made these and they are delicious (though I did give up on the whole trying to make them pretty thing… but it’s okay, ugly=tasty in dessert world). I added a 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt and double dipped them in chocolate for a thicker coating. I also used chunky peanut butter and the slight texture they gave the peanut butter balls was really pleasant. I was out of graham crackers and used Biscoff cookies instead. Ah-mazing!
These look so tasty. I remember buckeyes wrapped in plastic sitting, neglected, on the counter of the general store in the small town where my dad lives. At the time they looked much less appealing than the foil wrapped peppermint patties. But these make my mouth water at the thought of peanut butter and chocolate.
Yet another Ohioan here — living in England missing Buckeyes! I haven’t even thought about them in years! When I pick my son up from preschool we’re going to the store and getting the ingredients! (Except graham crackers … you can’t buy them here. Think I’ll try some digestive biscuits instead…) Wish me luck!
I’m so bummed out :( I tried this, but the “dough” didn’t come out dry. Any suggestions? Should I put in a little more powdered sugar? I’ve now left it in the fridge hoping and praying for the Gods to be kind…
Dear Deb — longtime admirer, first-time commenter here! I just made these using half PB and half sunflower seed butter: a combo I highly, highly recommend. Thank you for your warm, entertaining, smart, creative posts; they are one of my greatest treats at the end of a long day.
Ok Deb, we need to talk… last week I made the apple and white cheddar scones (amazing!) and this week I made these here buckeyes (also amazing!). The problem is, this stuff is all too amazingly delicious and is breaking my already weak will-power. I’m trying to lose baby weight but if you keep putting up these scrumptiously tempting recipes, that’ll never happen. So please stop posting things that are so addictive (but really please-oh-please don’t!!).
As someone who is terrified of the kitchen, I just wanted to say thank you for making such a fun and light-hearted blog; you make the kitchen sound like a good time, and get me excited to start experimenting with my own (potential) cooking talents!
These look amazing!!! I am totally making for the holidays. I need to hold off for a while now as I have been over-indulging in the leftover hallowene candy :)
I made these with milk chocolate as my family does not like dark. they tastes EXACTLY like reeses!!
These are a Christmas staple at my house. My grandmother used to make them but shape them a bit more oblong and called them acorns (which may have had something to do with her being from Wisconsin.) She used rice crispies instead of graham crackers and I do agree, they are ridiculously addicting! I’ll have to try the addition of cream cheese, I’ve always gone the straight PB & butter route.
This sounds fantastic, can’t wait to try it out for the holidays!
Deb, as always your recipes are 5 stars. I was introduced to these several years ago, and like several others, my version had the rice krispies in the peanut butter mix. I never thought about halving the sugar and adding in a little cream cheese though, I love that idea. And in my opinion *everything* is better with dark (vs. milk) chocolate. I can’t wait to make these now that the weather is cold.
These look insane! I might have to stop at the store after work tonight to make these.
Wow, I have had these before and they were awesome. I didn’t realize that they took so much work. If it were in my hands I would take peanut butter and chocolate alone. Glad to know the details…looks like I know what I will be making this weekend!
ryan
Can I lick the spatula?
AWESOME!!!! I CAN NOT WAIT to make these!
they are so cute. love them!
Oh, yummm! I went to grad school in Ohio (though not at OSU), so buckeyes make me feel nostalgic. That said, I’ve made peanut butter balls, but without cream cheese. Great idea! Last year my sister and I made the rice crispies version for gluten-free purposes…super yummy! Might give that a try with this recipe for Christmas gifts. :)
And Lion!Jacob is the cutest thing EVER.
Mmmm, Peanut butter….
I can’t wait to try these.
I made the Peanut Butter Crispy Bars last Christmas and it didn’t take too long to have three neighbors at my door asking for the recipe.
I sent them your way ; )
I’m looking forward to your cook book!
oh these look so awesome I can’t wait to try these.. what can be better than peanut butter and chocolate..
One of my friends gave a plate of these to me one Christmas but has since refused to give the recipe to me because it’s her grandma’s secret recipe. And if/when her lineage dies, it will go to the grave with them. All I know is: powdered sugar, peanut butter, and butter, all covered in chocolate. I’ll have to try this one out to see how close it gets.
Never had before but sound delicious. Love the peanut and chocolate combo.
My husband is from Ohio and is peanut butter obsessed! I’ll have to make this for him!
Delicious made some and I ate all of them.
how, HOW did you know that I was already eagerly planning my Christmas baking, and that buckeyes were at the top of my list?! brilliant. can’t wait to try out your recipe!
I think I’m going to try these when I’m back in New York and done with my travels. Thanks! Love your blog!
My favorite thing ever. We make them every Christmas and everyone eats every single one!
We used to make peanut butter balls as a kid… A much healthier version, but oh so good. They were simply peanut butter, powdered milk and honey. Then we would top with chocolate chips. yum!
I love making these with almond butter, then putting a salted, roasted almond on top and covering the whole thing in chcolate so it stick underneath! Yumm, thanks for reminding me!
I’ve got a freezer full of these little guys, just hiding out until the Michigan game. Go Bucks!!
Deb,
These things are just amazing. I’m glad you put a recipe up about this!
When I make mine, I generally add just a tiny bit of baker’s wax to add a little shine and help them fare a little better when being handled…granted people don’t normally handle them for very long!
Nick
These cookies were really great! I made them for a Halloween party this weekend and everyone loved them. I can’t wait to make these for my boyfriend and his family– they *love* peanut butter in all its various incarnations. Thank you!
Update to my earlier post: I tried again. This time I melted Lindt dark chocolate in a double boiler – rather than Bakers in the microwave – and it made a HUGE difference. the chocolate was a lot thinner and spread more easily over the balls and so coating them was a million times easier. These are to die for. Thank you, Deb!
I simpy cannot … if only because I’m from Ann Arbor! LOL! I do make a similar treat though with a crushed oreo filling formed into balls and dipped in white almond bark.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. As an Ohioan born and raised (but now transplanted to Illinois) I never realized that no one else knew what these were. My family would make them for Christmas and hide them in the freezer. Their definition though has become a hotly debated issue between my husband and I… are Buckeyes candies or cookies? Personally I think they’re candies and he’s of the opinion that they’re cookies. Either way they’re yummy! :) Thanks!
“OH!” “IO!” Even though Im a certified organic New Yorker at this point, I will always be a Buckeye at heart! If you travel to Ohio State University during the fall you will be inundated with these delicious candied buckeyes — which are sold EVERYWHERE! We Ohioans take great pride in our beloved Buckeye — and can not stand for one moment them being termed “Peanut Butter Balls” — sounds more like a horror flick starring the equally unknown however tasty Peanut Butter Man!
Thanks for the visual Madame B.! :) And, Tom, the oreo balls sound gorgeous.
I just made the buckeyes last night, but apparently my dipping skills have rusted. In retrospect, my chocolate was too cool for a smooth, thin coating…adding up to 17 or so ounces of chocolate. Nor was I able to get an “eye,” the PB crumbled when I tried a fork and a big hole was revealed when I used a skewer (ok, it was actually then pointy end of a thermometer). So I think I did end up with the unnamable PB balls…. But, dang, they are tasty.
Ohhhh buckeyes! This is a Christmas tradition in my family! I can’t wait to make them… yours turned out beautiful! I sometimes have trouble dipping them all pretty like you did.
Was born and raised in Georgia and my aunt – who was born and raised there as well – made these all the time in the 70’s and 80’s. And called them buckeye’s.
I always liked them but found them too sweet and still recoil in horror at the one year she added a paraffin dip to help coat the chocolate and keep it from melting so quickly.
Glad to see this recipe that may cut the sweet a little.
These look like the perfect food. I can’t wait to try! Thank you for distracting me from grading papers!
I bought this book and it has just arrived (Amazon packages take from 3 to 4 weeks to arrive here in Brazil). Can’t wait to try some of the recipes – your candies are perfect, Deb!
I have had these several times over the years and could see the potential but always found them too sweet. Since I definitely do not have your talent for improving upon recipes, I am so happy to see your version!! Thank you!!
As an Ohioan, I adore Buckeyes. I make my own batch each year. I do put in some paraffin wax to keep them shiny and not melty at room temp!
These sound divine! I’m adding these to my holiday “to try” list!
I hoard these at Ohio family holiday cookie exchanges.
Buckeyes are the BEST! Go Bucks!
With 344 comments, what more do I need to say, oh I don’t know just that these are my favorite homemade candies/cookies. Bet you just can’t eat one!
