Crispy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles.
Wanna know a secret?
My mom totally burned me out on buckeyes as a child. Really.
She made billions of them every Christmas for years and years and years and then I made myself physically ill from eating the peanut butter balls, actual spoonfuls of the melted chocolate (and paraffin?), and finally the finished product hidden in tupperware outside in the garage.
You can only imagine how thrilled she was to open those containers when it came to making last minute cookie trays and find only… crumbs. Yeeeeeah. I deserved coal and a treadmill in my stocking every year.
But I haven’t wanted a buckeye in like, 15 years. Seriously.
And I mean, you KNOW how I feel about peanut butter and chocolate.
So good news! These aren’t buckeyes. Or maybe they are and this is just my lame attempt to pretend they are something else. However, these have a doughier (is that a word? because why is there a squiggly red line under it?) texture and obviously – tons of crisp. When I brought out Mother Lovett’s recipes a few weeks ago to gather my crap for Christmas cookies, this recipe fell out on a little faded square of paper. Not sure why I tossed it to the side in previous years, but I’m pretty sure it has something to do with the whole buckeye thing. Well that, and because it’s also on the same scrap of paper as two variations of dried beef dip. That just wasn’t doing it for me either.
But these definitely do it. They are so doughy and crispy and crunchy. Yes, they are really just your typical peanut butter balls with lots of crisp junk shoved inside. They take other cookie dough truffles to the next level. They take buckeyes to the next level. They take your brother’s birthday to the next level.
Oh yeah. I made these for him. But then we ate them all. Before we could deliver them. Story of my life.
Crispy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles
Ingredients
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup crisped rice cereal
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat peanut butter and butter until creamy and smooth. Gradually add in vanilla extract and powdered sugar with the mixture on low, speeding up once it becomes more combined. At this point you should have a cookie “dough” (depending on your brand of peanut butter you may need a little more sugar – add it 1-2 tablespoons at a time while mixing). Using a spatula, gently fold in crisped rice cereal so it gets distributed through the batter, adding more is desired. Be careful not to crush all the cereal so it stays crispy.
- Once combined, roll dough into balls (mine were slightly more than teaspoon-sized) and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Some of the balls will have crisped rice edges sticking out and some may be crumbly – that’s okay, just roll as smooth as you can occasionally squeezing the dough together if needed. Refrigerate for 60-90 minutes. Melt chocolate in either the microwave (I melt in 30 second increments while stirring) or in a double boiler. Remove peanut butter balls from fridge and dip in chocolate, then place back on parchment. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. Store in the refrigerator!
- Note: if you want the peanut butter drizzle, I simply melted 1/2 cup of peanut butter chips then used a spoon to drizzle.
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
You will want one. Or ten.
215 Comments on “Crispy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles.”
I love buckeyes my mom has not made then in well forever! These however look delicious wonderful salty and sweet combo!
I love buckeye candies. But I didn’t discover them until I went to Ohio State for undergrad. I was always perplexed by the paraffim included in the melted chocolate for the coating, but it seemed to work and make them a little shiny – and it never killed me. But today I don’t use it in my buckeyes. But as for these truffles here? I highly doubt I could ever share them – mine I say!
Buckeyes, fudge, and a birthday cake for Jesus were just a few of the staples of Christmas when I was growing up. I am going to have to try these!!
Haha. I used to get burnt out on buckeyes too…well until the next Xmas. It’s been a few years though since I’ve had one….these sound like a mighty fine replacement.
Yeah I’m going to go ahead and feel like it’s safe to say I’ll want 10. The only thing I love more than peanut butter and chocolate is cookie dough, peanut butter and chocolate!
My mother makes these exact cookies. And yes, every year I would sneak down to the basement freezer and steal a few… a day… They got me in so much trouble, but it was so worth it.
I would like some of these ASAP, please. Thank you.
O..M…G :) Suddenly my assorted fruit and half a bagel with cream cheese just doesn’t cut it :(
Ooooo, Buckeyes kicked up a few notches~! Will be making these right after I grab all the ingredients… right after my Weight Watchers mtg. this morning. LOL
I get such a kick from your blog and your recipes… but dang, they play havoc with my waistline!
doesn’t stop me, tho’… just spend some extra time with my friends (not up to “best friend” status, yet) elliptical machine, exercise DVD’s, and walking… the price a gal’s gotta pay just because she has tastebuds~!
and I have already pinned this one, too :)
Thanks so much Kim!
oh wow, these look wonderful!
