Roc City Buckeyes

I like regular buckeyes, but these Roc City Buckeyes are beyond my wildest peanut butter dreams. These buckeyes are elevated with crispy rice cereal to add yummy texture and makes them a little less heavy (so you can eat more!), and a hint of cinnamon to give them a little more complexity. I got the idea for the cereal from a local bakery at JonJohns, which you should order from and visit at the Brighton Farmers’ Market when you’re in town. To distinguish my buckeyes from other recipes for regular buckeyes, I’m calling them Roc City Buckeyes. Just think of the crispy rice texture as a delightful version of that crispy salt-pack that lives on Rochester sidewalks until spring.

I finished testing these Roc City Buckeyes yesterday and I was so happy with how they came together that I skipped down to my friend Amanda’s house for her family to sample. Her husband Todd texted me this: “I am not going within 5 feet of these buckeyes lest my will power give out now that I am addicted to those delicious, sweet, peanut buttery baubles with a light crunchy bite!” I told him I’d use his text as my description for the blog. Todd and I both suggest you make these Roc City Buckeyes right away.

Notes

Note about Type of Peanut Butter

You need to use a processed (not natural) peanut butter for this recipe. Use whatever you have, but I prefer Skippy since Jif can be a bit stickier and thus harder to roll into balls.

Note about Warm Kitchens

Warm kitchens are not your friend for this recipe. If when you’re rolling out the peanut butter balls and they are sticky, put your dough in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before continuing to roll. Powdered sugar on your palms will also help with sticky dough. If your kitchen is warm when you’re dipping your buckeyes in chocolate, then you may want to leave half of your peanut butter balls in the freezer while you dip the other half. Cold buckeyes make the chocolate harden A LOT faster and will make for a smoother finished candy.

Note about Dipping Roc City Buckeyes in Chocolate

Some people like to use a toothpick to dip their buckeyes in chocolate. If that’s your preferred method, go for it. I have found that the best way to get perfect buckeyes is to use skewers and position one ball on each end of the stick. Then dip each peanut butter ball in chocolate, allow excess chocolate to drain back in the bowl, then position the sticks resting lengthwise on a platter, small pan, or Tupperware. You can see how I did this in the photo below, or better yet, watch this video to understand my less then amazing instructions.

Key Ingredients

Smooth Peanut Butter

Unsalted butter

Powdered Sugar

Rice Crispy Type Cereal

Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Roc City Buckeyes – Recipe

Takes about 2 hours including resting in freezer: 15 minutes to make the batter, 15 minutes to roll the peanut butter balls, 30 minutes to chill, and 15 minutes to dip the balls in chocolate and another 30 minutes to harden. Special equipment: stand mixer or hand mixer. Makes about 60 Roc City Buckeyes

Ingredients

• 2 cups smooth peanut butter (475 grams)
• ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature!
• 3 cups powdered sugar (360 ounces) plus 2 tablespoons extra for dusting your hands
• 1 cup crispy rice cereal 26 grams
• ½ teaspoon diamond kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 2.5 cups semisweet chocolate (8 ounces)
• 2 teaspoons refined coconut oil (optional)

Step One

Line a sheet pan with wax paper or parchment paper and set aside. Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat together the butter, peanut butter, and vanilla until fully combined (scrape down your bowl as necessary). Add the powdered sugar to the butter mixture one cup at a time and mix on medium until fully combined. Then add crispy rice cereal and mix to combine. Sprinkle diamond kosher salt and cinnamon over top the batter and mix on low to fully combine.

Step Two

Dust your palms lightly with powdered sugar and pinch off roughly 1 tablespoon pieces of peanut butter batter. Roll the batter into relatively smooth balls and place on the wax paper. The balls do not need to be perfect. If your peanut butter mix is too sticky to work with see note about warm kitchens. Continue to dust palms lightly with powdered sugar and roll the rest of the balls. Once you’ve rolled the peanut butter balls, set them in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

Step Three

A few minutes before you remove peanut butter balls from the freezer, set chocolate over a double boiler (I just use a small metal bowl over a small pot with about an inch of boiling water) and gently melt your chocolate and optional coconut oil. Remove melted chocolate from heat before all of the chocolate is completely melted and stir to melt the remaining few lumps of chocolate. (you can absolutely do this in the microwave, but I prefer the double boiler for smoother chocolate and less chance of burning it).

Step Four

Set up second sheet of wax paper on a sheet pan. Set up whatever station you want for dipping your buckeyes (see note above). Remove peanut butter balls from the freezer and spearing each ball, dip about ¾ of each buckeye in the warm chocolate and set aside so chocolate can harden. (If balls start getting gloopy or are taking a long time to harden, see note about warm kitchens).

Step Five

Once finished dipping your buckeyes and the chocolate is set, then you can use a dinner knife or the tip of your finger to smooth over the little hole where the skewer was.

Buckeyes can be served at room temperature, but they are best served cool. They can be stored in a closed container in the fridge for about a week. I do not know how well they will do in the freezer, but my guess is that they can be stored for a long time.