10 Minute Buckeye Fudge

 
Throughout my childhood, my grandma always drove across town to our house at 6 am on Christmas morning with the same three round tins with festive snowflakes and Santa Clauses printed around their outsides. We impatiently waited to peek under their lids until partway through unwrapping presents, mainly because Mom knew exactly what hid inside and didn’t want us on an excitement and sugar high before the sun even rose.  

Grandma packed those tins full of homemade goodies she mixed up the day or two before Christmas. She baked crunchy butterscotch cookies for Dad; painstakingly rolled and dipped buckeyes for Mom; and whipped up the softest, thickest sugar cookies I’ve ever eaten, appropriately topped with coarse red and green sugar crystals, for my brother and me.
 

 
She knew our sweet teeth well! Although we each preferred the exact treats in our tin, we still exchanged a few with our other family members and sampled their desserts too. Because those tins held nearly six dozen cookies and three dozen buckeyes, we also shared with other family and friends who stopped by during the next few weeks of the holiday season. No need to gain five pounds in one sitting!

But when I grew older, I started to sneak a few more of Mom’s buckeyes. Those sweet peanut butter balls dipped in rich melted chocolate… Well, they tasted almost exactly like round Reese’s peanut butter cups, my favorite candy at the time! And it somewhat helped that Mom found out about her peanut allergy around then too… More for me!
 

 
Because I don’t want to wait until Christmas for more buckeyes, I created this 10 Minute Buckeye Fudge to get my fix! Even better, it’s ready so much sooner than the traditional candy (no hours of rolling and dipping and waiting for the chocolate to set!) and it’s much healthier too. A dream come true!

Wait a second, Amy! I can hear you thinking now. How exactly did you make buckeye fudge healthier??

That definitely sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Buckeyes, fudge, healthy?
 

 
To start, this easy recipe contains NO butter or powdered sugar like in traditional recipes. (Have you ever made buckeyes before? I just about had a heart attack when I looked at the ingredients list for a few recipes just now… So much sugar!) Instead, this fudge is naturally sweetened with agave and Truvia. Truvia is made from stevia, which is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener. It’s one of the least expensive stevia-based sweeteners and easiest to find in grocery stores too!

Note: If you prefer, honey or maple syrup may be substituted for the agave. I prefer agave because it has a purer sweet taste without any strong flavors of its own like in honey or maple syrup.
 

 
To reduce the fat and calories in the peanut butter layer without sacrificing the flavor, I turned to peanut flour. Peanut flour is similar to almond flour, and it’s made by grinding peanuts and removing most of their oil. When mixed with liquid, it has a similar texture and the same taste as traditional peanut butter.

Note: I used this brand because the only ingredient is peanuts. Some other brands include a little sugar or other ingredients, so check the labels before you buy.
 

 
Both the chocolate and peanut butter layers are made the same way: mix the ingredients together in a bowl, press them into the bottom of the loaf pan with a spatula, and chill. No candy thermometers necessary! I suppose this means our dessert isn’t true fudge… More of a “cheater’s” fudge. But if it means my candy is ready that much sooner, I’m definitely okay with that!
 

 
Remember to line your pan with parchment paper first! This helps remove the fudge from the pan and also somewhat prevents chocolate and peanut butter from sticking to the sides. A little will still stick, so I generally use a knife or spatula to loosen the fudge squares from the paper.
 

 
Then serve (or hoard—I won’t judge) and enjoy!
 

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