Oh my gosh- thankyou, thankyou, thankyou for posting this! I swear I saw a recipe similar to this on allrecipes a couple weeks ago and planned to make it as part of my christmas cookies, but have not been able to find the recipe since. And poof! Like magic you posted them today- you are a life-saver!! It’s a Christmas miracle! :)
As someone who is not a fan of peanut butter (*gasp,* I know), I’m going to try these with Nutella. May be a lot of chocolate, but who says that is a bad thing?
I think that is a fabulous idea.
We make ‘peanut butter balls’ every year at Christmas. Granny spoiled us. She used oleo and paraffin and so we do too to continue the tradition.
I didn’t know buckyeyes existed until much later – and nobody I know uses the rice crispies.
I always try them at parties, but they’re never as good as ours!
I make these every year (paraffin and all), but I have always called them peanut butter balls. Tomato, tomotto I guess. The paraffin idea sounds really gross, but it makes the chocolate incredibly thin and crunchy (and so shiny!!), and for some reason I can’t resist those waxy exteriors. I eat 4 in one sitting. Or 12. Yummmmmmm.
My mom will never make them without the paraffin! She swears by it too.
Try tempering your chocolate and mixing in a tablespoon of cocoa butter instead of the wax. The flavor is much better and you get a lighter, crisper chocolate shell.
YUM! My mom makes these at nearly every holiday, but calls them peanut butter balls. So tasty!!
Lawd have mercy!! I can’t wait to try these!
Best part of my day: reading your blog.
Worst part of my day: realizing there’s no more of your blog left to read :(
Do you have any recommendations for other good blogs, similar to yours? (yours would still, of course, remain my favorite)
Thanks Nichole! I read a ton of blogs but my current faves are: http://www.shutterbean.com/, http://www.mylifeasamrs.com/, http://withstyle.me/, http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/, http://spoonforkbacon.com/, http://www.sprinklebakes.com/ and http://bakersroyale.com/!
Thanks!
I made a very similar recipe the other day for gifts. I have eaten half and haven’t given any away. I just started my day with one because I couldn’t wait for my egg to cook.
Another great discovery? Dip your spoon in some of that Trader Joe’s Cookie butter, and then dip your spoon in the chocolate that you are melting for these truffles. Your welcome.
Ugh. I can’t believe you had to tell me that!
*you’re
I want ten, definitely ten. Immediately!
your photos are great. and this is pretty healthy – pb is so good for you. if you don’t mind me asking, what kind of camera do you shoot with? and lens? You take the most beautiful pics.
Thanks so much! I used a Nikon D5000 and a 35mm f/1.8 lens.
these look incredible! i love buckeyes. i found a recipe for buckeye bark i plan to make soon- bottom layer of dark chocolate – middle layer of pb/powder sugar/butter – top layer dark chocolate. yum!!! thanks for this recipe Jessica! :)
Buckeye BARK?! OMG OMG OMG.
Gorgeous! I can never get sick of peanut butter and chocolate!
Ever tried using half crunchy and half creamy peanut butter? That’s my favorite way to make these… even more crunch!
The recipe actually called for crunchy peanut butter! But I didn’t have any, so I went with smooth. I’m sure that is delish.
the title instantly drew me in… and then the photos made me drool… peanut butter and chocolate are my top favorite combo – YUM.
A number of years ago, I used to always include these as part of my Christmas baking. At some point I misplaced the recipe and kind of forgot about them. I am so excited to be able to include the 2011 “truffle” version in my Holiday baking this year. Doesn’t everything sound better if the word truffle is included in the name of the yummy? Thanks for reviving this treat.
Agreed! That’s why I used “truffle.” :)
Those look delicious. Another Buckeye fan, and these look like crispy ones. My husband, being from Ohio, introduced me to them. Bless his heart. :) Maybe I can introduce him to the crispy, upgraded version, lol.
No words. Can you believe I’d never had a buckeye until I got to college? Ridiculous. I think I could probably eat about a Tupperware of these things. Or maybe just the entire batch.
(I like the crispy addition!!)
