W2 Buckeye State Favorite

A toothache and a bunch of dentist bills would never have stopped me from going to my grandma Diehl’s house when I was growing up.  Yes, she would make turkey and chicken salad sandwiches, appetizers, and of course fruit salad and the like.  But the main culinary attraction when I visited my mom’s parents was without a doubt dessert.  Grandma made this dessert that was uniquely Ohio.  Her buckeyes were better than any store bought brands or anything one could find at a bakery.  First, she mixed peanut butter with some sort of cream, which gave it a fluffy, almost marshmallowey texture.  After these were done, she would melt chocolate in a pot on the stove, and proceed to dip the peanut butter morsels into the melted chocolate with a toothpick.

Here is where many go wrong when making buckeyes: they simply dip the peanut butter into the chocolate fondue, and pull it right back up and leave it to cool.  Grandma Diehl will hold the peanut butter ball in the chocolate for much longer, allowing a thicker layer of chocolate onto the outside.  Then she will leave them on a tray for an hour or so to let the chocolate harden.  No, the buckeyes are not perfect circles like the ones in stores, but they make up for it with sheer size and taste.  Grandma’s Ohio delicacies are about the size of a golf ball and taste like a chocolate and peanut butter match that gives Reese’s a run for its money.  No trip to southern Ohio to visit my Grandparents is complete without taking at least two tins of these buckeyes home with me.