This recipe for Skinny Buckeyes was originally published in December 2011. I’ve updated and pictures and wanted to re-share this post so you can make them this football or holiday season! You don’t want to miss this healthy candy recipe. 
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For everyone else, all you need to know is that it’s a peanut butter ball dipped in chocolate. And they are insanely good.
One of the first Christmas holidays that Tim spent with my family he was given a box of Buckeyes. It wasn’t a small box. He tried one and was hooked. Every time I looked at him, he was grabbing another little candy from the box.
Everyone was astounded when he ate the entire box in one day. He’s like a legend in my family for being able to down that entire box so quickly. See? Buckeyes are addicting.
Because Tim loves them so much, I want to make him Buckeyes. But you can see why at the same time, I don’t want to make him Buckeyes. He really can’t restrain himself when he gets around these tasty treats.
So, here is my compromise. Healthier Buckeyes. A traditional Buckeye recipe calls for peanut butter, lots of butter, lots of powdered sugar, and shortening to go with the dipping chocolate. I knew I could do better.
My inspiration were my High Protein Energy Balls I made earlier this year. As soon as I tasted those, I knew I could make Buckeyes with chickpeas in them.
Whhaaaaat? Buckeyes with chickpeas? Don’t stop reading. You can’t taste the chickpeas. I promise. I also cut out the butter all together, used (a much smaller amount of) honey instead of powdered sugar, and substituted much healthier coconut oil for the shortening. What you get is a healthy, but still really delicious, Buckeye!
Here are some step-by-step pictures showing you how easy this is in your food processor. I have this food processor and absolutely love it. I couldn’t imagine trying to live this healthy lifestyle without it!
First, add your chickpeas:
Blend them until they are as smooth as they will get:
Add the peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and salt.
Give it another whirl in the food processor until the mixture forms a ball.
Now you’re ready to form the mixture into balls.
Let them firm in the freezer for a least 15 minutes, and then you’re ready to dip them in the chocolate!
Now you’ve got a healthy Buckeye, or as we call them at this house, peanut butter ball, that everyone will love!
Whether you have a long-standing tradition of making Buckeyes at Christmas time or you’ve never heard of this delectable candy, I urge you to try this recipe.
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Skinny Buckeyes
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 48 1x
Description
These healthier Skinny Buckeyes are made with chickpeas that add extra fiber and protein, but you can’t taste them! Sweetened naturally with honey, these make a healthy treat!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1–15 ounce can, rinsed and drained)
- 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
- In a food processor, process the chickpeas until they are completely broken down.
- Add the peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and salt and process until everything is well combined and forming a ball, about one minute.
- Scoop the mixture with a rounded spoon (I used a 2 teaspoon size), roll into a ball, and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper, parchment paper, or a silicone baking mat.
- Continue until you use all of the mixture; you should get approximately 48 balls.
- Place in the freezer until firm, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place your chocolate chips and coconut oil in a medium, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and then stir the mixture. Microwave another 30 seconds and stir again. If the chips are not completely melted yet, microwave in 5-10 second increments until totally smooth. {Alternatively, you can use the double boiler method to melt your chocolate. I always just use the microwave.}
- When your peanut butter balls are firm enough, take them out of the freezer. Using a toothpick as a handle, dip each ball into the chocolate. Leave a little circle open at the top to make traditional Buckeyes.
- Return the dipped balls to the tray. When finished dipping all of the balls, refrigerate until the chocolate is firm.
- Store in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: dessert
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ball
- Calories: 88
- Sugar: 5g
- Fat: 6g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
Want to see that nutritional information I was talking about up there? Here are the stats for my Skinny Buckeye recipe:
Serving size: 1 ball
Calories: 88
Fat: 6 grams
Fiber: 1 gram
Protein: 3 grams
Sugar: 5 grams
Now, here is what you get when you eat one regular Buckeye (based on this traditional recipe):
Serving Size: 1 ball
Calories: 169
Fat: 9 grams
Fiber: 1 gram
Protein: 2 grams
Sugar: 18 grams
That’s a lot less calories and sugar! I feel much better about Tim eating a large amount of these in one day, not to mention this little one:
Meghan is a lot like her dad in her love of sweets. I feel much better about letting her eat a treat with 5 grams of sugar as opposed to 18! She doesn’t care that they are made with chickpeas. When something tastes good, she eats it. Your family will feel the same way, I’m sure of it.
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Try adding a small amount of parrafin wax to the chocolate chips/chocolate that you are melting. Makes the shells harder and less likely to melt.
We love buckeyes–will need to try out the less sugar recipe. But we also have a problem–need a buckeye recipe that people with peanut allergies can eat. I cannot have anything with nuts in the house when my grandson visits. Any suggestions on creating a buckeye with a similar look and taste without peanut butter?
It won’t taste the same, but you can use sunflower seed butter (Sunbutter or other brand or make your own) in place of the peanut butter. It acts the same as peanut butter in recipes, so the buckeyes will look the same. I really don’t have any suggestions for what you could use that actually tastes like peanut butter, though. Sorry.
