In honor of our home team: BUCKEYES

This is the traditional, not-so-healthy, Ohio recipe for buckeyes. If you're not familiar with them, they are a candy consisting of a peanut butter center dipped in chocolate. Buckeyes are made to look like the inedible nut of our state tree, a member or the horse chestnut family. They're also the mascot of our local college team, The Ohio State University Buckeyes.

1 pound peanut butter (2 cups) *
1/2 pound margarine (1 cup)*
1-1/2 pounds powdered sugar (4 cups)
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate or chips
1-2 ounces paraffin*

Using your SideSwipe beater on your stand mixer, mix peanut butter and margarine until combined. Add powdered sugar in small batches until combined and a soft dough forms. Roll into 1-inch balls. Refrigerate or freeze 6-8 hours or overnight.

Melt chips and paraffin in a double boiler. Using a toothpick (square works best), dip the peanut butter ball into the chocolate, rolling to form a rounded center where the peanut butter shows through. Put on wax paper to cool. Smooth toothpick hole. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

* HINTS:
​Low-fat margarine and butter don't work well in this recipe, as they make the balls too soft at room temperature. You can use non-hydrogenated versions of PB and margarine or butter if you prefer. Just keep them refrigerated until right before you serve them.

If you don't have paraffin, you can omit it. The wax just makes the chocolate coating a little more finger friendly!