Part 1 of Holiday Candy.. Buckeyes

These yummy treats are super easy to make!! They taste a lot like gourmet peanut butter cups. Of course I also like to use White Chocolate for dipping when I feel adventurous- which makes them taste like  a cross between cups and pieces.

Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs (you can buy them or make them from crackers)
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons softened butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups chocolate chips or almond bark
Vegetable oil or extra butter

Supplies- Cutting board and knife (if using Almond Bark), double boiler or two soup pots- one larger than the other so one fits inside the other, large bowl, cookie sheet, wooden ladle, wax paper, toothpicks.

Mix the peanut butter, butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, and graham cracker crumbs thoroughly in large bowl. Place bowl in refrigerator for about 2 hours.

In the meantime, if you bought Almond Bark cut it up into tiny pieces.

After 2 hours, take the mixture out of the refrigerator and make 1 inch balls. Spread these out on cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Put a toothpick into each one and place in fridge or freezer until very firm.

Take the balls of filling off the cookie sheet (waxed paper, too) and place on the counter near the stove. Place a new sheet of wax paper on the cookie sheet- or use two cookie sheets if you want. . .

Melt chocolate in the double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler do this- place about 2 inches of water in the larger of two soup pots and place the smaller pot inside of that. Put the chocolate inside the top pan and turn the burner onto medium high. Be very careful to not splash water into the chocolate or it will separate and be ruined.  To avoid burning add small amounts of vegetable oil or butter while continuously stirring.

When the chocolate is melted and ready, take the balls of peanut buttery goodness by the toothpicks and dip them one at a time into the chocolate and then place them on the wax paper. When you have dipped them all you can take the toothpicks out of the buckeyes. Take a spoon and some of the chocolate and fill the holes in the tops of the candies left by the toothpicks. Let them set or put them in the fridge to cool faster. Store in tupperware.