Hello to all you Sweet Talk fans out there! My name is Erin and you can usually find me over at BigFatBaker or chatting away on Twitter @bigfatbaker.
I am so happy to be guest posting on Sweet Talk during the holidays. I love spreading holiday cheer!
And what better way to spread some cheer than with candy? So today I thought I’d share one of my favorite homemade candy recipes, buckeyes.
Buckeyes are a midwestern candy (originating in Ohio) and are named after the nuts off a buckeye tree. The buckeye tree also happens to be the Ohio state tree!
Although the candy is made to look like the nuts, don’t eat the real nuts! They are a bit toxic.
I made the buckeyes with peanut butter, but if you have specific nut allergies I think this recipe could be adapted to any nut butter! You may need to slightly adjust the nut butter to powdered sugar ratio to get a smooth mixture.
You could also change it up but using dark chocolate or white chocolate chips!
Thank you Michelle for letting me guest post & happy holidays everyone!
Buckeyes
(recipe from allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups smooth peanut butter
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp shortening
- toothpicks
To Make the Buckeyes:
- In the bowl of your mixer (or using your hand mixer & a large bowl) combine the butter, peanut butter, and vanilla.
- Mix in the powdered sugar – but be careful and do it slowly! You don’t want a kitchen covered in powdered sugar. The dough may look a bit dry, as long as you can roll it into balls it is fine. (If not, try adding 1 tbsp of peanut butter at a time until it sticks together)
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll the peanut butter mixture into 1 inch sized balls and place on the cookie sheet. Stick a toothpick into the top of each peanut butter ball. Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator or freezer.
- After about 30 minutes melt the chocolate and shortening in a bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir together until melted. You can also place the chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between. Continue until the chocolate is completely smooth.
- Remove the peanut butter balls from the refrigerator and 1 by 1 dip into the chocolate, leaving a small spot of the peanut butter mixture showing. (You may need to occasionally remelt the chocolate)
- Place back on to the cookie sheet and leave in the refrigerator until the chocolate coating has hardened. Once the buckeyes are done, cover and store until gone 🙂 Enjoy!
The recipe should yield anywhere from 30-40 buckeyes, depending on how big you make the peanut butter balls.
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