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Kicking off the start to football season 2017 with these healthy 5 ingredient buckeyes.
I don’t know if any of you follow me on Instagram stories, but if you do, then you may or may not have seen both my brother and my dad sitting on MY couch last week doing their NFL fantasy football draft picks. Don’t ask me why they chose my house to do their draft night, but the excitement over this whole fantasy football thing is kind of beyond me.
Don’t hate me, but I just do not get it. I mean, I get that it’s fun, and that’s cool and all, but man this group just takes it to an extreme. My brother, who never, ever, has a pen and paper in hand, had not only pen and paper, but a thought-out printed list of his draft pick players. Meaning he spent time writing up a list.
Like tell me, is this normal? Are your boyfriends, brothers husbands, maybe even girlfriends this into it?
They have a giant group text going with their fantasy league and I swear between the two of their phones the messages were constantly going off for at least an hour. And during this time I was sitting at my computer trying to work. Again, no idea why they were at my house (good internet? good snacks? no wife, kids, or girlfriends? combo of the three? Probably, but either way it reminded me that football season is here, and to me that always means that buckeyes are in order.
Growing up in Ohio, I’ve made, served, and eaten more than my share of buckeyes over the years. If you happen to be unfamiliar with buckeyes, you should probably familiarize yourself, because if you don’t, you’re missing out. Buckeyes are the unofficial dessert of Ohio…home to the Ohio State Buckeyes (the buckeye tree is also the state tree). Buckeyes (the dessert) are a pretty simple concept. Peanut balls, dipped into chocolate. AKA, the Ohio State way to eat a peanut butter cup. You gotta admit, as simple as the concept is, the combo of peanut butter and chocolate will just never be boring.
As I was working on recipes, and realizing I had almost nothing planned for game day, I decided that a healthy..ish buckeye was the right move. I wanted something creamy and delicious, but minus the processed sugars. So I created this recipe that’s so simple you could probably make it with your eyes closed.
OKAY. Don’t make these with your eyes close, but you get the idea…very simple recipe.
Hello to five of my favorite ingredients: creamy peanut butter, honey, butter, vanilla, and dark chocolate.
And yes, these do have butter. And yes, I am calling them healthy. <–it’s my kind of healthy. Roll with it.
Here’s the deal.
These buckeyes are loaded with protein rich peanut butter and are made with just FIVE ingredients.
My favorite part though? These require ZERO processed sugar, which I think is pretty awesome considering that a traditional buckeye recipe calls for about two and half cups of powdered sugar…I think you can safely say sugar coma.
On my first try at this recipe I omitted the butter completely, but after testing the recipe over and over, and having multiple friends and family members try them, we all decided that a little butter was needed. Sure these were still great minus any butter, but they were a little on the dry side.
So butter was added and we ended up with the perfect healthy..ish buckeye, that everyone loved, and was Game Day approved.
Seeing that yesterday was the official kick off to football season, followed by college football on Saturday, a full day of NFL on Sunday, and of course, all wrapped up with…Monday night football. I figured what better dessert than a buckeye!
SO, what does all this mean?
Let me tell you. Tonight you should probably make this pasta for dinner and while that’s cooking, do what my mom would do, and get started on dessert. Meaning, make these buckeyes and get them into the fridge before dinner is even ready so they can set up.
Then maybe enjoy some wine or a cocktail in the process.
Eat said pasta.
Then go on to devour your guilt free buckeyes…
Oooppps.
If your Game Day party dessert plate ends up on the lighter side just blame the kids, or the dog, or your significant other. Or maybe just double the recipe…yes, double the recipe, that’s definitely the better option!
Healthy 5 Ingredient Buckeyes
Servings: 36 buckeyes
Calories Per Serving: 83 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2-4 tablespoons softened butter, to your taste
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups chopped dark chocolate, melted
Instructions
- 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the peanut butter, honey, butter, and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. The mix will be runny.2. Scoop tablespoon size amounts of dough out and roll into a rough ball. Place on the parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, cover and place in the freezer for 20 minutes.3. After 20 minutes, remove the balls from the freezer and roll them once more between your hands to smooth the balls out. Return to the freezer for at least 45 minutes, being sure they are very cold before coating in chocolate.3. Stick a toothpick into the top of each ball. Working with one ball at a time, dip the frozen balls into the chocolate leaving a small opening at the top so the peanut butter can peek out. Place the balls back on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining balls. Store in the fridge until ready to eat. These are best straight out of the fridge. Enjoy!