My aunt from Michigan gave us a cookbook from her hometown which featured a very similar recipe (no cream cheese, though) in bar form. So if the dipping seems too much of a hassle, try spreading the PB mix in a casserole dish, then spread some melted chocolate chips on top, score it into bars, and call it a day.
I have a strict rule at my house. I don’t make anything I can’t stop eating in one sitting. These little babies would never make it to the “chill for 30 minutes” stage. Delicious!
Deb these are incredible! I made them today and got rave reviews from all who tasted them! Geneva
love that you posted this! buckeyes are a christmas family tradition of ours. it’s not the holidays until i’ve had my first buckeye. can’t wait to make this year’s first batch!
My mom makes these too. Her recipe has coconut in the pb mixture as well as graham crackers. That is great too. These are delicious. Always a favorite.
And I thought we were the only ones who grazed from the freezer (Hi, Mom!)!
I used crunchy peanut butter and 1/2 tsp sea salt for the filling, but love the idea of a flake of salt on the outside.
A digital scale made short work out of making them the same size (1/2 oz each).
Those look SO good! You’re making me want to break out of my comfort zone and try my hand in the kitchen…
O.M.G. what a great new category… “Peanut Butter”… This will be my go to page when I’m looking to make something for my husband.
What? No Jacob link in this post?;-)
I love buckeyes, and make them every Christmas to give away as gifts. My recipe has double the powdered sugar and no graham cracker crumbs, but I’m sure this recipe would be devine! I love the Baked cookbook, and I am going to Amazon right now to buy their new book. I can’t wait for your cookbook to be released, Deb! :-)
I’m a purist when it comes to Buckeyes. NO cream cheese, and NO grahamcracker crumbs! That is just wrong!
I LOVE that you made a buckeye recipe!! Ohio State University is my Alma Mater, so this one hits home for me. I remember making them when I was a kid. Thank you for the memory! :)
WOW – these should have come with a giant warning label for the patience deficient, such as myself. My chocolate was extra thick for some reason and when I dipped the little PB balls, they would either get stuck and not spin (using the skewer) or crack in two (using the fork). After scouring my kitchen for a more appropriate tool, I settled on a fondue fork and it worked pretty well. They do not look nearly as lovely as yours, Deb, but that hasn’t seemed to deter my husband, the peanut butter and chocolate fiend. Thanks for the exercise in patience.
WOW! How good do these buckeyes look!! ;)
Gorgeous.
Thank you
I love buckeyes! Born in Ohio – they are one of my favorites. I can’t wait to try the recipe! It looks great!
I made these today, and they are terrific! Thanks! (Into the freezer they go so that there will still be some left when I assemble bags of candy for Christmas gifts) They are much sturdier and easier to dip than a recipe I tried last month that lacked graham crackers. I like the taste and texture of this recipe much better. Thanks for sharing!
Great recipe! I made these gluten free by substituting a flour made from a ground up, peanut butter flavored gluten free cereal for the graham crackers. It added somewhat of a crispy texture and tastes great. Mine aren’t as sweet as I expected. Maybe this is because I used a natural salted peanut butter and semi-sweet chocolate. But yum! My gluten free husband will be in heaven.
I made these yesterday – they are GREAT! I too think the salt added that little extra something. They went to work with my husband but next time they will be staying home with me! I used 70% chocolate and loved the contrast, it made them slightly more grown up too. I could not get the whole dipping technique down so I simply smothered them on the pan using a small spoon. Worked perfectly!
I think these look wonderful! If I wasn’t trying to be more healthy at the moment I think I would actually make these and eat a whole bunch. I totally relate to you, in that I do not have any self-control over sweets kept in the freezer. All I can say is you just have to put your mind to it, and hopefully you will succeed.
hi deb! the baked boys were in toronto last week doing a brownie demo and cookbook signing. i asked them how they felt about all the support from the food blogging community, and mentioned how you had just posted these buckeyes. thought you might like to know (although i’m sure you do already) that the feeling is mutual. matt said he loves SK!
I LOVE these–my boyfriend’s mother always sends them (with m&m’s in the center for eyes and white chocolate coating) for halloween. They are so delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
I made these this weekend for a party and they were a HUGE hit. People did not believe something so easy could taste so good. My roomates finished the remaining 6 for breakfast on Sunday AM.
Just made these, the salt made them SO much better! Loved it!
i LOVE these…thanks for posting the recipie!
Love ’em, love, love, love love ’em. The salt defenitely gave them some extra umph.
Thank you for all great recipes!! Looking forward to your book!
I’m not sure if I want to hug you or curse you. THESE LOOK AMAZING!! They remind me of those lovely days when I lived in Ohio, chowing down on Graeter’s ice cream and deep fried pickles.
I’m going to be making these today, ahead of time for a pre-thanksgiving potluck tomorrow night :) I plan to use both crunchy and smooth peanut butter, and also use milk and dark chocolate for the coating…trying to please as many as I can ;) Thanks for the great recipe.
Made this today with what I had available in the house(never assume you have a whole bag of choco chips in my house). Used crunchy peanut butter(it’s what my boyfriend prefers for sammichs), cinnamon grahams(it’s what I prefer for snacking), and 3/4 bag of semisweet Guittard(I thought I had 2 bags…musta ate one and a 1/4.)
Oh…my…goodness. Not only was there enough chocolate to coat every one(not as neatly as Deb’s) but enough to drizzle additional chocolate on top since mine look…not very coordinated.
But dang, they are good & tasty. Thanks for the recipe Deb!
We call them peanut butter balls here in Minnesota, and we cover the whole thing with chocolate rather than leaving them as buckeyes. Glad you finally found the recipe you’ve been dreaming of for so long. If you want a classic peanut butter cup, just paint the inside of small petits fours papers with melted chocolate, allow to cool. Add in discs peanut butter mixture and then cover with additional chocolate. They travel nicely because you don’t have to worry about the peanut butter sticking to any other peanut butter, etc.
My sister made buckeyes(though we’ve always lived in CA) every Christmas for years, until she passed away five years ago. I have her recipe, but have never made them. Thanks for the inspiration; I will make them this year. Yours are beautiful:)
My mother made a version of these when I was little. She just called them peanut butter balls. I like buckeyes better. I had a “friend” begrudgingly give me a recipe for caramels. Her daughter was shocked that she would share the recipe. The “friend” said, “don’t worry, she won’t be able to make them.” I BEG TO DIFFER! Thank you very much. Maybe I should put out a cookbook. ;-)
I got a solidly awesome laugh out of “It will be in my cookbook”. Nice.
Looking forward to making these!
As an Indiana native, buckeyes were, and still are, a holiday tradition. However, we added just a bit of canning parafin wax to the chocolate — enough to make the chocolate not melt on your hands (they can get messy otherwise). You have to be careful when adding the melted wax to the chocolate – add just a a tablespoon or two at first, mix it in, then dip a test ball or two. Freeze it for a few minutes, then do the touch test to see if the chocolate is very sticky. If so, add more wax. If not, eat it! and get to dipping. Be careful though – there’s nothing worse than adding too much wax and ending up with paraffin tasting buckeyes. Note: my family makes buckeyes with semi-sweet chocolate instead of dark. Also, I’ve found that frozen buckeyes can last months as still be delicious! (if you manage to forget they’re in there, that is!)
I would recommend chilling the balls of peanutbutter before putting them into the chocolate. I found mine fell apart when I tried to dip them. They are so delicious. I added the salt and it is the PERFECT blend of sweet and salty. yummy!!!
I make Buckeyes every year for my mom and grandmother’s stockings. I take the easy way out compared to my mom but if you are an overachiever like she is, you don’t cool the finished candies on waxed paper, you stick them upside down, still on their toothpicks or skewers, into a large block of florist foam or styrofoam so that there’s no flat bottom. Luckily my slacker version tastes the same as the fiddly version and mom is just happy not to have to roll all those tedious little balls anymore.
You’ve been sharing your recipes and riffs on recipes for so long now, has it been hard to not blog recipes that you know you should save for your book? I get so excited when I make something spectacular, I can hardly contain myself. I keep thinking it must be even harder for you.
Susan — When I make a recipe that’s so awesome it kills me to have to wait one to two years to share it, I know it’s a good one. What pains me is the 50% I’ve developed that I don’t feel this way — obviously, they need to go back to the drawing board.
Bridget (#211) saved my bacon this morning! The corn syrup trick really does the job if your peanut butter mixture isn’t totally coming together. I used natural peanut butter too, and couldn’t get it to bind without the corn syrup. It doesn’t take much, but it turned the tide.
Thank you Bridget!