What is parrafin? Was I deprived some cool ingredient all of my childhood?!
Hahahahah oh no… it’s wax. You’re not missing anything.
In the 50’s and 60’s it became popular to use a food grade wax in dipping chocolate to try and eliminate the tempering process. It isn’t harmful but it doesn’t do the flavor any favors. The last 20 years has seen a resurgence in classic marble slab tempering as the best way to create a dipped chocolate with nice “snap” and even coating.
Oh my sweet jesus. I need at least 20 of these right now. The crispy stuff is killin’ me.
I love the addition of crisped cereal and especially that you posted a cookie dough truffle. I have to admit I’m a bit obsessed with cookie dough truffles. I imagine my friends must be getting sick of them because I pretty much take any occasion to try out a new flavor variety. I have an oatmeal raisin version in the queue to be posted on the blog next week. I also appreciate that you used peanut butter chips because I was wondering if they could be melted well into a drizzle. I tried that with cinnamon chips and it was a HUGE fail. The texture got very weird and wonky. Have you ever tried melting cinnamon chips? I’m curious if it was user error or if they just aren’t meant to be used that way.
Oh and thanks for the long and thoughtful response to the comment I left the other day, I really appreciate it.
Heck Yes! I just made these this week… almost the exact same way as your recipe too. Great minds think alike they say. :)
Great pics! (yours are prettier than mine!)
:)
I was just saying yesterday I wanted to try my luck at buckeyes haha. This recipe looks great!
I kinda got burnt out on Buckeyes after I discovered how easy they were and made them obsessively through highschool. After I grew up more, I wanted to make ‘harder’ treats, cookies and pies. You know, to show off my emerging talent. Now that I’m all over that I want to try these again!!! Yes, please!
Crispies make my world go ’round!
I totally ask myself the same, is this a real word cause it’s got that squiggly red line question ALL THE TIME. hahaah
I’ve never had a buckeye and never even heard about them until I started blogging. Um but crispy balls of peanut buttery goodness dipped in chocolate sounds like YUM.
These look amazing! Just realized you were a fellow Pittsburgher the other day :-)! Any suggestions for dipping? I usually lose mine in the pot, or they have a hole in the top, or the chocolate makes a huge base around them. They always taste good but don’t look as pretty as yours!
Yum, these look delicious!! I am on sweets overload right now and cannot organize everything to make more stuff but these are on the list!!! Do you ever have problems with your chocolate “blooming”? I seem to have this issue everytime I use melted chocolate on something.
i read the title to my husband without even having to show him a photo and he was automatically down. thank you for sharing!
This used to be one of our “staple” candies at Christmas. Definitely my favorite, I loved the added crispy! I love the drizzle that you added!
Ok, which is better: these or the peanut butter pretzel truffles? I want to make some for a friend allergic to dairy and the other doesn’t have any butter- can I leave the butter out of this one?
You can use margarine but you need some kind of fat added to the recipe. My mother makes them with margarine for her sister’s family because they are all lactose intolerant. They tend to be a little bit softer at room temperature than the ones made with butter.
absolutely fantastic!
I think I have eaten so many Buckeyes in my life I never want another one. These look so much better!
Stopping by for the first time. I have had these tasty chocolate peanut butter treats but never made them. Thanks for posting the how-to! Going to give them a try over the weekend :) Boys will love it
Send some to me now. Quick! A gazillion would do it.
so gorgeous! i always love your photos! i definitely got burnt out on buckeyes when i was growing up. my aunt always made them and christmas and i would just grab handfuls of them at a time. maybe it’s time i give them another shot, but with this awesome recipe. thanks girl & i hope you have an awesome weekend :) xo
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you. are. amazing.
I found your site last month when I was looking for some cool pumpkin recipes….made your chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and haven’t looked back. Now I’ve made about a dozen of your recipes. I have loved them all! And I have had such a great time reading your past postings. You are Hilarious!!!
I, too, adore bacon and hate vegetables which is bad cuz for the last 2 years I’ve been a vegetarian. Please keep trying new vegetable recipes for those of us who hate them.
Thanks for bringing smiles, good food, and sharing a part of yourself with us.
I have never heard of Buckeyes, maybe that is a northern thing? Well, I made these tonight and I have a very happy family!!! Thank you for the recipe! It was easy and delicious! :)