Buckeye Graham Crackers |Cooking With Amanda

Two separate ideas collided to result in these Buckeye graham crackers. Indulge me as I tell you about how these came to be. Then, you go indulge! Make some of these Buckeye graham crackers! :)

A few weeks ago, leading up to the BCS National Championship Game, since the Ohio State Buckeyes were playing, it got me thinking about Buckeyes.... the candy, that is. Peanut butter is always at the forefront of my mind, and I'm always looking for new ways to incorporate it into a life that is already pretty saturated by the nutty stuff, but eating it 3x a day from a spoon isn't enough. Nope, gotta cram it in in every way possible, like with my peanut butter cheesecake French toast!

So while I'm not suggesting that I rooted for Ohio State to win the game (Sorry! It goes against my core football beliefs! Hehe!), I was nevertheless inspired to revisit classic Buckeyes to see if I could spin a new twist on them.

So that was Part 1 of the evolution of this idea.

Part 2: When I'm not eating peanut butter straight from a spoon, I will sometimes spread it on a graham cracker. Is this normal? Do other people do this? I love it as a quick snack. Peanut butter and graham crackers are such a great pair. Graham crackers have a honey-like essence to them that I think is a perfect complement to PB.

I also love the contrast of creamy peanut butter with a crunchy graham cracker. With that in mind, I decided that I wanted to combine Buckeyes and graham crackers.

I loved the idea of taking my basic healthy snack of PB on a graham cracker, but making it unhealthy. No, wait. I didn't mean to say that. I meant... making it an indulgent candy! Yes, that. It sounds much better. Pretend I didn't say unhealthy. Forget that even came up.

I am in loooove with these Buckeye graham crackers. They have the same traditional Buckeye elements with peanut butter candy filling and a coating of smooth chocolate, but with a crunchy and sweet graham cracker base. And for good measure, a drizzle of melted peanut butter chips, which adds a nice decorative touch too. ;)

I also enjoyed that they're flat so they can be eaten like a cookie. It's just… fun. I fought the urge to take this idea a step further by stuffing a melted marshmallow in between two Buckeye graham crackers. Is Buckeye s'mores going too far? If you really want to get bonkers, you could definitely do that. Live on the edge. It'll be worth it.

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Buckeye Graham Crackers Recipe

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Ingredients

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
12 graham crackers, (approximately 1 1/2 sleeves, or half a regular-sized box)
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening, or coconut oil

For the Peanut Butter Drizzle:

1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1 teaspoon shortening, or coconut oil

Directions

Line two jelly roll pans with parchment paper, and set wire racks on top of the parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine peanut butter and butter. Mix until smooth and creamy.
Gradually add powdered sugar, and mix until well-blended and smooth.
Roll the peanut butter mixture into balls slightly larger than 1-inch.
Place 1 ball on half a sheet of graham cracker. On a flat surface, carefully flatten the peanut butter ball over the graham, spreading it to the edges, and smoothing and leveling the top. Just make sure not to crack the graham cracker. I only broke one, but still a good rule of thumb to be somewhat gentle! Repeat for all crackers.
In a large saucepan over low-medium heat, melt the chocolate chips and shortening. Gently whisk until smooth. Allow to cool for about 5-7 minutes so that it won't burn your fingers if you come into contact with it.
Using tongs, carefully grasp the edges of the graham cracker, and hold the graham cracker with the peanut butter layer facing down.
Quickly dunk only the peanut butter side and edges of the graham cracker into the chocolate. Then, turn it so that the chocolate-dunked side is facing upward. Carefully transfer the graham cracker to the wire rack to allow any excess chocolate to drain.
Once all graham crackers are dunked, in a small saucepan over low-medium heat, melt the peanut butter chips and shortening. Whisk until smooth.
Drizzle with a spoon over the graham crackers.
Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature for at least 2-3 hours, or speed up the process by placing them in the refrigerator.
Once set, remove from wire racks. Enjoy!