Peanut Butter Buckeyes Recipe: Step-by-Step (2024)

With their creamy, sweetened peanut butter centers peeking through a chocolate-dipped bottom, Peanut Butter Buckeyes are hard to resist. ~ These delicious little bites are just loaded with that classic chocolate and peanut butter combination we love so much! Follow these simple steps to whip up a tasty batch at Christmas time, or anytime thatchocolate-peanut butter craving hits.
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We all know and love classic Peanut Butter Buckeyes, right?

With their creamy, sweetened peanut butter centers peeking through a chocolate-dipped bottom, these delicious little bites are hard to resist. It's that classic chocolate and peanut combination we all love so much - and it just pulls us in every time.

These tasty little beauties are usually made around Christmas time, but I say hey - why not enjoy them anytime throughout the year?

With their creamy, sweetened peanut butter centers peeking through a chocolate-dipped bottom, these delicious little bites are hard to resist.

Peanut Butter Buckeyes are modeled after actual buckeyes - a small, shiny nut that comes from the buckeye tree. The buckeye nut is dark brown with a light tan-colored patch at the top, just like their candy copycats. Legend has it, carrying a buckeye nut in your pocket is good luck.

Now, I wouldn't recommend carrying a Peanut Butter Buckeye in your pocket and I don't think they'll bring you any luck - but they sure do taste good!

Just follow this step-by-step guide on how to make Buckeyes to whip up a tasty batch at Christmas time, or anytime that chocolate-peanut butter craving hits.

Step 1: Mix Peanut Butter Dough

Mix together softened butter, smooth peanut butter, a generous bit of confectioners' sugar, and some vanilla extract until it's all well combined.

An electric mixer helps make quick work of this step.

The peanut butter dough will be pretty stiff and look dry - but don't worry, that's how it's supposed to be. It will come together and smooth out when you roll the dough into balls in the next step.

Step 2:Roll Peanut Butter Dough into Balls

Line a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with wax paper.

To roll the peanut butter dough into balls, start by scooping up a small portion of the dough.

I use a small cookie scoop(about 1 tablespoon capacity) to scoop out the peanut butter dough for each ball. This helps keep my buckeyes all pretty close to the same size.

Then use your hands to roll each clump of peanut butter dough into a 1-inch ball. Place each of the balls on the wax paper-lined pan.

Place pan in the freezer and chill the peanut butter balls until they're firm, about 30 minutes. Having the dough balls chilled and firm makes them much easier to work with when dipping them in the melted chocolate.

Step 3:Melt Chocolate

Combine a package of semi-sweet chocolate chips and a little dab of shortening in the top of a double boiler or small shallow mixing bowl set over simmering water.

As much as we sometimes think the double boiler isn't necessary, it's actually pretty important when melting chocolate - It keeps the temperature of the chocolate from getting too high, which can make the chocolate grainy or lead to a dull-looking chocolate coating.

As much as we sometimes think the double boiler isn't necessary, it's actually pretty important when melting chocolate.

Stir the chocolate mixture frequently until the chocolate chips are melted and smooth.

The little dab of shortening - not much, just about 2 teaspoons, helps thin the chocolate just a bit. And this helps create a smoother coating of chocolate on the buckeye. I add shortening to my melted chocolate any time I'm making something that call for being dipped in chocolate.

Step 4:Dip Peanut Butter Balls in Chocolate

Remove melted chocolate from the pot of simmering water, and remove your chilled peanut butter balls from the freezer.

Then, working with one peanut butter ball at a time, stick a wooden pick into the top center of the ball - inserting it about 3/4 of the way in & making sure to not poke through the bottom of the ball.

Hold onto the wooden pick as a "handle" and dip the bottom portion of the peanut butter ball into the melted chocolate, leaving some of the peanut butter exposed at the top.

Let any excess chocolate drip off back into the melted chocolate.

Shake it very gently if you need to help remove that extra chocolate. But be careful to be very gentle - or that buckeye will slip right off that wooden pick and plop into the chocolate bowl.

Place the dipped buckeye back on the wax paper-lined pan and gently remove the wooden pick.

Then repeat this dipping process until all the peanut butter balls have been dipped in chocolate.

Step 5:Let Chocolate Set

Pop the dipped buckeyes in the refrigerator to chill until the chocolate is set. This will only take about 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 6:Fix Wooden Pick Mark

Store the Buckeyes in a sealed container in the refrigerator (or freezer) until you're ready to enjoy them.

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