Chocolate and Peanut Butter are just one of those perfect combinations. That is what makes this candy so perfect. I took the classic Buckeye Candy recipe and adapted it for a Valentine's Day treat for my family this year. The original recipe came from the Martha Stewart Living magazine and can be here. The candy dough is shaped into acorns in the original recipe and that got my wheels spinning. So I came up with an idea and went for it.
When I made these acorns, I found the candy dough softened quickly and made it hard to work with. I know humidity of different regions effect recipes, so I think that is what made the dough so soft. I adjusted the amount of powdered sugar and chilled it in the freezer instead of the frig. They weren't the prettiest candies in the world. I am still learning how to deal with melted chocolate and haven't got it all figured out yet. The candy was still yummy and a hit with DH and DD.
Buckeye Hearts
- 3/4 cup of soft peanut butter
- 1 stick of butter, softened
- 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup of chocolate chips - half milk & half semi
- 1 tbsp. of butter
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| All the ingredients you will need. |
In a mixing bowl, mix the peanut butter and butter until well blended. Add the sugar, mix until a smooth dough is formed.
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| Peanut Butter and Butter blended together. |
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| Add sugar and blend. |
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| Mix until a smooth dough forms. |
To make sure the dough was well knead, I remove it from the bowl and kneaded it a few times, then I formed it into a rectangular shape.
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| Finished dough formed into a rectangular shape. |
If you were going to form balls or acorns to chocolate, you would put the dough in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes, then form the balls or acorns and chill for another 30 minutes. Since I was going to cut this dough into hearts, I went ahead and rolled the dough out into a rectangular shape about 1/8" in thickness between two sheets of parchment paper, then I put it into the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.
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| Place dough between two pieces of parchment paper, then... |
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| roll out to 1/8" thickness. |
After 30 minutes, I pulled the dough out and started cutting out the heart shapes using a cookie cutter. I placed the hearts on a baking sheet to pop back into the freezer for another 30 minutes. (I forgot to take a picture of this step.)
While the dough is chilling, get the chocolate and 1 tbsp. butter ready to melt over a bain marie. Melt until smooth and fluid.
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| For my bain marie, I use a medium size pot of simmering water and a medium bowl fitted on top. |
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| Almost ready for the hearts to be dipped. |
I only dipped one half of the hearts in the chocolate. Once dipped I placed the hearts back on to the baking sheet so they could chill one more time for about 2 hours or until chocolate is set.
The finished product doesn't look the neatest but it is the yummyness that counts, right?
The most important thing I can say about this recipe is to keep the dough COLD. It makes it a lot easier to work with. I only used about half of the dough and that yielded about 30 hearts. I froze the rest for later use.
Making these candies involves a lot of steps and wait time, but it is well worth it, especially when you are fixing them for the ones you love.
Living life simply and thankful for every minute of it!
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