Deb- the Baked boy have done it again. The graham crackers are genius. still sweet but not that “instant cavity” feeling. I’m going to have to give these away. SOON.
I used almond butter instead of the peanut butter and carob chips instead of the chocolate chips due to allergies. They came out delicious! My boyfriend’s family were going to town on these. I will say that my mix I thought was too dry or I had problems mixing all together so I added more vegan butter to it…but then it got to a point that I added to much butter that when it came to dip the balls they would fall right off the skewer…lesson learned. But it worked out for the better even though the process of dipping was messy it tasted so good. And instead of adding salt in the mix I sprinkled freshly ground rock salt on the buckeyes right before I popped them in the fridge. Delish! Thanks!
I have just come back from visiting NY where peanut butter and chocolate is everywhere! Pleased to read this sweetie recipe to help me continue this tasty treat! Thanks!
Perfection! I cannot wait to make these!
I love looking at your pictures, they are the best, and your recipes delicious. Thanks Deb!! :)
These were the easiest and most delicious desert I have made yet! I added a bit over a teaspoon of cayenne and a pinch of cinnamon to the coating to give the chocolate a bit of complexity. The batch was enough for two parties! No one could keep their hands off the plate…Luckily one was a dance party so no one had to worry about the butter and cream cheese!!!
my late grandmother made these every CHristmas and would send them to me and my brother. She lived in Canton, Ohio and Christmas wasn’t Christmas without them. thanks for inspiring me to make them again. I haven’t made them in years.
Great photos, great recipes. Can’t wait to make the chickpea spaghetti, buckeyes, sweet potatoes and goat cheese, pearl onions and cream, and the upside down cranberry cake.
My aunt makes similar peanut butter delites at Christmas, she uses saltines instead of graham crackers, which adds the perfect bit of salty you’re looking for! Sooo goood, it’s one of the things I really enjoy about Christmas!
Born and raised in Ohio, and now go to OSU, I always forget people from outside the state really have no clue what they’re missin =)
There’s a local bakery that makes a chocolate cupcake with a buckeye INSIDE and then a peanut butter cream cheese frosting…its to die for
I had to make these with chunky pb and honestly the mixture was a bit too crumbly. I added extra butter to stick together more and put in the freezer before dipping. That seemed to do the trick, except my skills were not good enough to get decent looking buckeyes so I resigned to drizzling chocolate over the rest of the balls I had made up and then I packed some of the mix into a pan and spread the chocolate over the rest! We will see, I think any combination of pb and chocolate is a winner. Still, FYI on using chunky pb, maybe not as good of a turnout.
These have been a family tradition of since the 80s when I discovered the recipe. I used to make them at Thanksgiving when the family was all together and then again around Christmas – great to bring to parties. I use Rice Krispies and crunchy peanut butter and always store them in the freezer. Except for when they’re put out for serving, we think they taste best right out of the freezer. Cold and crunchy.
I cover the whole thing with chocolate so call them Peanut Butter Balls not Buckeyes and they aren’t as elegant looking but taste great!
This would be perfect as Christmas sweets. My nieces and nephews will love this for sure.
These looks absolutely delicious. The chocolate peanut butter combination is my FAVORITE! I love all the various food you decided to post. Your blog is always a great way to kill time and dive into the various recipes you decided to explore.
mmm buckeyes are amazing.
OK, i’m an Ohio State student for the past 2 years and i didn’t know that buckeyes were just peanut butter, i thought it was some kind of nut.
So, I made these and wasn’t so successful. First, the peanut butter mixture is really crumbly. I think I need to throw it all back into the mixture and add more pb or?? Second, my chocolate never melted, it just got melty then congealed into a mass that I couldn’t dip and certainly couldn’t coat the balls in a photogenic way. When I tried, the balls just crumbled into the chocolate. I Googled “why my chocolate won’t melt” and read that you can’t get even a hint of water or steam near the melting chocolate or it will seize. Guess mine seized. I am so disappointed because I live in China where there isn’t a Reses’ Peanut Butter until the next continent, that plus the ingredients for this recipe cost me about $20.
I made these yesterday and they were a huge hit!! Can’t imagine what they would taste like with MORE sugar… I was actually considering shrinking the sugar content by 1/4 cup next time around, just as an experiment, and adding a little more peanut butter. Don’t get me wrong, they are beautiful as is, but sometimes I like to tinker.
To Kiley above, chocolate can be very tricky. This time I was lucky and even without a candy thermometer I was able to temper it. Just heat it up slowly in a metal bowl over hot water, let it melt (you’re right, don’t get water or anything else anywhere near it!), take it off the heat and add some more solid chocolate to cool it down. After that melts, briefly put it over the heat again to dipping consistency. What a blast! I had to give them away asap otherwise I would eat them all.
Oh, one more thing, Kiley… the dough IS very crumbly, that’s not a mistake. These would be hard to make without my trusty Cuisinart mixer. One thing that helped me was using a small scoop to get a portion of dough, and then packing it hard into a ball with my hands.
An update to my slightly self-indulgent and whiny comment of yesterday: I salvaged this project, after all!!! I added a little more melted butter to the peanut butter mixture (I used crunchy, by the way) and it was perfect. Plus, I somehow managed to revive my seized chocolate. I cooled it back to room temp, added maybe a tsp of butter, and started again. It worked like magic. So my buckeyes are done, and they even look pretty. Thanks for the tips, suburubu.
going out to get me a mixer. this is the recipe. there’s no going back…
my grandmother and mother are from ohio, so I grew up with this recipe. I loved making them and eating them. and on a whim, I decided to make them for the candy category in the local fair. I got a blue ribbon and a perfect score. no one can resist the buckeye!! I’m looking forward to trying this new recipe though to see how it compares to the “real thing”. thanks for the new option!
I suggest putting the filling in the fridge after they are rolled for about 20 minutes so they firm up and don’t fall apart when you skewer them..As some of them did for me. Awesome recipe though! Not too sweet! I used salted butter and didn’t add any extra salt and they taste great!
This recipe sounds great – pretty close to my grandma’s traditional peanut butter ball recipe. You want crunchier? Try … corn flakes. Sounds crazy, tastes and crunches great.
Awesome. Coming from a country (or even continent) where you can’t peanut butter M&Ms without having to re-mortgage the house, this is just what I’ve been looking for.
I would say that 3 cups of sugar was too much for my taste, I tasted a little after 1 and found it was plenty sweet enough. I agree with Christine above over putting them in the fridge after rolling to firm up.
I grew up in Ohio and have been making these since I was a little girl. We used to make them around Christmas every year, so I’ve always thought of them as Christmas cookies. As an adult, I’ve been making variations trying to find the right level of sweetness and adding different things for texture (crunchy peanut butter, rice crispies). I adjusted these b/c my husband doesn’t like cream cheese, but so far, I love them. They bring back such wonderful memories! Thanks so much!
Also, from my experience growing up, they keep very well in the freezer and can last the whole holiday season! I’m making mine for Christmas gifts.
I made these last week for a Christmas cookie exchange, and they were biggest hit of the party! They are so, so good! Definitely worth all of the rolling and dipping.
How about putting the peanut butter balls on top of one of those round pretzels and then dipping it that will give it the salt a crunch and oh so yummy taste! I tried this and it turned out fabulous! Good Lucky Baking!
Dear Deb,
I just finished making these and I ran into all sorts of trouble. At first, the dough was so soft, it would not stay “balled”, so I added another 1/2 cup of graham crumbs. Then the texture was fine… but only if I keep them in the fridge, as soon as they sit out for 10 min, they become runny.
Where did I go wrong?!?! Has this happened to you?
They were absolutely delicious, just not so picture-perfect as yours!
Thank you for yet another wonderful recipe!
I have been making these for more than 20 yrs now. I find it easier to work with the candy if I put the candies on the parchment lined cookie sheet first, then cover with second parchment paper on top and freeze overnight. Then on day two, I dip in the warm chocolate, They will coat and harden much faster and not ‘puddle” all over the parchment paper when dipped. I also make the Martha Washingtone candy which has always been a big hit. I do the same for that.
I’m from Brooklyn by way of Columbus, Ohio; so when I was a guest at a Thanksgiving dinner last week, I wanted to bring a little something sweet from my home state. I’ve eaten these since birth but have never made them. This recipe was fantastic, better than most I’ve had, and they were a big hit. Thanks. I’m a fan.
My most common phrase this weekend has been…”Hey…leave those alone…they’re for gifts…” my husband keeps sneaking them. Don’t think they’re going to make it into the cookie plates unless I hurry and get the rest of the Christmas baking done! Dipping seemed to work better with a fork for me.
