Buckeyes Recipe - Lauren's Latest (2024)

FAQs

Should you keep buckeyes in the fridge? ›

Buckeyes are fine to sit out at room temperature on holiday cookie plates for up to 24 hours, though if you're keeping them around for longer than that, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator where they'll stay fresh for up to 2 weeks. Buckeyes also freeze super well.

They're called buckeyes because they look like the nuts that grow on Ohio buckeye trees. This recipe for buckeye candy is so good that I double it whenever I make it.

Here's what's in buckeye balls: The peanut butter balls are made with confectioners' sugar, creamy peanut butter, unsalted butter, and vanilla extract. The coating comes together quickly with just semi-sweet chocolate chips and shortening.

The buckeye candy originated in Ohio (a.k.a. the Buckeye State). According to legend, sometime in the 1960s, Ohio resident Gail Tabor invented buckeyes while trying to dip peanut butter balls in chocolate.

Thus, the nuts were cracked open with a rock, the shells removed, the seeds pounded into flour, and their toxic saponins removed in a lengthy leaching process. The meal was subsequently cooked and eaten. There are many different methods for processing and cooking buckeye seeds for food, depending upon the tribe.

Removing the shell and roasting the nut neutralizes its harmful tannic acid content and makes for a protein-packed snack. If not prepared properly though, buckeye nuts are toxic to humans, causing symptoms including weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, paralysis, and death.

Some people carry a buckeye in a pocket for good luck. It also has been used as an amulet to ward off rheumatism and other ailments. Buckeyes are called "conkers" in England, because of a game that's played with the nuts.

The seeds of California buckeye served as a staple for California Indians, who would mash the roasted seeds and then leach them to remove the poison. Native Americans also secured the seeds in streams and other waterways in order to stupefy fish for easy capture.

The buckeyes and horse chestnut are not related to the edible chestnut (Castanea spp. Plant Family Hippocastanaceae Habitat Generally prefer rich moist soils, woodlands, etc., but some species have adapted to drier conditions. Horse chestnuts are frequently planted as ornamental shade trees.

Poisonous Plant: All parts of the plant (leaves, bark, fruit) are highly toxic if ingested – because of the glycoside aesculin, the saponin aescin, and possibly alkaloids. Symptoms are muscle weakness and paralysis, dilated pupils, vomiting, diarrhea, depression, paralysis, and stupor.

Are buckeyes useful for anything? ›

The Buckeye's Place in History

As well as the belief in the good fortune of its storied seed, the buckeye has been held to cure rheumatism and other, more minor ailments. Pioneering farm families also made soap from the kernels of buckeye seeds, and many a child's cradle was carved from the wood of this tree.

According to folklore, the buckeye or nuts that fall from the tree resemble the eye of a deer buck, and carrying one brings good luck. Maybe some Ohio State Buckeye fans will have one in their pockets when the Bucks battle the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor on Saturday at noon.

The 'couverture' chocolate used by See's is provided by the nearby Guittard Chocolate Company, and nuts come from Mariani Nut Company of Winters, California, just about an hour and 20 minutes away.

Pennsylvania is a keystone in the history of chocolate making and is currently home to Hershey, Wilbur Chocolate Company, Gertrude Hawk and dozens of small, family-owned chocolatiers.

Buckeye candies are Ohio's official state candy. Due to the state's large production of buckeyes, they are a favorite snack of locals and travelers alike.

If you already have a buckeye tree and wish to collect nuts and plant them to grow additional buckeye trees, collect the nuts once they fall from the tree naturally in September and October. Remove the nuts from the leathery husks and store them in the refrigerator for 120 days.

SHORTENING added to the chocolate is the big secret ingredient for buckeyes. This helps stabilize the chocolate so that it dips nicely, and helps prevent the chocolate from weeping and sweating once it's hardened. Traditionally, people added paraffin wax to the chocolate to achieve this.