Buckeyes

My original plan for element 4 (Be) was brownie.  However, when we were recently in Ohio, my 7-year-old daughter sampled a "buckeye" at a family gathering and wanted to make some, so...

"Buckeyes" are a candy which consists of peanut butter-y stuff dipped in chocolate.  Traditionally, you don't fully dip the peanut butter center, so that the candy ends up looking like a buckeye, which is a nut from a buckeye tree.

I had these all the time when I was living in Ohio, but I don't see them as much in Virginia.  However, I don't see many obnoxious Ohio State Buckeye fans here in Virginia, either, so I guess it's an even trade.

I tried to make buckeyes once in college, using a recipe which included paraffin wax melted in with the chocolate coating - I guess this was either to improve consistency or appearance of the coating.  I evidently used too much paraffin, though, because my "candy" ended up tasting like peanut butter-flavored crayons.

Here's the recipe I tried this time: Crunchy Buckeyes.  I liked the sound of these - the rice krispies would add a nice crunch.  I made them with my daughters' help.

However, I ran into a big problem: the chocolate chips refused to melt into a consistency which would allow for dipping of the peanut butter balls.  I tried heating it up hotter (afraid I'd burn the chocolate), and I tried adding a bit of milk, which just ended up making the chocolate seize.  We did manage to make a few pathetic-looking buckeyes, but I think that the chocolate chips needed something else to thin them out - maybe paraffin, maybe shortening, I don't know.

I'll give this recipe a 3 out of 10.  I just couldn't make it work.  It was possibly a problem on my end, but a good scientist always blames the experimental procedure.

The peanut butter filling, though, was delicious!