Hi. I was wondering: if you make the ‘dough’ (peanut butter center mixture) in advance, and maybe keep it in the fridge for an hour or two before forming it into balls and dipping into chocolate, is that ok? PLEASE HELP! thanks
My Mom and I make huge batches of Buckeyes for Christmas gifts and parties. A few tricks to make it a bit easier: freeze the balls of dough with toothpicks inserted in the top for a few hours before dipping, the hardened balls will hold up much better to the warm chocolate. We use a crockpot to melt the chocolate and keep it at a perfect temperature and consistency for dipping. You can also add just a little bit of canning wax to the chocolate to give it a smooth shiny finish without changing the taste.
I’m having a hard time making them look pretty like yours! They are falling off the skewer. I am not a stranger to chocolate dipping either, I make cake pops. :(
I made these last night – oh gosh, they are SO good!!! highly addictive!
Since you have posted this, I have made them twice! Although I did make a few adaptations of my own due to what I had on hand. I used cashew butter instead of peanut and after the first batch, I found them too sweet, so I halved the sugar. These things really are the devil, but you are bound to be the hit of all of your friends and family if you show up with a bunch of them!
I used your recipe to make buckeyes for the first time, and included them in our holiday gift plates – without exception, they are the item on the plates that everyone is raving about, and wants the recipe for. Absolutely the best buckeyes I have ever eaten – thank you!
I LOVE these! This is a great tasting candy…although mine were not quite as visually appealing as the pictures. I did have one easily solved complication. When I went to dip the peanut butter balls into the chocolate the dough would fall apart. To solve this I rolled out the balls and put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I chilled them in the refrigerator for a bit and then covered them in chocolate. Yum! These will remain in my freezer for a while. I just can’t give them all away for Christmas…they taste way too yummy!
Boy, it looks like these comments are going to give those on gooey butter cake a run for its money! Something about those regional favorites, maybe? :-)
It is 100% my favorite thing about the comments on this site. Gooey Butter Cake? Everyone is from St. Louis! Buckeyes? Nope, they’re from Ohio! I love the way it gets people out of the woodwork.
I am going to attempt this with a jar of hazelnut butter I found in a health food store. I have high hopes, but I’ll make a back up batch of traditional PB just in case. (And because you can NEVER have too much peanut butter goodness!)
Deb, it IS amazing — I think that “woodwork” effect you have may be strongest when you highlight regional favorites. Well, I don’t know — I use your site pretty heavily, and I haven’t even read every entry yet, so I’m really talking out of my arse. Maybe it goes to show that one doesn’t need to have MADE a regional favorite to have an opinion on it!
By the way, my sweetheart and I have loosely planned to include your buckeyes (among a couple other SK selections) in our food gifts to family this year. I was driven to do so this week when I bought some homemade buckeyes at a bake sale at work. They were chocolate and peanut butter, sure enough, but they were SO sad. I’m not one who loves frozen Snickers, for example, and it’s not good when something that’s not ice cream (or its ilk) tastes best straight out of the freezer.
Amazing recipe! (love the website btw)
I made these today with salted butter because I ran out of unsalted, but no salt, an they came out perfect.
The only thing is, some of them fell apart as I was coating them in chocolate. I think they were a tad too dry to skewer. Maybe I should put a tad more butter in them next time?
Yum. These were surprisingly easy and turned out well using natural peanut butter from Trader Joe’s. The skewer system didn’t work for me either, but CHOPSTICKS sure did!
My boyfriend, being a Michigan alum, was appalled when he asked me what I was making and I replied buckeyes. So, these have to be chocolate and peanut butter balls in our house and were coated entirely in chocolate.
I’m curious to see what the rest of his family says when we bring them with us for Christmas.
Made these today and their delicious. Have made before but I think the added cream cheese makes them moister and better! I ended up using an ice tea spoon and slowly dipped in Trader Joe’s dark chocolate to coat. Using the side of the bowl I had more control and completely covered in chocolate. Think it was easier then a toothpick….besides I was out of toothpicks! Thanks for the great recipe! I think next time I may sprinkle some chopped peanuts on top before chocolate is set.
Another native Ohioan transplanted elsewhere, and was excited to see these on your pages. Have made the traditional recipe, but not in a long time so am curious to see how these compare. These are truly a most awesome and prized confection so I’m not sure why they were always relegated to the holiday baking season.
Yours, Deb, are picture perfect…as is your little roarer. LOL
Hi! I just made these this weekend for a cookie exchange. They are delicious, but definitely not very attractive. I used a toothpick to try to dip the peanut butter balls, but ended up with a big hole on the side. I also ended up with some rather large puddles of chocolate on the parchment paper. I waited to cool the chocolate per your instructions to make sure I got a nice thick coating, but still had lots of puddles of chocolate which stuck to the buckeyes. I am sure they will still be a bit hit because they are delicious even if they don’t look that pretty — the ones that didn’t look very good, I ended up dipping the entire ball into the chocolate — so I have some that are partially covered and some that are totally covered in chocolate.
I did not have any problems with the dough falling apart on me or being too dry – and I followed the instructions exactly. I ended up needing a little bit more chocolate to dip the balls in, but I ended up with more than 64 per the recipe which may be why I needed more chocolate.
If anyone has helpful tips on dipping these so they turn out pretty – please let us know!
Deb, Thanks for the delicious recipe.
Like Hillary (the commenter above me), I tried cooling the chocolate to about 80 or 85 degrees. Since I am making these as gifts, I had two 6-oz. bowls of chocolate: one with dark chocolate and one with semisweet (milk) chocolate. I did the milk chocolate first and tried using your skewer method… it wasn’t pretty! Although I did get a nice thick coating on these ones, it was VERY messy to try to use colder chocolate. About 70% of these turned out ugly, although I’m sure they’ll be delicious. But for the dark chocolate, I heated the chocolate up again after forming the peanut butter balls to about 95 or 100 degrees. This worked waaaaaay better. I know you wanted a thicker chocolate coating and had “too much” chocolate leftover, but when I think you want a little extra chocolate in the bowl–it gets much harder to coat the peanut butter balls if you don’t leave any extra. Additionally, for other readers, my recommendations are to leave the chocolate on the warmer side (100 degrees or so) and to use a big spoon to roll them around. When I used the spoon, I didn’t have an issue with the balls falling apart and when I used the warmer chocolate, it just came out way prettier and was easier to coat.
Thanks for the great recipe… I’m sure these will be a hit!
I love the variation of this recipe. As an Ohio native and big time buckeyes LOVER! I was just getting ready to make some from my grandmas recipe when I stumbled upon this blog. Great idea trying this recipe later. Thanks and Merry Christmas!
As an Ohioan I grew up with the original version of these and have been making them every Xmas for as long as I can remember. I trust your cooking wholeheartedly so this year I went with this recipe. All I can say is…crap. Here is why: The original recipe is so sickeningly sweet that you can really only eat 2 or 3 buckeyes at a time before you want to throw up. With your recipe you (and by you I mean I) can eat the entire lot of them in one sitting. How am I supposed to give any away or make them last more than 1 day in my house when they are so good?!?!
My husband, also an Ohioan, agrees that this version is much better than the original.
The only “tip” I would add is to put the plain pb balls in the fridge for a while before you skewer them and dip them. It makes them much more manageable.
My aunt used to make these when I was a kid for the New Year’s Eve party.
Since then, like you, I was looking for the recipe. (My aunt and my uncle got separated since then..)
I’ll try your recipe, for sure! (Is this ok if I don’t use graham cracker crumbs? My boyfriend is gluten intolerant.)
* Excuse my English, I am French-speaking!!
Okay, I’m getting ready to make this for a charity bake sale (because someone requested a chocolate/peanut butter truffle), and I have some questions:
Do these have to be chilled at all times, or can they survive room temperature?
thinking behind the question: One of my favorite snacks involves dropping a few chocolate chips into the jar of peanut butter, stirring, and eating (yes, I live alone). When I miss a chip or two, the next day is has melted into the peanut butter and lost all structural integrity. Reese’s peanut butter cups have dry, powdery peanut butter, and that seems to be okay for not messing with the chocolate, so maybe it’s related to the oil content of the peanut butter. So with that in mind, I started looking at buckeye recipes to see if they mentioned this as a problem – only all of them have extensive refrigeration and freezing. I don’t know if the two things are related or not, but I was hoping you’d be cleverer than I.
So is this something I could put in plastic and have sit on a table (in a building with heat) for four hours?
