I’m sort of from Ohio, so while other people call these peanut butter balls, I call them Buckeyes. (Note: Just because I’m sort of from Ohio does not mean I love Ohio State. In fact, I don’t. I much prefer the Mizzou Tigers.) This recipe is from Fitness Magazine.
Ingredients:
1 16-ounce jar low-fat, low sodium smooth peanut butter (about 1 3/4 cups, I did this by weight)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
6 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
4 1/2 teaspoons shortening
Toothpicks and waxed paper
Directions:
Place peanut butter and butter in the large bowl of a sturdy stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until very smooth, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until smooth.
Roll mixture into 1-inch balls. Arrange balls on waxed paper-lined trays or baking sheets. Cover and chill for 3 hours or overnight.
In a small, heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips and shortening over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Keep warm over very low heat. Remove about one-fourth of the peanut butter balls from the refrigerator. Use a toothpick to hold a peanut butter ball and lower it into the chocolate, leaving the top exposed so that it looks like a buckeye. Allow excess chocolate to drip off.
Place ball, undipped portion up, on waxed paper-lined tray or baking sheet. Repeat with remaining peanut butter balls until all are dipped. Chill for 30 minutes, or until firm. Store in the refrigerator.
My Opinion:
I used the entire jar of Smuckers Natural peanut butter. To get it re-emulsified, I used the bread hook on my mixer. Luckily, I didn’t toss it in the dishwasher because I needed it to help incorporate the powdered sugar into the peanut butter. Even then, I only managed to get four cups of powdered sugar into the peanut butter. So don’t fret if you can’t get all six cups in. As for the chocolate dipping, FORGET IT. I just spooned the chocolate over the peanut butter balls. Dipping them just made a huge mess and caused more frustration than good. They didn’t look perfect, but tasted just as good.