Peanut Butter Balls (Buckeyes)

1 Make the peanut butter filling: Place the peanut butter, melted butter, vanilla and salt in a large bowl and stir until well blended. Sift 2 cups of powdered sugar into the bowl using a fine-mesh strainer and stir until the sugar is absorbed. Sift the remaining powdered sugar and mix in and a smooth stiff paste forms.

2 Shape the filling into balls: Scoop up a small portion of dough (a small cookie scoop is great for this!). Form 1-inch balls by rolling them between your palms.

Place on a rimmed baking pan lined with a piece of parchment paper. Repeat until all the peanut butter filling is gone.

Skewer each ball with a toothpick; you’ll use this to dip the balls in chocolate later. It’s best to do this now because the balls might be too hard later.

 Chill for at least 1 hour or overnight in the refrigerator so the balls become firm enough to dip.

4 Melt the chocolate for the coating: Once the peanut butter balls have chilled, place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments on high power, stirring between each cook cycle, until the chocolate has melted and is smooth

5 Dip the peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate: Holding the peanut butter balls by the toothpick, dip it in the melted chocolate until 3/4 of the ball is covered in chocolate. Leave the top of the ball uncovered so you can see a little of the peanut butter. Place back on the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining balls.

6 Chill the buckeye balls: Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight for the chocolate to solidify. Once the chocolate is solid, wet your finger and smooth over the hole the toothpick has formed with your finger.

7 Store buckeyes in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to eat. Buckeyes can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for several weeks, or (wrapped tightly) in the freezer for several months.

source ; https://www.simplyrecipes.com/