Sweet peanut butter candy called “buckeye balls” are covered with melted chocolate.
| Prep Time: | 45 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Additional Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 25 mins |
| Servings: | 60 |
| Yield: | 5 dozen |
Ingredients
- 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
- 1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons shortening
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with waxed paper; set aside.
- Combine confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl; mix together with your hands to form a smooth stiff dough. Shape into balls using 2 teaspoons of dough for each ball. Place on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to coat with chocolate.
- Combine chocolate chips and shortening in a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.
- Remove chilled peanut butter balls from the refrigerator.
- Insert a wooden toothpick into a ball, and dip into the melted chocolate until coated. Return to the baking sheet, chocolate-side down, and remove the toothpick.
- Repeat Step 5 to coat remaining balls. Refrigerate coated balls until set, about 30 minutes.
Reviews
I’ve made these for the office but squeeze the peanut butter balls in between 2 small pretzels, then dip into chocolate, tap off the excess. I place them onto a waxed paper lined cookie sheet and pop into the refrigerator for about 2-4 minutes to firm up. Employees call it crack because it’s additive.
I have made these for years and my recipe is the same except I use dark chocolate and my family LOVES them. Theses are meant to be sweet if you want a cookie not to sweet then this is not the cookie for you this is meant to be sweet and FABULOUS one to remember.
I made these using only 3 cups of confectioners sugar. They were delicious!
I was hesitant about mixing the ingredients with my hands but it was totally easy. I did find dipping them in the melted chocolate a bit challenging and wound up dunking the whole thing so they’d look decent. They were really good and my husband loved them too. Perfect addition to my cookie tray for my neighbors.
PLEASE NOTE!!!!! The sugar peanut butter ratio is not right. I ended up adding another 1/2 cup of PB and 1/4 cup butter and they were still crumbly. I also used melting chocolate instead of chocolate chips. They ended up pretty good with the alterations.
I’ve made these every Christmas for the past 10-12 years, I make several batches every time and always use Jif. If you don’t like really sweet then make something else, as these are supposed to be very sweet. This is my absolute favorite food and it’s perfect as is is! I like to store the ones I eat in the freezer as they last me a tiny bit longer that way. I’ll try to update with a photo after I make them this week.
Way too sweet, tasted like peanut butter frosting. I measured the powdered sugar by weight, but only had enough for about 3 cups and it was still way too sweet.
Used Jif and Walmart brand peanut butter and didn’t have an issue with the recipe. Used Skippy this time around and they came out way too oily. It’s a good recipe all around as long as you don’t use the Skippy brand peanut butter.
I’ve been making these for years and my friends,family and co-workers can’t get enough of them! I even submitted my first attempt to the photos here. Never a failure!
This recipe didn’t do it for me. I listened to the reviewers who said the full amount of powdered sugar made the buckeyes too sweet, so I added half the sugar to start. I kept making small additions and checking the taste and consistency. When it got as sweet as I could stand (and I have an enormous sweet tooth) the consistency was still somewhat creamy. I was afraid that adding the remaining amount of powdered sugar would make it sickeningly sweet, so I refrigerated the dough overnight and rolled it into balls the next day. The chilled dough rolled really well so I proceeded with the recipe and put the finished product in the fridge to chill. I was disappointed to find that even 5 minutes out of the fridge made the buckeyes very soft and messy to handle. Even so, we ate every one of these, but I’ll keep looking and trying other recipes. Someone mentioned one with graham cracker crumbs. That seems like it would tighten up the consistency without making it over-the-top sweet.
This is an easy recipe that everyone will enjoy. This batch gave me 36 buckeyes (just big enough for 2-3 bites each).
Everyone loved them! My 7 year old granddaughter was my chocolate dipper and of course she covered the whole ball! LOL but it was a favorite.
Fabulously easy and great treat to have on hand when the teens bring their friends over.
i loved it !!!!But , you must use butter not margarine and add the sugar slowly until it forms a dough you can roll.these are easy and everyone loves them. i didn’t have room in my fridge for cookie sheets,so i put them in my back seat covered . i live in Michigan so it was well below freezing .i also found actual candy chocolate at kroger, so you dont add any oil to it.
This is a great recipe. They turned out really well.
I made these for my candy boxes this past Christmas and was glad I had some leftover for the house – yum! Instead of rolling them out, I used my little cookie scoop – it made them the perfect size for two bites. I completely dipped them in milk chocolate bark, then topped them with chopped peanuts. Sooo goood!
These candies turned out great! Good recipe!
I had to add extra peanut butter. They were way too dry and wouldn’t hold their shape without it.
These are WAY to sweet!
My husband loves peanut butter balls and this is the first time I made them. These are delicious and this will be my go to recipe! I did increase chocolate and shortening because I covered my balls completely with chocolate. I got 60 peanut butter balls out of this recipe using the small cookie scoop.
A little time consuming but easy and look great! I followed the recipe except did 3.5 cups confection sugar based on other reviews. Stopped adding when they rolled nicely. Suggestion about patching tooth pick whole with a little water on your finger tip at the end worked like a gem! They really are cute and PB lovers will delight in these!