A few weeks ago, I bought some of these Eliot’s Adult Nut Butters. As I have mentioned here before, I am not a huge fan of BP on it’s own, but lvoe it as an ingredient, so it was time for some experimenting. Turns out these Honey Chipotle Sea Salt Buckeyes are awesome… and spicy! They weren’t kidding when they say “bold flavors”! But paired with the chocolate, and the whole sweet/salty thing with the sea salt, they are excellent. Certainly not your everyday Ohio treat. 🙂
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Eliot’s Adult Nut Butters Honey Chipotle Peanut Butter*
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, as needed
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
Sea salt, for sprinkling
Directions
Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the peanut butter, honey and the butter until light in color and airy in texture. Add the vanilla, chipotle powder, and cinnamon and stir to combine.
Add in the confectioners’ sugar, a little at a time, to the peanut butter mixture and beat until the sugar is incorporated and the dough holds together when compacted. If the mixture is still wet — as might be the case because this peanut butter has a lot of natural oils — you’ll need to add more confectioners’ sugar. Make sure to add the sugar slowly: You can always add more but you won’t be able to go back.
Using a small cookie scoop, shape the dough into small balls that are about the size of a compacted tablespoon. Place each ball on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Put the baking sheets in the freezer to firm up for 20 to 30 minutes. When the peanut butter balls are sufficiently chilled, melt the chocolate in the microwave in 20-second intervals or in a double boiler until it is smooth and glossy.
Dip each frozen ball into the melted chocolate, coating each as much as you’d like, placing them back on parchment covered baking sheets. This is a little tricky so that you don’t drop them completely into the chocolate. Sprinkle the buckeyes with flaky sea salt while the chocolate is still melty; that’ll help the salt to adhere.
Put the sheets back into the fridge for 5 to 10 minutes, until the chocolate has set and the buckeyes are firm.
* This is sort of the impetus for this recipe, so if you can, seek it out (it’s not too far to find in specialty shops, but even Amazon sells it). If you can’t find it, you can use honey peanut butter, but add a little more chipotle powder to get the full effect.