And just like that your Friday is made…pasta, cocktails, and a Ohio State classic, but healthier.
I used half jif and half natural peanut butter for these which probably didn’t help with the runny texture, but honestly I didn’t really fancy the taste either. I think I’d rather just use powdered Swerve in place of honey to be less unhealthy.
Hey Ada,
So sorry you did not enjoy the recipe, let me know if I can help you in anyway! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Wondering if creamed honey might be easier to work with here? Any idea? I am hoping to make these very soon. Thank you for posting your recipe.
Hey Alicia,
That would work too! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Thank you for this recipe that cuts down on the sugar. However, did you really get 36 buckeyes out of this amount? I barely got 18 haha. Mine look about the same size as yours (hard to judge on pics))
Hi! I am so glad you loved this recipe! And yes, I did, but I am sure that mine were smaller than yours! If you have any other questions please let me know! xTieghan
are these buckeyes gluten free?
Hi Rosemary! These buckeyes are gluten free, but make sure to check your ingredients on the packaging if there is an allergy! Wouldn’t want anything to be processed in the same place gluten products are! I hope you love these! xTieghan
I trying to make some Buckeyes for the first time ever
I hope these turn out amazing for you! Thank you Sonya! xTieghan
Hi! Have you ever tried these with another type of nut butter? Just wondering if they would still work with almond or cashew butter??
Thanks!!!
Hey Melissa! These are great with both almond or cashew butter. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan ???
O-H
I-O! Haha xTieghan
O-H-I-O
Love Buckeyes! I can’t wait to try your recipe for them. I’ve never added honey to them…sounds yummy!
YES!! I hope you love this recipe, Tracy! Let me know how it turns out for you!
This recipe is not firm enough to roll into balls.
HI, can you provide me with more info on how you made this recipe so that I can help to make it work for you? Hope I can help!
HI, I am sorry for the trouble. Did you chill that mixture? That is a key step. If you can let me know how you made these, that will better help me problem solve for you. Thanks!
They look fabulous. Can’t wait to make them. Thank you
Great! I hope you love these! Thank you!
I grew up making buckeyes with my mom when we lived in Cleveland! These look amazing! We always stirred rice crispies into the peanut butter right before rolling into balls for crunch. Love this healthy version!
Ooo that sounds like a great addition! Thank you Allison!
Hello, gorgeous! These are the perfect treat! 🙂
Right?! I am glad you are loving these!
They look delicious! I read the recipe and I am a bit confused. Step 2 says 20 Minutes in the freezer, step 3 take out after 15 minutes? Am I missing something. I am itching to try them!?
So sorry, just a typo is 20 minutes in the freezer. Let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love these!
These were SO GOOD. I was skeptical because I don’t like the overly sweetened traditional buckeyes with all the powdered sugar… but these? Oh boy. I came home to find that my Ohio State loving boyfriend (who was raised in CO so you guys have much in common!) ate half the batch.
Thanks for sharing!
I am so thrilled you (& your boyfriend) loved these Libby! Thanks so much!
Question though…..how do you supposedly roll runny batter in to balls?
The other way I have made these in the past had butter, peanut butter, and powdered sugar in the middle, and it wasn’t runny. Switching out powdered sugar for honey could make it a bit runny, but you could always put the whole batter in the frig or freezer to firm it up a bit before rolling them. Then you shouldn’t have to roll, freeze, roll again, freeze again, and then coat in chocolate.
Hi Beth! The peanut mix is running at first. That is why you will dollop them onto a baking sheet, freeze, then roll them into better shaped balls, freeze once more and then dip. It’s a little bit of a process, but in the end you get a delicious buckeye! Hope that helps. Let me know if you have other questions. Thank you!