Peanut Butter Balls – Buckeye Balls
Classic peanut butter balls are a family favorite no bake treat to make during Christmas time!
Buckeye Balls are easy to make with only 6 simple ingredients.
Buckeye balls are easy to make with only 6 ingredients.
Plus this recipe answers all of your questions about how to make peanut butter balls. It includes a video recipe too!
Buckeye balls are a family favorite no bake treat to make during Christmas time! Depending on where you live, you might know them as peanut butter balls!
Regardless of what you call them, they taste like a giant reese’s peanut butter cup ball!
Why You’ll Love Them
- 6 simple everyday ingredients
- no baking required
- the perfect no bake treat the whole family can help make
- they taste like a giant reese’s cup
Tips for Making, Dipping & Storing
In this post, I’ll walk you through..
- How to dip buckeye balls
- How to store peanut butter balls
- Freezing peanut butter balls
- How to fix sticky or crumbly buckeye balls
What You’ll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions for making Peanut Butter Balls.
- unsalted butter – room temperature
- creamy peanut butter – can also use chunky if you like the chunky texture
- vanilla extract
- powdered sugar – also called confectioners sugar
- semi-sweet chocolate chips
- vegetable oil – shortening or coconut oil works too
How to Make Peanut Butter Balls
Combine. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer until combined and smooth.
Vanilla and powdered sugar. Add in the vanilla extract and powdered sugar. Beat on low, until the mixture comes together. It will be THICK. You can also switch to using your hands to knead the mixture together.
Cookie scoop. Use a cookie dough scoop, or tablespoon, to form balls. Roll the mixture between your hands to form balls. ⭐TIP: Rub a small amount of butter between your hands if the mixture gets sticky.
Freeze. Place the balls on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Place the baking sheet in the fridge for 1 hour or for 20 minutes in the freezer. This step is crucial, do not skip chilling the balls.
Melt chocolate. After chilling the peanut butter balls, in a small pot over low heat on the stove, melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips and shortening (or coconut oil). Stir occasionally until fully melted, this may take 10 minutes.
How to Dip. To dip the balls, stick a toothpick halfway into the peanut butter ball, then lower into the melted chocolate, swirling as needed.
Traditional buckeye balls aren’t fully covered in chocolate, but have a peanut butter “eye”.
Gently scrap the bottom of the ball on the edge of your container that’s holding the chocolate to remove excess chocolate. Then place the dipped ball on a silicone baking mat. Use a second toothpick, resting on top of the ball, to help remove the toothpick that’s inserted into the ball.
Smooth. Use your finger to smooth over the hole from the toothpick.
Set. Once all the balls are dipped, return them to the fridge for 30 minutes to set the chocolate.
Do buckeye balls need to be refrigerated?
Yes! At least for optimal eating conditions, I recommend keeping them in the fridge. If you leave the balls out for too long, the butter and peanut butter will become soft.
Place peanut butter balls in an air tight container with parchment paper between the layers in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
How To Freeze Buckeye Balls
- Flash freeze them. Place the balls on a silicone mat lined baking sheet in the freezer, and freeze until frozen.
- Then wrap bundles of 6-8 balls together in plastic wrap and place inside a freezer container or ziplock bag.
- They will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.
To thaw – place the entire bag or individual bundles in the fridge overnight. Once thawed, unwrap the bundles. There may be condensation that you need to blot with a paper towel.
Common Problems
Here are some common problems and solutions for peanut butter balls.
Too sticky: Stick the bowl of the peanut butter mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes to help firm up the mixture before rolling.
Too crumbly: This generally means there’s too much powdered sugar. Try adding an additional 1/4 cup of peanut butter to the mixture.
Tips for Success
Do not pack down the powdered sugar. This will result in too much powdered sugar and crumbly peanut butter balls.
To make perfectly portioned balls, use a cookie dough scoop to measure out each ball.
Are the peanut butter balls sticking to your hands while rolling them? Rub a little butter on your hands and reapply as necessary.
The key to successfully dipping the balls on a toothpick are COLD buckeye balls. Do not skip this step!
Line your baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. You want to create a non-stick surface for the chocolate to set on.
Use your finger or the back of a spoon to cover the holes left from the toothpicks.
Variations
For added texture or crunch – add in 1 cup of crushed rice krispie cereal or 1 cup crushed graham crackers.
Switch up the chocolate – use milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips.
FAQs
Peanut butter, butter, and chocolate chips are naturally gluten free. This is a great treat to share with your gluten free friends!
Yes. If you like the added texture of the nuts, go for it!
