Day 10 - Buckeyes

I have been wanting to make buckeyes for quite a while.  I saw Valerie Bertinelli make them on her Food Network show and they looked so delicious.  She did a twist on the traditional buckeyes by putting chopped heath bars in the mixture.  Peanut butter, chocolate and toffee sounded like an incredible combination.  You have probably guessed my love of peanut butter and chocolate with my Day 1 blog post but adding toffee I thought would take it to another level.  From the time I saw the Food network episode earlier this year, I knew it would be on my Christmas cookie tray.  I was just a little nervous about about whether I would be able to make them look good as the dipping of the peanut butter balls in the chocolate seemed difficult.  I did a little bit of research on the internet to see if there was a trick to making them look good.  Most people said they used a toothpick and put the chocolate in a narrow bowl that allowed the chocolate to be deep enough for dipping.  The one complaint was that the toothpick hole looked a little sloppy.  As I was doing my research, I stumbled upon a blog post that said they made the buckeyes from the Baked Explorations cookbook and thought it was a little less sweet than the traditional buckeye.  I immediately pulled my cookbook out ( I have all of the Baked cookbooks) and decided that was the recipe I needed to use.  It was a little bit different as it used a small amount of cream cheese and graham crackers.  I thought that would be an improvement to the traditional recipe.  The recipe also said you could use crunchy peanut butter so I decided I would add some chopped heath bars to half of the batter (in keeping with Valerie Bertinelli's version).  I think the result of all of these modifications was terrific.  There is only one problem, I was almost banished from the house by my son Michael, who said he couldn't understand why I would even consider making something with that name.  Sorry Penn State fans, but this treat is worth it.  Hope you don't think I am a traitor.  Maybe we can call them Lioneyes instead?

Ingredients:
1/4 cup (2 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 and 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 14 graham crackers)
3 cups confectioners sugar
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
12 ounces good-quality dark chocolate (60-72%), coarsely chopped ( I used Trader Joe's big dark chocolate bar)

In a bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter, until combined.  Add the graham cracker crumbs and beat on medium speed for 10 seconds.  Add the confectioners sugar and butter.  Beat at low speed for 20 seconds to prevent the sugar from spilling over, then gradually increase the speed until the mixture is completely combined.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat again.  The mixture will feel slightly dry.  If you want to add the health bars, you can do it at this point.  I divided the mixture in half and then put 3/4 cup of chopped heath bars in one half of the mixture.  Shape the buckeyes into balls.  The  recipe says to take a tablespoon's worth of filling.  I wanted them smaller so used a half tablespoon. Use your hands to form it into a ball.  Place the balls on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.  They can be placed close together, just not touching.  Once all the balls have been formed, I put into the freezer so the balls would be hard. The recipe doesn't say to do this but I think it made it easier to dip.

While the balls are getting set in the freezer, melt the chocolate on top of a double boiler, set over hot water, stirring until completely smooth.  Pour the chocolate into a small, deep bowl.  Let it cool to tepid ( about 100 degrees F, body temperature).  I actually left it on the double boiler (heat off).

Put a toothpick in each frozen buckeye and then dip in the chocolate, rolling the ball around from side to side to cover almost the entire peanut butter center, leaving a small part uncovered.  Let the excess chocolate drip back into the bowl and return each chocolate covered buckeye to the sheet pan.  Refrigerate the entire sheet pan about 30 minutes to set the chocolate.  The Baked cookbook recipe does not use a toothpick but instead says to use a fork or large skewer. I tried this but could not get it to work.  The toothpick method worked much better for me.  Once the chocolate is set, remove the buckeyes from the refrigerator and cover the toothpick hole by gently pinching the top with your index fingers.  It closes up easily.

The recipe says the buckeyes will keep for up to 3 days lightly covered in the refrigerator.  I put mine in a Ziploc bag and placed in the freezer as I wanted to keep them fresh for a longer period.  The recipe make 36 to 42 buckeyes.  I made double this amount as mine were half the size.  I also needed to add a little more chocolate to dip all the balls.