Peanut butter balls with white chocolate coating

Posted 9 August 2012 by

In search for a wheat- and egg-free dessert that I could make with the ingredients I had on hand, I found these two recipes for Buckeye Cookies on Allrecipes.com. I’m not from Ohio, so I had to do a Google search to find out what buckeyes actually were. Apparently buckeyes are a kind of nut that is found on the Ohio Buckeye tree, and the cookies resemble these nuts.

Photo credit: Northwest Ohio Nature

Photo credit: Dianne on Allrecipes.com

I wasn’t trying to achieve that look, and I only had white chocolate melting wafers on hand, so I just coated the peanut butter balls entirely. The peanut butter seemed to leach into the melted chocolate after awhile, so the coating became less smooth and more “furry” with each subsequent ball. I also ran out of chocolate after awhile, so I have only estimated the measurement of chocolate in the recipe that follows. Also a warning: these addictive desserts are approximately 200 calories and 11 g of fat each!

Peanut Butter Balls with White Chocolate Coating
Yield: about 40 balls

2 cups smooth peanut butter (I used light)
1 cup corn flakes and/or crispy rice cereal, coarsely crushed (I used a mix of both; optional)
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups icing sugar (aka confectioners’ sugar)
3 cups white chocolate melting wafers*

*I found these in bulk food bins, but I know you can also buy them at Michaels. Feel free to use milk or dark chocolate, or any of the fun colours that they come in! See pics below.

Directions:

  1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Mix the first four ingredients together well in a large bowl. Add sugar to the mixture while continuing to mix. Continue to add sugar until the mixture resembles dough. You may need to add more or less sugar than indicated to achieve the desired consistency.
  3. Roll the mixture into balls, using about a tablespoon for each ball. Place each ball onto the cookie sheet. Chill in fridge or freezer until ready for coating.
  4. Melt the chocolate wafers in a double boiler or a heat-proof glass bowl over a pot of simmering water. Using two forks, pick up each ball one at a time and dip into the melted chocolate. Tap the fork to allow all excess chocolate to drip off the ball to ensure a thin coating. Return each ball to the cookie sheet. Once all the balls are coated (or you are out of chocolate), allow to set at room temperature (mine didn’t set as it is summertime and I didn’t have the A/C on so I just placed the whole thing in the freezer). I prefer them chilled or frozen, but you can serve at room temperature if it isn’t too warm where you are.

References:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buckeye-cookies-iii/detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buckeyes-ii/detail.aspx

White Chocolate Melting Wafers – Photo credit: Bulk Barn

Coloured Melting Wafers – Photo credit: Bulk Barn

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