I never have trouble leaving them out. I left a plate on a table at the office and the lone one that stood there at the end of the day was fine. In fact, I saw the pile my boss hoarded like a squirrel in his office the next day and they were fine.
Hi from an Ohio native living in Japan! Thanks for putting this up, makes me feel at home.
I made the traditional buckeyes for my coworkers at Christmas and they loved them! Though, truthfully I was surprised given that the Japanese palate is not accustomed to lots and lots of sugar, as the original buckeye recipe always has.
I will have to try this adaptation, using digestive biscuits because there are no graham crackers to be had in my neck of the woods!
Thanks Kate – I’m making them right now.
These were great – added the 1/4 teaspoon salt and thought they were just right. Proportions dead on, too – 64 exactly using a melon baller. thanks!
I made these for our company holiday potluck, and they were a big hit.
I upped the butter and the salt. And I replace the graham cracker crumbs with ground Cap’n Crunch Cereal. So, yeah.
Here’s the finished crackie: http://suzannawinter.com/galleykitchen/2011/01/26/capn-crunch-buckeyes/
I brought these to a fondue party this weekend to accompany the chocolate dessert portion of the meal… they are delicious and were the perfect addition to the table, I think! Thank you so much for the recipe!
I adapted this into a giant Reese’s Cup for my sister’s boyfriend’s birthday. It was INCREDIBLE!
http://english-rosie.blogspot.com/2011/02/eat-this-at-your-peril.html
You are my hero.
I loved these as a child and cannot wait to make them for my little ones! I grew up with “yankee ;)” Ohio parents and I’m a Georgia girl!
My first job was in a candy shop over 30 years ago. There we wouldwonder a similar recipe, but we would use white chocolate and milk chocolate. It was like tasting a little bit of heaven. Then I started thinking about the “Buckeyes”, you could add an extra dip of white chocolate. Oh yum and I wonder what they would taste like with almond butter instead of peanut butter? Oh, I could go on forever but I need to go get almond butter…..bye!
I’m going to make these tomorrow, but since I don’t have graham crackers on hand, I’m going to try it out with saltines. Then I’ll get some salt in there! :) yum yum yum
DEB! HELP! I have tons of filling left! When I was rolling them into balls, my largest was about the size of a ping pong. I made a full batch, but instead of 64, I ended up with at least 100! It just kept multiplying and I thought the bowl of filling would never empty. Now I have half a batch left, and I’m not sure I can take anymore buckeyes, delicious as they are. Any other uses for all this peanut butter goodness?
You could press the rest into a baking pan covered with parchment paper and greased and pour melted chocolate chips over it and set it in the fridge, then cut it into squares.
oooh, you just made me swoon. thanks so much for the suggestion!
I made these for my son’s pre-school teachers on Valentine’s Day and they were great! One teacher called me “evil” and another asked for the recipe, so you know they were good! I did add the salt and I thought it was just right. Thanks for a not too sweet recipe!
Delicious but what a mess! I didnt get a single buckeye to look like the pictures. They fell apart, didnt stay on skewer, didnt get evenly coated, and had holes in them from where the skewer was inserted. That being said, YUM! It wasn’t pretty, but they taste awesome. Can I freeze the buckeyes or was it only the peanut butter batter that could be frozen?
I’m from Columbus, Ohio (home of the Ohio State Buckeyes) so I grew up eating these candies on gamedays. So much that I actually don’t like them anymore.
Success! I’ve just finished making a batch of these. I, too, am from Ohio, so I am no stranger to the deliciousness of buckeyes. I love that you lightened them up a bit, too, and they’re still delicious. Anyway, I am currently living in Spain and have made some to share tonight with my friends here, who are always delighted with my American treats. Great site you’ve got here, thanks for all the recipes! :)
So these looked delicious…until the blender U was using started to smoke in my hand! I may have made the batter too dry but my blender has been on its last setting for some time now and finally fought its last dessert, which it turns out, won. I think it’s time to put it to rest with my old friends (like the Easy Bake Oven) and get a big kid mixer.
What kind do you use? Is there an idea of how big the mixer needs to be?
I’m in quite a dilemma and need your help! I am putting together a care pack for my son’s buddy who is in Germany and his favorite candy he is wanting me to send him is buckeyes! I’d love to make them homemade but are they shippable? Wouldn’t they melt? Is there a way to make them where the chocolate won’t melt during shipping?
A friend of mine at work makes buckeyes, and they’re YUMMY. My thought, if you want a bit of salt in the candies, would be to use salted butter instead of sweet butter. Or what I do when I make Hollandaise sauce, half salt and half sweet butter. The addition of the cream cheese and graham cracker crumbs sounds brilliant — I can’t wait to try these. Just in time for Christmas treats and gifts!
These look AMAZING!! I was wondering if speculoos spread would work instead of the peanut butter? Thanks
Just the perfect time for buckeyes before Christmas, I love them so much and always ask my mum to make them this time of the year.
Help!! why did my PB turn out so gooey that I cant even make a shape and it just stickes to my fingers. I’ve had it in the fridge/freezer for the past few hours. :(
How much salt do you recommend?
Oh HELP! I just made my version of buckeyes (butter/sugar/peanut butter and nothing else) and the centers are perfect but the coating is not being nice! I did not have paraffin(calls for 1/2 block of shaved paraffin) but I thought it would would work with Giraldi 60% coca chips. A MESS. Probably overcooked in the double boiler. Won’t get to thin liquid added milk but no luck. Tried melting in microwave but same result. So OK anything I can do with the naked balls of buckeyes. Where or what should I get to coat these suckers. Please MeMe can not have a house with no buckeyes — it is against the law of Christmas (which is only 11 days away!!!!
My Grandma taught me a varied recipe of this one….we use chunky peanut butter,and add half cup coconut and we didn’t use crm chs. My fav candy for sure!
Barbara, u can melt almond bark(white or dark) and dip.
I see people having problems with the little pnut butter balls falling off the skewer – I put mine in the freezer for a few minutes to harden up a bit before dipping in the chocolate and it solved that problem and don’t wiggle the skewer at all after you’ve dipped – just hold it above to drip off excess chocolate.
Also answers the question of can you keep the balls in the fridge for a while before dipping- yes!
I made these today for my daughter’s teachers for part of their Christmas and they are amazing!!!!
Buckeyes have been a tradition at our house every Christmas. The recipe was butter, pnut butter and sugar dipped in paraffin & chocolate. I was afraid to try something different, (didn’t want to mess with tradition!) Tried them anyway and so glad I did! These are far better! The texture and taste make it just like a reeses. Thanks for posting!!
Yum! I got excited when I saw this recipe, my neighbors growing up were from Dayton, Ohio and introduced me to buckeyes. Thank you for eliminating the paraffin wax, I really dislike the slick texture on the roof of my mouth. I did a very heaping teaspoon’s worth each, which yielded 60. I recommend going smaller for better chocolate-to-peanut butter proportions. The graham cracker crumbs gave excellent texture. I used about 3/4 tsp. salt which I thought blended perfectly with the peanut butter and chocolate. As a lifelong Reese’s-aholic, I must say that these are even better, I almost feel blasphemous for saying it. The end result was divine, I bundled them up by the dozen in parchment and tied with ribbon to share. Thanks for the great recipe!
It is christmas eve and crapppp i just spent the last 5 hours on this recipe – everything that cold go wrong did i am such a lousy baker i guess. They are te ugliest blobs – nothng like how yours come out. They taste very yummy i am gkad fir that. It didn’t seem that hard but i have had such a chocolate crises, melting chocolate – what a task!! I went through four pounds of a 5 lb bag most of it i had to throw out. I can make other cookies really well – like your russian tea cookie recipe and a family sugar cookie recipe and chocolate chip recipe, we spend christmas eve wrapping and baking – so i thought i’d throw these in the mix this year!! They are so far the only ‘cookie’ i have finished! Oh boy i’m tuckered. It is no wonder the baker near me sells a single buckeye for 2 dollars!!
I live in central Pennsylvania and they used to serve these to us at school lunch when I was just a kid. They never had a name for them on the menu but we would all jump for joy when they showed up on the tray,which was surprisingly often. I tried to make them at home once as a kid and quickly learned there was more to it than just a glob of chilled peanut butter with some chocolate. All these years later (now 30) I finally get to try them again. Thank you so much!
Thank you for this! The recipe my mother had called for paraffin wax to be used in either the peanut butter or the chocolate. I always thought that made them taste kind of gross.
I made this recipe and they turned out really well. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us.
