Super Bowl Dessert: Chocolate Football Buckeyes (2024)

Buckeyes, for the win.

Need a Super Bowl dessertfor the big game? Peanut butter chocolate football candies are a major win. Fun and easy to make, no-bake buckeyes score serious points.

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Football Desserts: All About Those Buckeyes

I love, love, love buckeyes. (No, I’m not talking about the Ohio football team — though the confection was created for Ohio State tailgates.) Buckeyes are the retro confection of sweet, no-bake peanut butter dough coated in dark chocolate.

My new way to gild this better-than-Reese’s-Cups lily? Make them into one of the best-ever Super Bowl desserts: buckeyes. Here’s the recipe for chocolate peanut butter football buckeyes.

Super Bowl, Super Desserts

Whether you need a special game-day dessert, or just want a fun treat with a football theme, these Super Bowl football buckeyes are absolutely delicious dessert and hard to resist.

Buckeyes even have a fun, football-themed origin story. According tolegend, buckeyes were invented in the mid-1900s by Gail Tabor. According to Tabor, she invented the recipe and gave the peanut butter balls away to friends around the holidays. She also made them for Ohio-Michigan football games, to much acclaim. The recipe eventually got out, and now we can all enjoy these tasty treats.

I think of buckeyes as the very best of peanut butter blossom cookies and Reese’s Cups, all rolled together. I like to coat mine in a good quality, tempered dark chocolate. In other words, these buckeyes are one of the best Super Bowl desserts, ever.

How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Football Buckeyes for the Big Game

This recipe came about quite by accident. I was working on “regular” round buckeyes dipped in chocolate for a freelance food writing assignment, but only needed to make a few for demonstration purposes.

Left with a lot of leftover buckeye dough and the Super Bowl imminent, I thought, “Hmm . . . what if I shaped buckeyes into little footballs as a Super Bowl dessert?”

And lo, the chocolate peanut butter football buckeye was born.

Love these football-shaped Super Bowl buckeyes idea for dessert? Here are more great football foods for game day:

Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas
18 Great Game Day Recipes for the Super Bowl
Double Chocolate Fudge Cookies

Game Day Desserts: Football Buckeyes

A retro, no-bake chocolate peanut butter treat that tastes as good as it looks, these football candies make a super dessert for the Super Bowl.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Chilling Time1 hour hr

Course: Dessert, Snack

Ingredients

For the Buckeyes

2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon peanut butter (not natural)
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
8 ounces (a little less will do) dark chocolate, chopped. Do not use chocolate chips.

For Royal Icing

1 egg white
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
water, as needed

Instructions

Mix the powdered sugar, peanut butter, melted butter, vanilla, and salt until combined. I use my electric mixer with the paddle attachment, starting on low until crumbles form, then on medium until the mixture becomes more cohesive.
Scoop the peanut butter mixture into balls. Tease the sides of the balls into points, creating a fat diamond shape like a football. Chill, covered, for about 1 hour, or overnight.
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave in 30-second increments.
PRO TIP #1: Do not get any water in your chocolate. Water is chocolate kryptonite and will make the chocolate seize up.
PRO TIP #2: If using the microwave, melt the chocolate in 30-second increments until it is about halfway melted, then at 10-second increments, stirring, until fully melted. Chocolate can burn, so err on the side of checking and stirring often.
Holding the buckeyes as close to the bottom as possible to avoid fingerprints, dip the buckeyes upside-down into chocolate, leaving a thin bare strip at the base where you're holding them. Place on a cooling rack and let the chocolate dry.

For the Royal Icing

While the chocolate sets up, make the royal icing: Stir together 1 egg white with 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar. Add a squirt of lemon juice to thin to proper piping consistency. It should be perfectly smooth and hold a medium peak in the bowl. I like to add the confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time.
PRO TIP: Use a spatula, not a whisk, when it starts to thicken or it will all get stuck in the whisk.
PRO TIP #2: Keep your royal icing covered with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap placed directly over the surface so it does not harden or form a skin.

To Finish

Using a piping bag fitted with a Wilton #2 round tip (or a very narrow tip, in other words), pipe two lines across the pointed ends of the footballs. Next, pipe a small vertical line in the center. Create laces by piping small lines perpendicular to the vertical line. Let dry.
Serve chilled or at room temperature. Will keep, covered, for several days.

Insights, advice, suggestions, feedback and comments from experts

About Buckeyes and Super Bowl Desserts

Buckeyes are a retro confection of sweet, no-bake peanut butter dough coated in dark chocolate. They are often associated with the Ohio State football team and are a popular treat for tailgates and game days. The recipe for buckeyes is said to have been invented in the mid-1900s by Gail Tabor, who gave the peanut butter balls away to friends around the holidays and also made them for Ohio-Michigan football games, to much acclaim. The confection is considered a combination of the best elements of peanut butter blossom cookies and Reese’s Cups, all rolled together. The process of making chocolate peanut butter football buckeyes involves shaping the peanut butter mixture into football-shaped balls, dipping them in melted dark chocolate, and then adding royal icing to create the football laces and details. This makes them a fun and delicious dessert, especially suitable for the Super Bowl.

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