Crunchy Buckeyes
Add a little bonus to your Buckeyes with this Crunchy Buckeyes recipe! Crunchy Buckeyes have all the fabulous peanut butter and chocolate flavor of traditional Buckeyes, with a wonderful little crunch in every bite. And believe me, it's a crunchy little bonus we love.
Who loves Buckeyes? I know we sure do! With their creamy, sweetened peanut butter centers peeking through a chocolate-dipped bottom, classic Peanut Butter Buckeyes are hard to resist.
But guess what? There's something we love even more than classic peanut butter Buckeyes. -- Crunchy Peanut Butter Buckeyes.
That's right, we love this crunchy Buckeyes version even better than the original. Who'd have thought that was possible?
When you have a crazy-good, super classic recipe like Buckeyes, sometimes it's tough to take the plunge to change it up. It's kind of the old adage of don't mess with a good thing, right?
Crunchy Buckeyes have all the fabulous peanut butter and chocolate flavor of traditional Buckeyes, with a wonderful little crunch in every bite.
But when I came across the idea to use Rice Krispies cereal to create a crunchy version of Buckeyes, messing with the classic Buckeyes recipe was a risk I had to take. And I'm so glad I did! Because Crunchy Buckeyes are truly amazing.
Admittedly, I kind of half-expected the result to be terrible. -- Thinking the Rice Krispies would just sort of dissolve into the peanut butter mixture and deliver up zero crunch at all. I expected the Rice Krispies to just be kind of a lost, no-value-added ingredient.
But I'm happy to report that's not so. And the crunchy result is fabulous!
The Rice Krispies stay nice and crunchy in the Buckeye, even after being stored in the refrigerator. And that little bit of crunch when you bite into the Buckeye is a really nice textural and very tasty treat.
If you're familiar with making Buckeyes, this recipe will be no trouble at all for you.
Because you whip up a batch of these crunchy little bites just as you would traditional Buckeyes. (For a detailed walk-through and tips on how to make Buckeyes, click on over to my post Peanut Butter Buckeyes Recipe: Step-by-Step.)
If you use an electric mixer to mix up the peanut butter mixture, I do recommend switching over to hand-mixing to incorporate the Rice Krispies.
Start by mixing together softened butter, smooth peanut butter, a generous bit of confectioners' sugar, and some vanilla extract to form the peanut butter center. Only to make this Crunchy Buckeyes version, also mix in some Rice Krispies cereal.
If you use an electric mixer to mix up the peanut butter mixture, I do recommend switching over to hand-mixing to incorporate the Rice Krispies.
An electric mixer will break up the Rice Krispies too much and take away some of their crunch effect. And with these Crunchy Buckeyes, crunch is what we want!
When you mix everything together, it will look like the Rice Krispies have disappeared. But don't worry, their wonderful crunch is still there.
The peanut butter dough will be pretty stiff and look dry, but don't worry -- that's how it's supposed to be. It will smooth out and come together when you roll it into balls.
Use your hands to roll the peanut butter dough into 1-inch balls.
I use a small cookie scoop (about 1 tablespoon capacity) to scoop out the peanut butter dough for each ball. This helps keep my buckeyes all pretty close to the same size.
Place each of the rolled balls on a wax paper-lined pan.
Then place the pan in the freezer and chill the peanut butter balls until they're firm, about 30 minutes. Having the dough balls chilled and firm makes them much easier to work with when dipping them in the melted chocolate.
Once the peanut butter balls are firm, dip the bottom portion of each one in melted chocolate to create their characteristic Buckeye look.
It's easiest to use a wooden pick for the dipping. Stick a wooden pick into the top center of the peanut butter ball - inserting it about 3/4 of the way in and making sure to not poke through the bottom of the ball.
Then hold onto the wooden pick as a "handle" and dip the bottom portion of the peanut butter ball into the melted chocolate, leaving some of the peanut butter exposed at the top.
Place the chocolate-dipped peanut butter balls on a wax paper-line baking sheet to set up.
Then, use your finger to gently smooth over and fix the hole in each buckeye made by the wooden pick.
I always wait until after the chocolate is chilled and set to smooth over and fix the hole - it's way too easy to smudge the chocolate if you try to fix up the hole right after the buckeyes have been dipped.
Then you're ready to enjoy the crunchy deliciousness!
The Rice Krispies hidden inside bring a wonderful little crunch to every bite of these super tasty Crunchy Buckeyes. Yes it's all the fabulous peanut butter and chocolate flavor of traditional Buckeyes, with a little bonus.
And it's a crunchy little bonus we love.
Click over to these posts for helpful tips on making Crunchy Buckeyes:
Click over to these posts for helpful tips on making Crunchy Buckeyes:
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Yield: about 90 pieces
Crunchy Buckeyes
Add a little bonus to your Buckeyes with this Crunchy Buckeyes recipe! Crunchy Buckeyes have all the fabulous peanut butter and chocolate flavor of traditional Buckeyes, with a wonderful little crunch in every bite. And believe me, it's a crunchy little bonus we love.
prep time: 1 H & 30 Mcook time: total time: 1 H & 30 M
ingredients:
- 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, melted
- 2 c. smooth peanut butter
- 5 c. confectioners' sugar
- 2 1/2 c. Rice Krispies cereal
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 12 oz. ( 2 c.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tsp. shortening (such as Crisco)
instructions:
How to cook Crunchy Buckeyes
Mix Peanut Butter Dough & Form Balls:
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together melted butter, peanut butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla until well combined. Stir in Rice Krispies (by hand).
- Line a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with wax paper. Roll the peanut butter dough into 1-inch balls and place the balls on the lined pan.
- Place pan in the freezer and chill the peanut butter balls until firm, about 30 minutes.
Melt Chocolate:
- Combine chocolate chips and shortening in the top of a double boiler or small shallow mixing bowl set over simmering water.
- Stir frequently until chocolate chips are melted and smooth.
Dip Peanut Butter Balls in Chocolate:
- Remove melted chocolate from the pot of simmering water. Remove peanut butter balls from the freezer.
- Working with one peanut butter ball at a time, stick a wooden pick into the ball - inserting it about 3/4 of the way in & making sure to not poke through the bottom of the ball.
- Hold onto the wooden pick as a "handle;" dip the bottom portion of the peanut butter ball into the melted chocolate, leaving some of the peanut butter exposed at the top. Let any excess chocolate drip off back into the melted chocolate.
- Place on the wax paper-lined pan and gently remove the wooden pick.
- Repeat until all peanut butter balls have been dipped in chocolate.
- Chill the dipped crunchy buckeyes until the chocolate is set, about 15 minutes. Then use your finger to gently smooth over and fix the hole in each from the wooden pick.
- Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator (or freezer) until serving.
TRACEY'S NOTES:
- The peanut butter dough will be pretty stiff and look dry - don't worry, that's how it's supposed to be. It will come together and smooth out when you roll the dough into balls.
- I use a small cookie scoop (about 1 tablespoon capacity) to scoop out the peanut butter dough for each ball. This helps keep all my crunchy buckeyes pretty close to the same size.
- See my post How to Melt Chocolate: On the Stove & In the Microwave for helpful tips on melting chocolate.
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