I grew up in Ohio which is the Buckeye State and we would make these for Christmas every year when I was growing up. I was searching your site and found this recipe. Now my mouth is watering! I love buckeyes!
So good! I couldn’t keep them on the skewer, and the fork made them fall apart, so I skipped the naked peanut butter circle and just dipped them. My daughter loved them, and my peanut butter hating husband thought they were good.
i have been looking for a recipe for something similar to reese’s for quite a while. I am allergic to dairy so just going to the store and buying one is completely out of the question. I made these and they tasted exactly like them, even with all the dairy free substitutions. I had a little bit of trouble getting the chocolate to be thin enough to dip the peanut butter balls into. I ended up adding some soy milk and making something similar to a ganache. It was very good! I have been slowing working through your recipes for a while. I absolutely love your baked chicken meatballs. Best dairy free ones I have found so far! Thanks for making living dairy free taste a whole lot better!
i loves i made some when i was 20 years old and i move a lot lost thr recipe so now am online and i found am going to make them for my and my boyfriend and maybe his brother they all hunt wish i thought on the frist open day of hunting that k late is better then never right will have to right the write bye i love them a lot and we have a lot of peanut butter so that why am makeing them
love sarah miller
Question about graham crackers from a clueless person: Trader Joe’s sells honey grahams and cinnamon grahams. After reading the descriptions, I bought the latter — it said “old-fashioned, use for pie crust.” I tasted them, and they are sweet, not overly sweet, but like a sweet cracker to have with tea, I suppose. Is this “normal”? How sweet should the peanut butter filling be? I worry that the 3 cups of powdered sugar will make it all too sweet. I’ll add the salt as suggested, but (unsalted) peanut butter is already kind of sweet (relatively speaking), hence the question. Thanks!
gWrD — They’re sweet but not as sweet as they traditionally are. You can always hold back a tiny bit of the sugar if you’re nervous, or just add it to taste.
Thanks for giving me an excuse to eat peanut butter out a mixing bowl. I really needed that.
I made these for my friends and they gobbled them up (the ones that survived my frequent trips to the fridge) even though we live in Greece where peanut butter is considered alien and atrocious!
I just finished making these and they’re delicious! I grew up with Buckeyes (being one myself), and was so happy to find a recipe that didn’t include the traditional wax. I found if you use your crock pot on a low setting, the chocolate stays fairly thick, so you don’t need to worry about it thinning too much. Also, next time I make these, I’ll probably use half the amount of graham crackers. I thought it over powered the peanut butter taste too much. Thanks for the great recipe and easy gift for co-workers!
I made these for a holiday party last weekened, where several friends informed me that another mutual friend had made them the same week. Not sure what inspired us both, but maybe it’s the season! I wanted to add that I used natural peanut butter (the kind you get from the food co-op, ground in the machine before your eyes) and that I ended up adding some extra olive oil to get the mixture to a good consistency. This made sense, because most commercial peanut butter has added oil. I also only used 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar, and they were plenty sweet (and super delicious and a big hit at the party).
Hi and yes I am from Ohio lol
a tip for you freeze for an hour or so the peanut balls before you dip in the chocolate.. its easier and they dont fall apart on you…
My mom and I make these every year, and instead of graham crackers we use crushed rice krispies. It makes the buckeyes a little more substantial and gives them a great texture.
Instead of worrying about adding salt . . . why not use salted butter instead of unsalted butter? I make these every year at Christmas for my family and always use salted butter.
Cherrie — Because salted butter is inconsisent. Depending on the brand, a stick could have 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt in it, so it’s hard to guess whether more or less additional salt is needed. It’s okay if you’re willing to wing it (and really, it’s usually fine) but for the purposes of recipe writing, unsalted + a specified amount of salt will yield the most consistent results.
I have to say, I shudder at the thought of putting cream cheese and graham crackers in the sacred buckeyes. :) Have made them for decades with just butter, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. Chocolate chips melted with a bit of Crisco to cover them. (Crisco is in place of the paraffin which I think gives them an odd taste). They are also easier to dip if you stick the peanut butter balls in the freezer for a bit first.
I am from the great state of Ohio and have tasted many different Buckeye recipes. I am definitely going to try this one as well. I have just one suggestion to make your Buckeyes great. You must use JIF peanut butter. Nothing else tastes as good!!
Deb, my fiance and I are HUGE fans. When we lived in NYC this blog was a wonderful warm place that we went for culinary inspiration in our teeny tiny kitchen. We L-O-V-E Smitten Kitchen!
Ok so now that I’ve got my gushing out of the way, let me tell you the moment that my fiance saw these he would not stop talking about them. So I made them and put them on my own blog (giving you mad props of course) and they are amazing!!
I’m a Michigan lady, so I called them Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls, but they were so decadent and comforting. I brought them to my office and everyone loved them.
Thanks for the hundreds of incredible recipes! Looking forward to more!!
I really want to make a macaron filling like this peanut butter one, but I think it will be too thick. Any ideas on how to make the consistency a little thinner?
P.S.: This recipe is just wonderful. Made these last year for Christmas and they reminded everyone of Malley’s!
I just made these an hour ago and they’re amazing. I had a hard time keeping them from falling off the skewer in order to roll them in the chocolate (they were moister than I’d expected), so I ended up dipping them in the chocolate by hand. As a result, they all have finger/pinch marks on them. ;) But no matter. As you said yourself, even the ugly ones will get gobbled up quickly. My peanut-butter-loving partner is coming home tomorrow from a long trip and I’m sure he’ll love them. Thank you so much for your beautiful recipes and photos. You inspire me to cook.
Fabulous recipe! I absolutely love that it’s no-bake; in this heat, baking is out of the question, even your delicious chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting and chocolate ganache. So glad I used your search bar to find, lo and behold, the same tastes and ingredients in a no-bake recipe!!!
I skewered my buckeyes in the center when I was dipping them–pretty cool effect, actually! It added a pupil to the “eye.” I let the chocolate cool down a bit too much, however, so some of my buckeyes were only half-coated. They all tasted fabulous, though! Great potluck recipe; I’m definitely making it again sometime.
Just made these- yum! They came together very easily and my kids were able to help roll them out. I couldn’t get them anywhere near as pretty during the dipping process; my chocolate was too thick and the ball would crumble when I used a toothpick. So I just used my fingers so I could only dip the bottom half. Still yummy. Next time I think I will try adding a bit of coconut oil to the chocolate. That will help thin it out and it hardens as it reaches room temp. I also added 1/2 tsp of sea salt.
Deb,
I found your recipe for Buckeyes last year and had to laugh because I’m from Ohio and have been around Buckeyes my whole life! I was though the one person I knew who didn’t really care for them because they were too sweet. Unfortunately, or fortunately I found your recipe and made them and loved them! So today my 14 year old son and I are making them to take to our tailgate at the home of the Buckeyes, The Ohio State University, which is my alma, my husband’s and now home to my daughter, a freshmen. We are “nuts” about the Buckeyes, thanks for the great recipe.
I made these yesterday and they were fantastic. I forgot to add salt as per the suggestion above the recipe, and have to say it really would have been great here. Still, they taste amazing, and are, unfortunately, extremely pop-able.
I haven’t thanked you for these yet, but have been making them for the past 2 years. I LOVE peanut butter balls, but find them much too sweet these days. Your recipe is perfect! I love making them (and sharing them)!
Not sure if you still read/see comments from older recipes, but now that your cookbook is published would you tell us which candy was the one Alex and his coworkers went crazy for? Was it the apple cider caramels or the coffee toffee?
Or perhaps the brittled peanuts?
Lex — Oh my goodness! How could I leave that hanging all this time? The apple cider caramels. It was torture to keep that from you guys until the book came out.
I had an old-lady neighbor who made these when I was a kid. Have been thinking about them lately, and none of my cookbooks have a recipe. (Clearly I am reading the wrong books.) thanks for taking me back with this one. :)
I love Smitten Kitchen and was very excited to find a recipe for making Buckeyes a little less “guilty.” But I was not pleased with how they turned out, mainly because of the crunch. I probably should have expected it from the graham crumbs but I was disappointed that they didn’t taste more like traditional Buckeyes. Not a bad recipe, but these Buckeyes are definitely not the same as the ones I grew up with in Cincinnati.
O-H-I-O! It’s amazing to see this recipe on your site, as a former resident of Ohio. As a kid, these peanut butter explosions were so common, appearing at every holiday, party, birthday, picnic, etc. I always knew that I liked them, but I’ve grown ravenous for them since moving to the East Coast. I was shocked when I learned that nobody had ever heard of buckeyes. I’ll have to try your recipe to see how they compare. I like the idea of less sugar and more salt. Cream cheese and graham crackers are a nice touch.
