~Buckeye heaven

Here's my favorite holiday candy recipe...... It's an absolute must have for Christmas! And now that it's been requested I've been craving them BIG time! I actually meant to do this blog way back when I made them for Angie's birthday, even took step by step pics, but I got sidetracked. I get sidetracked ALOT and very very often :-) It's a honking miracle if I ever post something on time. I know this is 2 days late but here ya go angie :-)~num nummy!!!

P.S. ~ you better double or triple this recipe cuz they won't last long!!!!

Buckeyes:

1 1/2 Cups of creamy peanut butter

1 stick butter, room temp

2 1/2 cups confectionery sugar (more or less)

melting chocolate (I prefer chocolate almond bark, it's near the chocolate chips)

Mix together pb, butter and sugar. You may have to use your hands because it gets pretty thick. You may have to add more confectionery sugar. The dough needs to be nice and stiff but not crumbly and definately not sticky.

Roll dough into 1" balls and set them on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper and store them I the freezer until very very firm. (20-30mins should do it) (hint: you can fit lots and lots of pb balls on a cookie sheet but when you start dipping them they'll need more space so they don't touch)

Melt chocolate (I microwave it in 30 second intervals until smooth and runny, stirring every time I check it)

Get a few of the pb balls out of the freezer (hint: I only get about 10-20 out at a time because if they aren't really good and frozen, they start sliding off the toothpick and plop into the chocolate) Using a toothpick, dip them in the melted chocolate. Make sure to leave a bit of the pb showing at the top like a real buck's eye or buckeye nut. Place them back on the wax paper and into the fridge or freezer until the chocolate is set. Store in the fridge.

dip them just 'so far'

give them a spin to get the excess chocolate off ~yes there really is such a thing as "too much"

TA~DA!!!!

Now go store them in the freezer under the frozen veggies where the kids never look :-)

I usually have leftover melted chocolate so I dip mini pretzels, nuts, ritz crackers sandwiches with pb in the middle, oreos or crushed up starlight mints. Or you can dip 3/4 of a pretzel rod then roll it in sprinkles, the kids love those. My fav to dip is marshmellows and cashews~together :-)

And if you really wanna go into sugar shock try this OMGosh!!! Isn't it beautiful?!

Buckeye Cheesecake:
1 (8x8-inch pan size) package brownie mix

3 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened

1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

1 (10-oz.) package peanut butter chips, melted

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons butter-flavored shortening (or butter!)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Spoon batter in a greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake 20 minutes. Cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325.
In large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in the sweetened condensed milk. Mix in the melted peanut butter chips, eggs and vanilla. Pour filling over baked brownie. Place pan in a larger baking pan with 1-inch hot water . Bake at 325 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes or until center is almost set. Turn oven off; remove baking pan with water. Let cheesecake cool in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; chill 1 hour. Remove side from pan. Melt chocolate chips with shortening; stir smooth. Spread this glaze over top and sides of cheesecake. Chill 3 hours. Garnish with buckeyes.

............and now that I'm drooling all over the place, I'm dipping a spoonful of peanut butter into chocolate pudding--isn't that pitiful!?! It's all I've got at the moment :-( sooooo sad.