Just made a batch of these for Thanksgiving! I covered them all the way with chocolate and stuck candy corn in right after dipping to make feathers and put a whopper on as the head 🙂 They’re cute as can be and sooo yummy! Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
How cute!! Enjoy your Thanksgiving. 🙂
This is a great recipe and I can’t wait to try it. Question: has anyone experimented with/figured out how to make Buckeyes in a chocolate shell that isn’t so melty? If you don’t put them in the fridge they start to get soft and messy. We’d like to give a small bunch of Buckeyes to all our friends at Christmas but it’s just a mess. If you freeze them then when you pull them out of the freezer they get condensation on them in a warm room. If you don’t freeze them they just get soft and glom all together.
Suggestions for a chocolate shell that wouldn’t be so soft?
Just made these last night. They’re good! Probably 80% as good as the really unhealthy buckeyes. The issue I had was that, surprisingly!, the peanut butter centers were too oily! The only oil was from the peanut butter, and normally you add extra butter/shortening, so it was really surprising to me. I was using whole foods brand peanut butter. I think next time I will use reduced fat peanut butter, and substitute some of the sweetener (I used agave instead of honey) for some powdered sugar to help soak up the peanut butter’s oil. I’ve also done the Smitten Kitchen’s buckeye recipe which uses graham crackers so I may try that too to make them more dry and less oily. Finally, I am not a big fan of coconut flavor, and even the 2 tbsp came on too strong for me… next time I may try omitting the coconut oil as I normally eat these out of the freezer so the chocolate chips should make a solid shell on their own. Plus, they’ll be a little healthier. At any rate, the chickpea substitution is a great idea which seems to work really well, so thanks!
You’re welcome and thanks for the great feedback! I think adding graham crackers sounds like a great idea.
Has anyone used agave instead of honey???
I haven’t tried it, but I imagine it would work well. I’ll let you know if I give it a try!
I just made these last nigth for our family xmas gathering- very good! thanks for the recipe!!
Glad you enjoyed these! We just ate the last of my freezer stash of these and I wish we had more. 🙂
I can proudly say that I’ve made my first batch ever of buckeyes and they were sooo good. My daughter got to taste some that weren’t dipped in chocolate and she went completely crazy over them. Here’s the result: 🙂
http://lillamatderiven.blogspot.com/2011/12/skinny-buckeyes.html
Thanks for an awesome recipe and good luck with the arrival of your baby boy!
I’m so glad you liked these! I saw your post, and as usual I wished I could read the text! 🙂 Your photos are gorgeous.
These sound awesome!
I’ve always wanted to make buckeyes, but once I knew how much butter and shortening were in them, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. But, now I can!
Do it–you won’t be sorry! 🙂
Yum… I’ve tried this type of thing, but didn’t know they were called “Buckeyes” – I think we just called them ‘peanut butter balls.’ Love the inclusion of chickpeas – great idea!
Mmmm, I love buckeyes! So hard to stop at just one (or even three).
ahh so i totally forgot about these till just now! YUM! i might end up making them for our christmas. Thanks Maryea!
Wow he ate the entire box in one day!! Too funny!!
I love buckeyes and have never seen a version like yours before!! I’m going to put this on my list of what treats to make on Christmas! Love the addition of chickpeas!
I’ve never even heard of buckeyes before but yours sound absolutely fabulous! And considering that every single one of your recipes that I’ve tried (and I’ve made alot!) have turned out delicious I’m sure these are great. 🙂
Love that you made these because I was JUST thinking about making buckeyes for a party. My gosh – 169 calories in a tiny ball of chocolate and peanut butter? That’s INSANE! I’m going to try your recipe and not tell anyone the difference. 🙂
I know! I NEVER would have guessed the regular version had that many more calories.
Genius! Now I can eat the whole batch without feeling so bad or getting a “sugar headache.” Although I must say, I’m a student at the University of Michigan, OSU is our mortal enemies…so we call “buckeyes” “peanut butter balls” in my neck of the woods!
Oh, I’m with you! I grew up in Michigan and am a U-M fan, I just live in Ohio by default. I thought the post was already too long to get into my disdain of all things Ohio State. 🙂 I call them Buckeyes in this post because that’s what most people know them as, but I taught Meghan that they were “chocolate peanut butter balls”.
haha I’m glad you’re raising her on the “right side” 😉
What a fabulous idea. Buckeyes are a Christmas tradition in my family (along with “buttercreams” which are even worse because they are basically just butter and sugar dipped in chocolate) and I’ve been using this recipe (http://www.healthyindulgences.net/search/label/buckeyes) recently but yours look even cleaner! Love it. I’ll be making yours this year for sure.
I’ve never heard of buttercreams. Maybe that’s a good thing. 🙂
I *always* have your high protein energy balls in the freezer, I’m not even kidding. I make them mini size and eat (at least) one a day! I bet these are fantastic! Does cooking the chickpeas make them a whole lot different than just using the ones rinsed straight from the can?
Your little doll of a child has on a cute top (or dress) in that picture. Adorable- and she’s even keeping it on 😉
No, I don’t think cooking the beans yourself makes them any different, unless you are using an especially high-sodium canned version and don’t rinse them well. It’s just cheaper to cook your own beans. 🙂
And it’s a top she’s wearing. Thank you. 🙂 She loves wearing “fancy” clothes. ha ha She kept the shirt on, but the sweater she had over top was off the moment we walked in the door.
My sister loves buckeyes! I love that you healthified them. It looks like my high protein cookie dough…only covered in chocolate! mmmmmm
These are genius!!! I LOVE buckeye balls. Great idea with the chickpeas. Mmmm!