You only need six ingredients to make this easy Buckeye recipe. My homemade Buckeyes feature a melt-in-your-mouth creamy peanut butter center partially coated in a crisp chocolate shell.
Line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat, foil, parchment, or wax paper. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt. Stir together with a wooden spoon or sturdy plastic spatula until butter is completely blended. You may want to put your bowl in the microwave for 5-10 seconds if you find your butter is not blending well.
Add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time, stirring after each addition. If mixture becomes too thick to stir, blend together with your hands or a mixer (I can usually get it done with just a spoon and my hands). When you have added all of the powdered sugar, chill peanut butter mixture in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up the butter.
Remove from freezer and roll peanut butter mixture into balls about 1" in diameter (I always weigh mine and find that 0.6oz was is perfect size). Work quickly so the heat of your hand doesn't melt the peanut butter too much, and don't worry if they're not perfectly round.
When all of the peanut butter mixture is rolled into balls, insert a toothpick into the top of each ball, pushing the toothpick the whole way through to the baking sheet. Put the baking sheet in the freezer and allow peanut butter balls to harden for 45 minutes.
When there are a few minutes left for the peanut butter balls, prepare the chocolate. Place the chocolate in a small microwave safe bowl. Heat in microwave for 20 seconds on HIGH, stir, and heat again as necessary in 20-second increments until completely melted. Set aside.
Remove peanut butter balls from the freezer. Pour some of the melted chocolate into a small prep bowl (or a mug) so there is some depth for dipping the peanut butter balls. Working with one peanut butter ball at a time and using the toothpick as a "handle," dip each peanut butter ball into the melted chocolate, allowing a small circle to remain exposed at the top of each ball. Place back on baking sheet. When all of the peanut butter balls are dipped, place baking sheet in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. I have the best results after 12 hours.
Once the buckeyes are completely set, remove the toothpicks. If desired, use your finger to smudge the peanut butter together on the top of the buckeye to cover the hole made by the toothpick. Store buckeyes in an airtight container with parchment or wax paper between layers in the refrigerator up to 1 month. They may be kept at room temperature up to 1 week, but know they fare better in the fridge. At room temperature, the peanut butter starts to separate from the chocolate after a few hours. Un-dipped peanut butter balls freeze well, up to 2 months.
Notes
Creamy peanut butter: do not use natural peanut butter, and do not use crunchy peanut butter.
Chocolate: it is best to use bar chocolate or melting wafers. Feel free to use milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or even white chocolate.
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.