Holiday Baking: Buckeyes [Recipe]

What do peanut butter cups and a slightly poisonous nut have in common? A delicious treat called buckeyes!

My latest foray into holiday baking had me making buckeyes--peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate in order to resemble real-life buckeye nuts (see photo above). I've made these before and am so glad I decided to make them again this year. They're easy to make and really--is there a better combination than chocolate and peanut butter? (Click photos to enlarge.)

I love recipes that use a minimal amount of ingredients:

 

Mix peanut butter, sugar and melted butter together:

 

You'll end up with a mixture that looks something like this:

 

Using your hands (in order to get a smooth surface) roll mixture into "buckeye sized" balls (about an inch in diameter):

 

The toothpicks will come in handy later...

 

While the centers are chilling in the fridge, melt the chocolate:

 

Holding on to the toothpicks dip and swirl into the chocolate to get the look of a buckeye. Don't worry if you mess up a couple--you can use those for taste-testing:

 

Not quite the real thing but way tastier...


Buckeyes

[My notes/changes in brackets]

1/2 cup margarine [forget that--I used butter], melted
12 oz jar ( 1 1/2 cups) creamy peanut butter
1 lb (2 cups) icing sugar
12 oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix first three ingredients together and roll into "buckeye sized" balls [since I have no idea how large a buckeye is I just roll them into what I think is a reasonable size for a treat, about 1 inch diameter]. Place toothpick in top center of each and refrigerate.

In double boiler melt chocolate [the recipe originally also calls for a 1-inch cube of paraffin wax to be melted in with the chocolate. It's there to make the chocolate shiny, therefore increasing the resemblance to real buckeyes but I think I can do without the extra wax in my diet].

Dip chilled balls in chocolate leaving tops uncoated. [The toothpicks have a tendency to get loose and fall out so just work carefully.] Chill on waxed paper 1 hour. Remove toothpicks. Enjoy!

The recipe says it makes 60 but I ended up with precisely 31.
 

Photos by Whimsy Bower  (except for the first one)

[Edited to update title and for formatting. Follow me on my official site: AspasiaSBissas.com]