350 Bake

Buckeyes

This holiday season I made two batches of buckeyes.  Joy really, really wanted to help me make them, so together we made the first batch.

The first time around I used Skippy Natural peanutbutter.  FAIL  The dough was way to soft and drippy.  I tried adding more butter, more sugar, but they never quite worked right.  With the next batch I used regular, off brand peanut butter.  Worked GREAT!  Just a tip, in case you might use natural peanut butter. 

Ingredients:

4 cups creamy peanut butter

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

6 cups powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla

4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons shortening

In a large mixing bowl, beat peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until well mixed.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Roll into small buckeye sized balls (About 1 inch in diameter)  Place on wax paper lined cookie sheets. Chill in the freezer for several hours, until very firm.

 Melt together the shortening and chocolate chips until smooth, being careful not to burn the chocolate.  Stick a toothpick into each ball, and careful dip into the melted chocolate, leaving just a small, round opening at the top, to resemble a buckeye.  Freeze until chocolate is completely set.  Store in the freezer or refrigerator.  Makes about 12 dozen.  (If you make them bigger around you will get less.  Or if you hand out samples frequently, as I did, you will get less :)
Store in fridge or freezer.