I hate this time of year. All the way up here in the depths of North East England the weather is sucky to say the least! We don't get sun, instead we get overcast sky and muggy, sticky heat. This is angry Katie weather, this is when my inner bitch really comes out to play. Its this time of year I really feel sorry for Kris. Sorry baby, I don't mean it, I'm horrid when I'm sticky!
You can probably gather that my heat rage is intensified while baking, especially considering my kitchen is a real sun trap during the afternoon. This is why any recipe which doesn't require me to turn on that damned oven yet still scratches my baking itch makes me smile a giant smile.
Buckeyes are my kind of sweetie. Peanut butter and chocolate, yes please, in my face! They've been on my to bake (well, to make) list since I got the Baked Explorations book last Christmas. All I've been waiting for is a muggy day like today to justify the super easy task of whipping these up.
Buckeyes
(from Baked Explorations)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (I used chunky as I grabbed the wrong jar from my cupboard, D'oh)
1 cup digestive biccy crumbs (from about 10 biccies)
3 cups icing sugar
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
12 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72%), coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (I used chunky as I grabbed the wrong jar from my cupboard, D'oh)
1 cup digestive biccy crumbs (from about 10 biccies)
3 cups icing sugar
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
12 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72%), coarsely chopped
Method:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together until combined. Add the graham cracker crumbs and beat for 10 seconds. Add the sugar and butter, and mix on the lowest speed until it stops floating off everywhere, then increase the speed until the ingredients are combined. Scrape down the whole bowl well, then mix again. The mixture will be quite sturdy and a little dry — perfect for shaping. Set it aside while you prepare the coating.
Melt the chocolate either over a double boiler, stirring until it is completely smooth or in a microwave in 30 then 10 second increments, stirring before you start it again until it is completely smooth. Let it cool to tepid while you shape the peanut butter centers.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scoop out slightly more than one tablespoon’s worth of filling and use your hands to form it into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared sheet and repeat the process until all of the candies have been shaped. They can sit close to each other but make sure they are not touching.
Using a fork or large skewer, dip each ball into the chocolate and roll it about so that almost the entire candy is coating, leaving a small circle uncoated. Allow the excess chocolate to drip off the candy before placing back on the lined baking sheet.
Chill the buckeyes until they are set, about 30 minutes before munching down with a big glass of milk!
