Buckeye Balls

These perfect buckeye balls are a sweet, creamy rich peanut butter ball dipped in dark chocolate to form a hard exterior. This no bake recipe is perfect for Christmas and eating one just won't be enough because they are so yummy!

Looking for more holiday recipes? Try my Christmas monster cookies, pecan sticky buns, peanut butter blossoms or jam pinwheels.

This recipe was first published Dec 12, 2023.

These are the best buckeye balls you will ever eat! I actually think they are even better after sitting in the fridge a few days. Having just one is never enough.

If you love reeses peanut butter cups then you will absolutely love buckeye balls. They taste really similar but just loads better.

The sweet peanut butter filling is super smooth and creamy, just as it should be! Dunked in chocolate, it's perfection.

A chocolate dipped peanut butter ball is dipped all the way in chocolate but for it to be a buckeye it must not be dipped all the way. It has to have the signature pop of peanut butter visible on the top of it.

Fun fact! Buckeye balls were named after the Buckeye tree in Ohio, the state tree. A quick google search gave me that bit of knowledge. Kind of cool.

Make a double batch and freeze them, they freeze like a dream.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How To Make Buckeye Balls
• Tips For Making Buckeye Balls
• Buckeye Balls

Ingredients

This ingredient list is the shortest little list ever. Make sure to reference the recipe card for the amounts and the full set of directions.

• butter
• creamy peanut butter - make sure to use a no-stir peanut butter only, not one where the oil is separated
• vanilla extract
• powdered sugar
• salt
• Ghiradelli dark chocolate wafers

How To Make Buckeye Balls

Making The Filling: Cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth, about 1 minute.

Mix in the vanilla extract.

Sift the powdered sugar and mix into the bowl.

Mix for 2-3 minutes, let everything come together. It will look crumbly, you can use a spatula to press it together.

Forming Into Balls: Using a tablespoon, scoop out even amounts and roll into a ball using the palms of your hands.

Set the rolled peanut butter balls onto a parchment lined backing sheet.

Stick a toothpick in to the top.

Freeze for 1 hour.

The Chocolate: Melt the chocolate wafers in a double boiler.

The water should be steaming but not boiling. Transfer the chocolate to a short cup.

Toothpick Method: One by one, holding on to the toothpick dip the peanut butter balls straight down in to the chocolate, leaving the very top un-dipped to expose the peanut butter ball.

Gently shake off any excess chocolate (or else you will have pools of chocolate when setting them down).

Place back on the parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Chill: Once you have dipped everything, place the baking sheet into the fridge to chill for 2 hours.

Tips For Making Buckeye Balls

A few key tips for making buckeye balls.

Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure you are starting with room temperature butter and peanut butter. You want both of these to mix together seamlessly with no lumps.

Sizing: Use a tablespoon measurer for each one, so you get the same uniform size throughout.

Toothpicks: Stick the toothpicks in prior to chilling, this helps the peanut butter ball adhere to the toothpick and will make dipping into the chocolate much easier. You don't want the balls to fall off the toothpick each time you dunk it in.

Chocolate: If your chocolate is not freely flowing when you dip a spoon in it then raise it up, it got too hot. It should drizzle down in a steady stream. Let the chocolate sit and keep trying every couple minutes. It will cool down eventually. Easy fix!