When I see the yummy buckeyes in an assortment of holiday goodies, I grab a buckeye first! BUT – grabbed one today and couldn’t hardly stand to smack my lips on it! It may have found a home in the trash can. I’m advising against using coconut in this famous OHIO candy! PeaNUT does not go well with cocoNUT! It’s pretty disgusting!! This delightful chocolate / peanut butter candy is best as a traditional blend of chocolate and peanut butter. If you are going to do something crazy like add coconut – don’t check the trash can after your guests leave…
Another way to avoid the tedious/treacherous dunking BUT retain the round buckeye shape (rather than just pressing into a pan and cutting into bars) is to roll out the peanut butter insides and then pour/drizzle the chocolate over the balls. More chocolate goes to waste on the baking sheet, but the recipe makes extra chocolate anyway.
Smaller balls + arty restaurant-y drizzles of tempered chocolate + few flakes of Maldon is my contribution to the holiday spread this year. Probably can’t call them buckeyes anymore, but they are awesome.
Also, as I rummaged in the pantry for graham crackers I happened upon some matzo meal. Similar texture — wonder if these could be matzo-ed up for a Passover treat. Will report back if I try.
It would be useful to have a weight for the graham crackers. The more ground up they are, the less space they take, but they’re actually really good mixed in a little chunkier… And with the peanut butter, it doesn’t always measure into cups very nicely.
Hi Deb! I’m making 100 of these for a wedding about one week in advance. I’m worried that if I keep them in the refrigerator for a week, the chocolate will turn gray or discolor. Does anybody know if this will be a problem. If I freeze them, will that effect the chocolate coating as well? Any thoughts about this will be most helpful!!
Hi Linda — The whitish streaks that can appear on melted then chilled chocolate comes from bloom. Bloom can be avoided by tempering the chocolate (a little tricky, but also leaves them dry/firm/unsticky to the touch at room temperature). Or, a bunch of people have mentioned in the comments using some food-grade parafin wax in the melted chocolate to help it set with a shine (See Comments #377, 417 and a few others for mentions). With both, it can’t hurt to make a test mini-batch before you make the final ones to make sure you have the hang of it and that they’ll come out how you’ll hope when you’re making the final batch. Let me know if you need tempering instructions.
Update Deb: I did a test batch. Stored some buckeyes in the fridge, some air tight at room temperature, and some in my cool basement. The buckeyes at room temperature bloomed in 5 days…it was warm and humid. The buckeyes in the fridge and in the cool basement did not bloom and kept beautiful for for at least 12 days (then we ate them). I made 100 Buckeyes for my daughters wedding up in Michigan!! They were a hit (even though the bride was from Ohio and the groom was from Michigan!) Thanks for this recipe.
Enjoy this special time before your new little love is born!! All the best to you and your family.
Linda
I should also add, I followed your recipe exactly. No parafin wax, no tempering. They were perfect!
When I read your new peanut butter cookie recipe today, I couldn’t help but think of your buckeyes. I’ve made the three ingredient cookies before and wasn’t as crazy about the texture. This candy has a perfect extra little crunch and flavor added by using the graham crackers. Were you tempted to buck-up (what an attempt at a pun!) those cookies with some graham cracker crumbs? Would it work, do you suppose?
Hi .. wondering what kind of peanut butter you use? Jiffy-Skip variety or can a fresh grind from Whole Foods work? I know some times in cookie recipes you need to use the supermarket variety. thanks!
Freeze em! They are so good frozen.
It’s a great idea to post these older recipes on twitter so we can be reminded of all the fantastic stuff from recipes past. I will be making these very soon. Thanks.
I know this is an older post, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me whether the ground graham crackers add a subtle crunch to the peanut butter mixture, or do they soften and behave more like flour for added stability?
I can’t tell you how delighted I am to see so, so many comments from people who included terms like: “Go Buckeyes!”, etc. I am a proud OSU alum and love these Buckeye candies. My only question is how to keep the candy shell from melting in your hand if you don’t use the parafin wax (which I wouldn’t use, anyhow) Would adding some light corn syrup help? Also, I am terrified of tempering chocolate–no candy therm. #buckeyepride #buckeyeforlife
These were in our yearly round up of holiday baking and candy making. BUT we were able to do more when we came across a recipe for CHEATER BUCKEYES. with slightly adjusted quantities of ingredients (not much) we were able to eat them sooner. By not rolling them out, we pressed the peanut butter mixture into the bottom of a baking dish than topped with chocolate chips, warmed in the oven and than smoothed. Let it cool and slice it up, ready to go! No rolling and dipping required (of course then they don’t look like Buckeyes) but sooo delicious and yummy!
I needed this recipe a week ago when I was getting ready to attend the Penn State vs Ohio State game/tailgate!! Happily we Nittany Lions beat those Buckeyes and I am filing this away for future game days!!!
It was a lucky catch that won you the game, that’s all!
#Buckeyeforlife
I love these things! I’ve been making them for years, and always would skip the gag-inducing ‘chocolate flavored almond bark’ for real dark/semi-sweet chocolate chips to dunk them in. This is honestly the first recipe I’ve seen listed that doesn’t call for that ‘swill’! Thank you, Deb!
Delicious and incredibly addictive, especially right out of the freezer! I had a tough time dipping them but what they lacked in appearance they made up for in flavor and texture. I agree re: the salt. I sprinkled flaky sea salt on top and that really made them sing. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I’m going to be making these with a little less sugar in the peanut butter mix, but double-dipped, once in a banana-flavored white chocolate, and once in a dark chocolate, to make chocolate-peanut butter-banana buckeyes. I will report back!!
I loved these. They helped keep my Thanksgiving crowd happy. They are so delicious and easy to make!
Hello, I am wondering if maybe there is a mistake regarding the weight of the peanut butter. I started scooping it onto my scale by 1/2 cup and was quickly over 190g. Google estimates that 1 cup peanut butter weighs 250g, which was closer to my experience. Is there any chance you originally made these as a half batch and didn’t double that number or something like that? Just hoping it really is supposed to be about 1 1/2 cups! Hope to get some clarification and I hope this helps anyone else who might be puzzled. Thanks, Tess
Hey there, I was just about to type the exact same question. My jar of peanut butter equaled about 1 1/2 cups and the weight is listed as 16.3 oz, or 460g. So the 190=1 1/2 cups seems pretty off to me. As well, I just got 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs from 10 crackers, verses the 14 noted in the recipe. Most recipes you find online will note the 1 1/2 cup measurement for PB. So, go with that verses the weight, which wouldn’t be nearly enough for this entire recipe. :-)
Glad I’m not crazy! My graham cracker count was different than the recipe as well! I did go with my gut and estimated a higher weight of PNB, and everything turned out ok. Surprised to come across that error! Thanks!! 😀
I had a really hard time with my chocolate dipping last night. these taste amazing, but the ratio is a bit off. Any suggestions for mastering melted chocolate? it was really thick and i lost a few buckeyes and had to fish them out. They also fell off the skewer. Maybe they were too warm or not rolled densely enough? They taste amazing… so i will keep trying to get them picture perfect! Also made the rice krispie treats. YUM!
Have just come back from a dental appointment, I too put goodies in the freezer to avoid temptation, this time I shattered a molar biting down on a Twix bar when I couldn’t resist waiting for it to defrost.
The Buckeyes do sound good, must make them when it won’t be only me tempted.
is it ok to make these now and freeze until christmas?
Any suggestions for someone who is gluten free and can’t use graham crackers? The gluten free versions are you can buy are mostly terrible. Ok to just leave out?
I could *not* get the hang of coating these! Grrr. Eventually I gave up and basically just poured chocolate over them on the tray, because I knew they’d still taste good and they’d just look more like a standard truffle. That’s more a failing of me and my inability to coat things evenly than the recipe, though.
They’re SO tasty. Love love love.
I’m thinking of adapting these to be bars, rather than balls … in an effort to maximize holiday baking time! Any suggested changes to ingredients? Many thanks!
These are approved by my chef-boyfriend! He goes through phases where he gets intense sweet cravings and I try to be zero waste, so I wanted him to make him something similar to Reese’s Cups but without the packaging. These are perfect.
I made one change which I think others could do if they wanted. I would never use up the rest of the cream cheese package, so I subbed sour cream. They have a subtle tang as Deb described so I think it worked well.
Two little things about the recipe:
1. The amount of chocolate was off for me. I made 48 buckeyes, coated them well with chocolate, and I had almost 6 ounces of chocolate left. I’d start with only 8 ounces next time.
