Two Buckeyes and a Taste Test

This is my concluding post for Cookie Week (whew!) and, like yesterday, I’m sharing a non-cookie recipe.  Oh well.  Everyone loves Buckeyes, especially at Christmas-time, and they could technically be a no-bake, right??? 

I have my old, tried and true recipe, which I love, but then I came across a different recipe which called for graham cracker crumbs.  Hmm, curious.  So I made half a batch of each and decided to have a taste test with the family.

Does anyone watch America’s Test Kitchen on PBS?  Our entire family enjoys the show, so we all pretended we were Christopher Kimball, expertly evaluating flavor, texture, etc.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  I’ll announce the verdict in a minute, but first the recipes.

I’ll share the peanut butter part of both recipes first, then show you how I shape and chocolate-coat them both, because I did that part the exact same way.

“Graham Cracker Crumb” Buckeyes—-The New Recipe

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup butter

1 cup peanut butter

3 cups powdered sugar

My wonderful food processor mixes these up in a flash.  First, I broke up some graham crackers, then processed them into crumbs.

Next I cut the butter into pieces and added it to the crumbs, processing until it was incorporated.

Finally, I mixed in the peanut butter and powdered sugar and ended up with this.

I wouldn’t normally use a food processor to mix the dough, but since I’d already “dirtied it” with the crumbs, I went ahead and used it.  It makes the job very easy, especially if you didn’t plan ahead and let your butter soften. 

“Tried and True” Buckeyes

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup peanut butter

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Same as above.  Just blend until it all holds together, and you’ll end up with this.  Actually, you’ll end up with more.  Remember, I only made 1/2 batch of each recipe.

If you’ve been with me all week, you know how much I can’t live without like my cookie scoops.  Using my smallest (2 tsp-size) scoop, I scooped out balls of peanut butter dough to make sure they were all the same size,

then I rolled the balls in my hands to make them completely spherical.

(You can also make the peanut butter dough in advance and refrigerate the whole lump in an airtight container until you’re ready to dip.  Most of my dough remains in the fridge even now, awaiting its time.)

The Dipping

I prefer using either Merckens Cocoa Lite or Cocoa Dark chocolate molding wafers instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips for the chocolate coating because it firms up quickly at room temperature, but either way works.

Okay, you know the drill with these:  Melt some chocolate, then dip the peanut butter balls partway into it, leaving the caps uncoated, so they resemble buckeyes.  What works for me with these smaller, bite-size balls is to use a single toothpick to hold them.

Stick the toothpick into the ball and dip into the chocolate.  With my other hand, I hold a spoon underneath to help stabilize each ball.

Once the chocolate re-solidifies, it’s easy to press the peanut butter back together and eliminate the toothpick holes.

Some of both batches are in the photo.  Unless you have really good eyes, it’s hard to tell which is which based solely on appearance.

The Taste Test

Okay, now for our taste-testing results.  After sampling a bit of each batch of dough before it ever got its chocolate coat, I knew immediately, unhesitating, absolutely, positively which was my hands-down winner.  And I thought everyone else would surely feel the same way.

Imagine my shock when my small studio audience almost unanimously picked my least favorite.  I now feel Christopher Kimball’s pain when he doesn’t pick the winner.  I also understand how he can stand by his choice in the face of opposition, because no one could talk me out of my choice (nor I theirs, for that matter.)  I did have Joseph on my side, though.

Little Elisabeth doesn’t count because she quickly ate both her samples, then announced that she liked the first one best.  The thing is, I don’t know which one was the first one.

My pick was my tried and true recipe.  I love the creamy, smooth, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture.  Absolute perfection.  And to top it all off, it was extremely cooperative during dipping, much more so than the other recipe.

However, my four remaining family members swiftly and decisively came to a different conclusion.  They preferred the Graham Cracker Crumb Buckeyes, raving over them and saying how much more peanut buttery they tasted.  And they didn’t care one bit that the texture was gritty not silky smooth like the other sample.  In fact, they favored the texture because the peanut butter didn’t “stick all over the inside of your mouth” like the other one.

Perhaps the peanut butter flavor shines through because there’s less sugar in that recipe?  I’m not sure.  Personally, I can’t taste any extra peanut butter flavor, but I can definitely taste the graham crackers.  Of course, that’s still a yummy combination; it’s just not what I favor in a Buckeye.

So, there you go.  The winner is {gulp} the new recipe, however, I’m still contesting the results. 

What do you look for in a Buckeye?  Which recipe would your family prefer?  Well, you’ll just have to try them both and decide for yourselves, I guess.  And your family’s favorite may not be the one you expect.

Happy baking and candy-making, my friends.  And thanks for joining me for Cookie Week.