Jamie adores these peanut butter and chocolate balls, and I always used to make them for the boys to give to their teachers as gifts. I remember how proud Jamie was that his mama could make a fine homemade candy.

Buckeyes

Ingredients
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat together the sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla at medium speed. The dough should end up slightly crumbly. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet and stick a toothpick into each ball. Place in the freezer and chill for 1 hour.
3. In the top of a double boiler, or in a bowl snugly on top of a pan with a few inches of simmering water, melt the chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Holding a ball by the toothpick and placing a fork under the ball to stabilize it, dip it into the hot chocolate, leaving a small hole of the peanut butter dough showing at the top of the ball as the “buckeye.” Let the excess chocolate drip back into the pot. Return the buckeye to the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining balls.
4. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Remove the toothpicks before serving.

HOT AND COLD
The secret to getting a nice coating of chocolate on the buckeyes is to make sure the chocolate is very hot and the buckeyes are very cold. I like to bring my buckeyes out of the freezer in batches to make sure they don’t heat up while I’m working.

From PAULA DEEN’S SOUTHERN COOKING BIBLE.  Copyright © 2011 by Paula Deen. Published by Simon & Schuster, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

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