Buckeye Balls

by Sabrina Snyder

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Buckeye Balls are an EASY dessert made from peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate for a no-bake candy with only 6 ingredients!

Chocolate Dipped Candies are a huge hit during the holidays and we especially love easy ones like Chocolate Covered Pretzels, Chocolate Covered Strawberries, and Chocolate Covered Oreos!

Easy Buckeye Balls

BUCKEYE BALLS RECIPE

Looking for easy Candy Recipes? These Buckeye Balls are almost like homemade Reese’s cups with almost none of the effort. With the toothpick trick you’ll love having your kids help you make these little peanut butter bites too.

You can even dip these peanut butter balls in festive sprinkles for all different special occasions. Different holidays, different colored sprinkles from Thanksgiving to Christmas, to Valentine’s Day, the 4th of July or even Easter. These Buckeye Balls make a great gift for friends, family, coworkers or neighbors. They’re even easy enough to add to your holiday baking schedule or make for a holiday dessert table for your big parties you’ve got coming up.

They’re no bake and only take six ingredients, so you can make these ahead of time and put them in the freezer until you need them. Just be sure to defrost them in the fridge, pat them dry with a paper towel before dipping them in melted chocolate. These easy candies are the peanut butter version of the ever popular Oreo Balls.

Buckeye Balls Collage of prep steps

WHAT ARE BUCKEYE BALLS?

Buckeye Balls are balls made from creamy peanut butter, vanilla, butter, and powdered sugar rolled into a dough and dipped in melted chocolate. They’re creamy, nutty, chocolatey and basically one of the most perfect desserts you’ll ever try.

WHY ARE THEY CALLED BUCKEYE BALLS?

The name Buckeye Balls came about because Buckeyes are a nut on the Ohio state tree, which inspired this buckeye candy recipe. Now these candy buckeyes are popular across the United States, but especially in the midwest.

Buckeye Balls in serving bowl with bite taken

EASY CANDY/TRUFFLE RECIPES:

PS, the pictured Buckeye Balls were dipped with toothpicks and smoothed over about half with a quick pinch and pat, so you can see the difference in the pictures to see which way you prefer. Either way they’re just as delicious!

Buckeye Balls in gift tin

TIPS FOR MAKING BUCKEYE BALLS:

  • We make this buckeye balls recipe with shortening to help thin the chocolate, but you can leave the vegetable shortening out if you don’t have any.
  • Make sure you line your cookie sheet with parchment paper or the balls will stick to the sheet.
  • Don’t skip refrigerating (or freezing) the peanut butter balls before you dip them in chocolate. This is the key to getting the balls to hold their shape while you’re dipping!
  • Make sure the peanut butter you use has sugar in the ingredients. You need a shelf stable creamy peanut butter that has sweetness and holds up better than the natural version.
  • When you’re rolling out the peanut butter balls, a trick you can use is to rub a small amount of butter between your hands.
    • This will make sure the dough doesn’t stick to your hands while you’re forming the balls. Then use a toothpick to dip them into the chocolate, but not all the way, thats what gives them the “eye” look.

FLAVOR VARIATIONS:

  • Sprinkle the buckeyes with sea salt, caramel sauce, crushed cookies, or drizzle with dark chocolate for decoration.
  • Use salted butter if you want to try a sweet and salty flavor. You can add a drizzle of caramel sauce, too.
  • Dip the peanut butter center in white chocolate almond bark instead of chocolate for a white chocolate Reese’s flavor.

MORE CANDY RECIPES:

HOW TO STORE BUCKEYE BALLS:

  • Serve: Don’t leave your Buckeye Balls at room temperature for longer than about 2 hours because the peanut butter and butter in them will soften and they’ll lose their firmness.
  • Store: You can keep your Buckeye Balls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
  • Freeze: As long as you keep your Buckeye Balls in an airtight container that keeps moisture out, it will stay good for up to 6 months in the freezer.

