The Best Buckeye Balls Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep buckeyes from sweating? ›

SHORTENING added to the chocolate is the big secret ingredient for buckeyes. This helps stabilize the chocolate so that it dips nicely, and helps prevent the chocolate from weeping and sweating once it's hardened. Traditionally, people added paraffin wax to the chocolate to achieve this.

Why are my Peanut Butter Balls so sticky? First, make sure you're using regular peanut butter (rather than the natural peanut butter that's more runny). If it's too sticky still, you can simply add a little more powdered sugar until it's a nice consistency for rolling into small balls.

1. To avoid a dry, crumby dough . . . Mix together the peanut butter and butter first, and then stir in the powdered sugar one cup at a time, until you reach the right consistency. Usually about 3 cups of powdered sugar will do for approximately 1 1/2-2 cups of peanut butter.

Storage Tips

Make sure your buckeyes stay fresh for as long as possible! The buckeyes should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator to keep them nice and fresh. Stored in this way, they will keep for about 1 month (although good luck keeping them that long without eating them all, ha!).

Dry your buckeye nuts in the sun for a few days. If you want to speed things up, you can dry them in an over at 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93.3 degrees Celsius) for two hours [source: Buckeyetree].

Roast them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until they turn a deep brown color. Allow them to cool before enjoying. Are there any safety precautions to consider when roasting buckeye nuts? Yes, it's important to note that raw buckeye nuts are toxic and should not be consumed.

The buckeyes are beautiful as is. You can store them in an air-tight container in the fridge or you can freeze them, though I will warn you if you keep them in your fridge you will be tempted to eat one every time you pass by. I like to give them away as gifts in cute bags or Christmas Chinese-like takeout boxes.

Buckeyes taste like peanut butter cups with an emphasis on the peanut butter! Not too sweet, really creamy, and so satisfying.

Dry the fruit for 1 or 2 days at room temperature until the capsules split, then remove the shiny, brown seeds. The seeds of buckeyes and many tree species will not germinate until they are exposed to cool temperatures and moist conditions for 3 to 4 months.

Do buckeyes smell? ›

Totally toxic

Not just the nuts, but all parts of the Ohio Buckeye tree are toxic, including the leaves and bark. Its leaves also smell bad when crushed, which explains why Buckeye trees are sometimes referred to as "fetid buckeye" or "stinking buckeye."

Just as the trees finish flowering (sometimes before, especially in dry areas or dry seasons), the foliage will begin to show “autumnal” tints of soft yellow and tan, and the leaves begin to fall or wither.

The Buckeye's Place in History

As well as the belief in the good fortune of its storied seed, the buckeye has been held to cure rheumatism and other, more minor ailments. Pioneering farm families also made soap from the kernels of buckeye seeds, and many a child's cradle was carved from the wood of this tree.

Buckeyes are fine to sit out at room temperature on holiday cookie plates for up to 24 hours, though if you're keeping them around for longer than that, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator where they'll stay fresh for up to 2 weeks. Buckeyes also freeze super well.

Culture: Red buckeye can be grown in shade or full sun, although its growth is shrubby and open in shade. It does well in all soil textures, and prefers a moist, well-drained soil that is slightly alkaline to acidic. It grows best in good, rich soil.

Any part of the plant, if ingested, is poisonous but just touching it is not harmful. Farmers have been known to remove the buckeye tree from fields where cattle graze to prevent the animals from eating any part of the tree. It can cause paralysis, vomiting, diarrhea, stupor.