Place the balls on a silicone mat lined baking sheet in the freezer, and freeze until frozen.Then wrap bundles of 6-8 balls together in plastic wrap and place inside a freezer container or ziplock bag. They will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Place buckeye balls in an air tight container with parchment paper between the layers in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
More Christmas Desserts
Peanut Butter Balls – Buckeye Balls
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened (equal to 1/2 cup)
- 1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, a 12oz bag has about 2 cups
- 1 tbsp shortening, or coconut oil
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer until combined and smooth.
- Add in the vanilla extract and powdered sugar. Beat on low, until the mixture comes together. It will be THICK. You can also switch to using your hands to knead the mixture together.
- Use a cookie dough scoop (or tablespoon) to form balls. My balls had about 2 tbsp of dough. Roll the mixture between your hands to form balls. *TIP* Rub a small amount of butter between your hands if the mixture gets sticky.
- Place the balls on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Place the baking sheet in the fridge for 1 hour or for 20 minutes in the freezer. This step is crucial, do not skip chilling the balls.
- After chilling the peanut butter balls, in a small pot over low heat on the stove, melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips and shortening (or coconut oil). Stir occasionally until fully melted, this may take 10 minutes.
- I like to remove 5 balls from the fridge/freezer at a time to dip, this helps to keep the others cold. To dip the balls, stick a toothpick halfway into the peanut butter ball, then lower into the melted chocolate, swirling as needed. Traditional buckeye balls aren’t fully covered in chocolate, but have a peanut butter “eye”. Gently scrap the bottom of the ball on the edge of your container that’s holding the chocolate to remove excess chocolate. Then place the dipped ball on a silicone baking mat. Use a second toothpick resting on top of the ball to help remove the toothpick that’s inserted into the ball.
- Once all the balls are dipped, return them to the fridge for 30 minutes to set the chocolate.
- Serve and enjoy. Follow the storage directions in the notes.
Notes
Do buckeye balls need to be refrigerated?
Yes! At least for optimal eating conditions, I recommend keeping them in the fridge. If you leave the balls out for too long, the butter and peanut butter will become soft. Place buckeye balls in an air tight container with parchment paper between the layers in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.Can buckeye balls be frozen?
Yes, as long as you properly package them for the freezer.- Flash freeze them. Place the balls on a silicone mat lined baking sheet in the freezer, and freeze until frozen.
- Then wrap bundles of 6-8 balls together in plastic wrap and place inside a freezer container or ziplock bag.
- Buckeye balls will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months. To thaw, place the entire bag or individual bundles in the fridge overnight. Once thawed, unwrap the bundles. There may be condensation that you need to blot with a paper towel.
Can you use salted butter?
Yes, if you prefer that flavor!
Hi! Thank you for the recipe. Buckeyes are the best! Is there a good substitute for coconut oil/shortening if I don’t have any?
They’re just “buckeyes”, not buckeye balls.
Thanks for the correction, Karen! 😉
Can I use unsweetened power duvet for buckeyes I have children that are diegetic
Hi Linda! I’m not familiar with unsweetened power duvet.. what is that?
Thank you for the wonderful directions !! I USUALLY JUST MAKE BALLS FROM MY HEAD , NOWI WILL USE YOUR AWESOME RECIPE!! 12-16 -2021 HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMASAND NEW YEAR!! THANK YOU DEBBIE MANZER
I have butter flavored shortening will this matter??
That’s totally fine!
I’ve been making buckeyes for years and I use merckens chocolates and I do not put any kind of shortening. It melts up nicely without anything added. I use a glass bowl and put it in an electric skillet on very low heat, will stay melted as long as I have it on. Never turn off just unplug it.
These buckeyes are a delicious sweet treat! Hard to resist. Made these for the November challenge and taking them to our Thanksgiving family gathering!
Why do some recipes for buckeye balls use graham cracker crumbs?
I’ve seen that too! I think it depends on where they grew up, there are so many different buckeye ball recipes!
(I’m doing this for the December Challenge!)
Great and delicious! How can you go wrong with peanut butter balls?! Peanut butter and chocolate is the best duo! I’m making a bunch of different candies or desserts as little gifts for my siblings and I picked these as one of them! Thanks for the recipe!
This was my first time making buckeye balls- they were easy to make and the instructions were very precise. They are sooo delicious!
These are the best ever!!! In LOVE. Made them for my husband and he agrees. Thank you 😊
These have always been a favorite of mine, but this was my first time making them. They are delicious! Recipe is very easy to follow.
English language does not suffice in describing this explosion of absolute awesomeness! I’ve been looking for this recipe since 2009. Thank you so very much!
I was so excited that I forgot to rate. Actually these should receive a 10!