Ever heard of buckeyes? Buckeye candy is an Ohio tradition— a sweet ball traditionally made with peanut butter, butter, and powdered sugar then dipped in melted chocolate– leaving a bit of the peanut butter exposed to look like buckeye nuts.
Never heard of a buckeye nut? Well, the buckeye is the state tree of Ohio– and the dark brown nuts they produce resemble the eye of a deer, which grows inside a rounded prickly fruit capsule. Actual buckeyes are not edible– so don’t think about trying them!
Our version of this no-bake recipe is a bit healthier than the traditional one but tastes just as good. We swapped out the powdered sugar and butter and replaced them with almond flour and maple syrup.
They’re incredibly tasty! My kids devoured them!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/3 cup almond flour
- 1 cup natural peanut butter
- 1/4 tsp salt (if peanut butter isn’t salted)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 tsp coconut oil
DIRECTIONS
- In a bowl, mix together almond flour, peanut butter, salt, maple syrup and vanilla.
- Roll into balls and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and freeze for 30 minutes.
- In a small bowl, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in 30 second increments in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, until fully melted.
- Use a toothpick (or fork) to dip the balls into the chocolate, covering 3/4 of the ball in chocolate, leaving a bit of peanut butter exposed to achieve that buckeye nut look.
- Return to cookie sheet and freeze for 30 more minutes or until chocolate is completely set.
- Store in fridge.