2. Maybe I’m just a doofus, but I didn’t know how to get even graham cracker crumbs. Mine were all different sizes. Is the food processor the best option?
Technical thing: I had trouble commenting from my iPhone. The typing was extremely lagged. It’s not happening in any other website or application oddly.
Thanks for the notes. The food processor works pretty well, but did you just bash them up in a bag with a rolling pin? I suppose a mortar and pestle would work too. I’ve also seen graham cracker crumbs sold prepackaged, but it seemed so ridiculous to spend money that way. (Just kidding, I’ve totally bought them before.) Not sure why the lag; maybe the server was having a sleepy or overly busy moment.
Haha thanks Deb. I’m enbarassed to say I sort of hacked at the graham crumbs with a meat mallet. I’m not a baker so I don’t have a rolling pin. I’ve never seen crumbs packaged but I’m intrigued! Seems worth it if I can keep this recipe to one bowl. Thanks for the great recipe!
Buckeyes were a Christmas tradition around our house. Do you think it would be possible to use crushed pretzels instead of graham crackers?
I just made a double batch of these as favors for my wedding (4 days out, I am crazy) and, using a level tablespoon, got 110. I like the graham flavor in there; it adds a little complexity without distracting from the peanut butter and chocolate, which is already pretty much perfection. I added probably a full teaspoon of salt and they taste great. Don’t skimp on the salt!
A friend of mine going through some tough times LOVES these candies. I’m hoping to make some and mail them to her, but am nervous about sending them in a package/with no refrigeration due to the cream cheese. Do you think that they would travel ok or could they make her sick?
I wouldn’t send it unless ice-packed. This isn’t a fully traditional buckeyes recipe — it has some tweaks. A more classic one is just butter and sugar and peanut butter and would probably ship better.
I can’t think of a reason problems would arise if this recipe were cut in half. Can you? I want to make some sweet treats for our little bridesmaids party Friday night, but I literally cannot have these sitting in my home. We won’t eat the whole batch and I simply cannot have leftovers. They are just too damn delicious.
Do you think these can be done ahead and frozen?
Yes. You can freeze them. I’m in Arizona where we still have 90 degree days right now! Still are delicious – I freeze them and take them to my office to share. They get to room temperature quickly.
I realize you posted this a long time ago but I just came across it. I’ve been making buckeyes for over 30 year (geesh) having gotten the recipe in a Home EC (remember those?!) class. I am from Ohio and they are a standard holiday treat. Anyway, one trick that we found that makes the dipping easier and way faster is to refrigerate or freeze the peanut butter balls with the toothpicks already inserted for a bit before you melt the chocolate and dip them. Thank you for your blog; I love it.
Hi. I’m a #Buckeyeforlife (OSU grad), and wondering … is your recipe the same as this one? If not, would you mind sending me or posting your recipe? I’d love to see it.
Thank you!
O-H …
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. My recipes is a little different; here it is: 2 1/4 cups peanut butter: 1/4 cup softened butter, 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (I’ve only used 3 cups for the past few yrs), 1 tsp vanilla. Mix together (I like to use a dough hook as opposed to beaters) and then roll into balls, stick the toothpicks in and freeze for an hr or so (used to just sit them on the screened in porch before I moved to AZ) and then dip.
Thank you. Hope you’re enjoying AZ. Was wondering if you just dip them in pure melted choc. or do you add anything to the chocolate so that the Buckeyes don’t melt in your hand. I know some ppl. use paraffin wax, but I don’t want to. #buckeyeforlife.
My recipe does use paraffin which is somewhat disturbing but I don’t use much (like 1/4 bar per 32 oz chocolate) and I sort of figure that many women of past generations used it and it’s only once a year for me. I did some reading and it doesn’t seem to be dangerous.
I used to make peanut butter balls with my own children and with 3-5 year old students.
Mix peanut butter, honey and milk powder to make a firm dough that can be scooped and rolled into balls. You can also add rice krispies, coconut, raisins, chocolate chips- just adjust the ingredients. I had to start changing the recipe a bit as I taught overseas and instant milk powder was very difficult to find. the children and their parents loved them.
I’ve had my Aunt Alberta’s recipe since I was just a tiny Buckeye. Her version adds a small amount of paraffin to the melted chocolate to help it set and make it shiny. Weird, huh?
Go Bucks!
Actually, it’s done all the time. It also makes it easier to pack them up, even at room temperature.
In case anyone is wondering what to do if you read “3 lbs. powdered sugar” instead of “3 cups” like I did, just scale the recipe by 3.6 and get ready to pawn off a motherload of these things. Both of my sisters are getting tubs of the peanut butter stuff plus a bag of ghiardelli bittersweet chocolate chips for dipping. I swear, I read it twice, checked that I only had 2lbs of powdered sugar on hand, bought more, and it wasn’t even until the mixing bowl was literally overflowing that a light bulb went off. Guess I’m a little fried this Christmas!
How do you make these dairy free–mainly, is there anything you can use in place of cream cheese? Or omit it?
Do these yummy morsels need to be refrigerated? I would like to add them to my Christmas cookie trays but am wondering about the cream cheese and butter being left out for a few days since these are unbaked.
I keep them in the fridge.
I just made these and they were a huge hit! I used half the powdered sugar (and probably could have used less). I also discovered chopsticks to be the easiest utensil for dipping these in chocolate! Thanks for this recipe!!
Is the equivalency correct for the peanut butter? Seems 190g is much less than 1 1/2 cup.
I didn’t have graham cracker crumbs so I used stoned wheat crackers instead, and they were delicious.
Just made these for the first time. The dipping is tricky for sure. A few thoughts:
– Wish I would have read the comment about chopsticks first, because I would have tried that. A wooden skewer definitely didn’t work for me – the balls were too heavy and wouldn’t stay on it. I found the fork to be much steadier.
– It’s tricky to stick it in the middle of the ball, low enough that you can cover it with chocolate, but not too low that it’s unsteady and the ball falls off.
– I reheated my chocolate a couple of times, finding it much easier to use it when it was thinner. The bowl I was working out of was medium size, but if you have your chocolate in a smaller bowl, it will make a deeper well and easier to roll I would think.
– I went back with a tiny spatula and covered up my fork marks or any other imperfections with the leftover chocolate.
These were not as easy to dip in the chocolate as I had assumed. The side skewer left gaping holes. I eventually dunked the balls free and skewered through the tops to remove them, while sliding them gently against the bowl to support the shape so it didn’t break. Once I removed the skewer I patted the top to cover the hole. It’s a bit fiddly. Taste is good but this in bar form is a lot easier.
I live in Ohio and have had so many variations of this recipe but I always come back to mine as the best I’ve had…so I’m curious to try this one. We always melt about 2oz of parafin in with the chocolate to keep the chocolate from separating from the peanut butter. A few comments: I usually freeze my peanut butter balls for a bit before dipping them (easier to skewer them); I’m so pleased to see you using dark chocolate…this is not typical ; and lastly, I make these and freeze them so they can be brought out on occasion after the holidays as a treat. (Last week I found a small stash from last Christmas and they were still delicious!)
Fairly easy and VERY delicious!
Yeas ago, I made up my own version wanting peanut butter front and center, meaning less sugar. I used wheat germ and it worked well, but then made the delicious candy gluten-ful, which is a problem for a lot of my friends and family, and this recipe has the same trouble. I’m wondering how this might work with flax meal—maybe half a cup, or just a third-instead of the graham crackers.
In any case, I’m excited to try it with cream cheese, and have always been on team dark chocolate. Thank you!
I just made these for the first time. Most of the balls crumbled and fell apart in the chocolate which was at the recommended temp. I did use chunky peanut butter, Adams, so wonder if that’s why? Anyone with any ideas? This is the first Smitten recipe I’ve made that wasn’t perfect!!
I don’t have a mixer, but I do have a Cuisinart Food Processor. Has anybody tried using a food processor? Thanks!
I love the taste of these buckeye balls but hate the tedious job of dipping each ball. I lined a 9×9 inch pan with parchment paper and pressed the peanut butter mixture firmly into the pan with my hands. I then melted the chocolate and poured it over the top. I should have cut it into bite size pieces before the chocolate hardened because it tended to crack as I cut them, but the taste was spot on with a quarter of the work!
I’ve been making these a long time and love them! A huge compliment coming from an Ohioan ha. I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working the last few times with the updated peanut by weight. I think you mean 290 grams, not 190 grams of peanut butter. I googled how many grams are in a cup of peanut butter and it’s 250 :)