Buckeye Balls in serving bowl

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Dinner, then Dessert

Buckeye Balls

Buckeye Balls are an EASY dessert made from peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate for a no-bake candy with only 6 ingredients!
Yield 24 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeye Balls
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

Instructions

  • To a stand mixer add the peanut butter, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar and beat it until it forms a stiff dough then then roll the dough into balls made with 2 teaspoons of dough.
  • Put the balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper then refrigerate for at least an hour before using a microwave safe bowl to melt the chocolate and shortening in 30 second increments until fully melted (mix in between each 30 seconds, for 60-90 seconds total).
  • Dip the balls almost all the way leaving the eye of the peanut butter ball showing before scraping the fork across the lip of the bowl to remove excess chocolate and using a toothpick to push the buckeye ball onto the parchment paper to harden for at least 30-45 minutes in the refrigerator before eating.

Video

Notes

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

Nutrition

Calories: 233kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 75mg | Potassium: 144mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 0.8mg
Keyword: buckeye balls

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Buckeye Balls Collage

Photos used in a previous version of this post.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeye BallsEasy Buckeye BallsEasy Buckeye Balls

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the upcoming cookbook: Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients which is being published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Question about the shortening. I don’t use shortening. Do I have to use shortening to melt with the chocolate or is there another alternative? Thank you.

    Reply

  4. Can’t wait to make these!! Question — does 24 servings mean it makes 24 buckeye balls, or does it make more than that?

    Thanks so much for sharing this!

    Reply

  5. These look great !!!
    I am going to make these for Christmas, and I think I will put a peanut butter m&m inside !!!
    Thank you.

    Reply

    1. Oh no! I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips to melt for this recipe. I’ve never had an issue with that brand. If you click on the ingredient in the recipe card, it’ll take you to a link to purchase if you need it. Hope this helps for next time.

      Reply

  8. These are great! But the toothpick hole isn’t what gives it the “eye.” They look like buckeye nuts. You can smooth over the hole with your finger or the back of a spoon.

    Reply

  9. Hi Happy Holidays, this is my first time making these buckeye peanut butter balls, im not good at cooking or baking so i figured id try something simple & a treat i loved most growing up..im just wondering why you say add to a stand up mixer, is a stand up mixer better to make these? Can i use a hand held mixer? Also ive seen many recipes for these and most say salted butter, yours says unsalted, does that make a difference in the way they taste or come out differently?

    Reply

    1. I prefer a stand mixer because it allows me some freedom and not have to stand over the mixing at all time. A hand held mixer would work just fine for this recipe too. Personally, I like to use unsalted butter because I like to have control of how much salt is actually going into a recipe. Brands can differ on the saltiness making it hard to know exactly the amount. I really hope you decide to give these a try this holiday season. Enjoy!

      Reply

  12. First time I tried these, my son brought from Ohio and were made by his girlfriend’s grandmother. I had no idea what they were but, found the name amusing. Oh WOW!!! when I tasted them, I was addicted, so I was looking for the recipe and how to make them. Be very careful, you can’t eat just one or two. Had no idea they were so easy to make. Delicious!!!

    Reply

      1. The original Buckeye ball recipe calls for about 1/8 bar of parifin wax in with the melted chocolate. It makes the chocolate stay firm, shiny and less messy. I have never added shortening. You can’t taste the wax. This recipe goes back to the 50s in Ohio.

        Reply

        1. Interesting! I think most of our readers would not feel as comfortable baking with wax, so we use a more accessible ingredient, but I love that method too!

          Reply

  13. These are a favorite from my childhood and what a treat!
    I do have a question…we always used creamy Jif peanut butter in the past, but the last few times the results aren’t the same. The balls never firm up in the fridge. It’s like Jif has changed their peanut butter and it’s just too creamy to give the same results. What brand of peanut butter do you use? Thank you and Merry Christmas!

    Reply

    1. I’m so glad you love these! We’re obsessed with PB&Co peanut butter in our house so that’s what we used. They have some pretty epic flavors too. Happy holidays!

      Reply

  14. The recipe calls for too much confection sugar and butter. It turned out to be too light and fluffy. Because I lost the recipe, Which I’ve made Buckeyes before, it didn’t turn out like it was supposed to.

    Reply

          1. I loved this recipe!! So easy and turned out perfect. I played with some flavors and used maple instead of vanilla and white chocolate instead of milk chocolate. So many possibilities and it takes so little time!!! Thank you

  16. Oh my gosh, we have been making these for years. I mean years and they are so delish! My mom used to make them when we were children. I am so thrilled to see someone else carrying the torch and keeping the Holiday Tradition of Buckeyes going. Totally cool!!! I actually think when made right they taste one 1000 x better than a Reeses Cup!

    Reply