My Great Aunt Dot was the baker in the family.  Before she passed, I made sure that she passed down all of her family favorite recipes to me.  Her Buckeyes were always a special treat.  If you don’t know what a Buckeye is… it’s like a chocolate and peanut butter ball or truffle.  After eliminating pretty much everything from my diet, I finally found a way to make her Buckeyes… that are… wait for it… gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, and peanut-free.  And they still taste surprisingly the same!

This is Aunt Dot.  She passed quite a few years ago at the age of 89.  I have so many happy memories of her cooking and baking.

Aunt Dot’s Buckeyes were one of my favorite treats.  Aunt Dot used paraffin wax to harden the outer shell.  I know that no one really uses wax to cook with these days, let alone it being petroleum based, but it’s an old-timey recipe and that is just how it was back in the day.  You don’t need wax at all.  You can throw in with the chocolate a smidge of coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil if you want, but I like the pureness of the vegan chocolate so it’s just chocolate on the outer shell.  My favorite vegan chocolate is Enjoy Life, but there are quite a few other ones out there.

Recipe Notes and Hacks

For her original recipe, you would add peanut butter, but for this recipe, I used Sunbutter.  I’m sure any kind of peanut butter alternative that you like will work, as long as it has the same consistency.  It still has that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup inspired taste.

A word of caution – some marshmallow cremes contain egg.  Look for egg-free marshmallows or creme, please check your labels. Dandies are my favorite vegan marshmallows and you can easily substitute melted marshmallows instead of creme.

Aunt Dot’s recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar.  Did you know that Arrowroot has the consistency of powdered sugar, but no taste – it pretty much just takes on the taste of the flavors it’s hanging out with.  If you want a little more of that traditional sweet sugary taste, why not use half powdered sugar and half arrowroot?  I’m not a nutrition ogre.  I have my own needs, and want to share all kinds of awesome options with you!

And in case you ever wanted to know… Factoid #572 about me… when I was in college, I interned at the Reese’s plant in Hershey, PA. Oooooohhhhh yeah BABY!  That was the BEST.JOB.EVER!!!!!

Recipe Resources

Organic ingredients

Ceramic Baking Sheet

Clean Eating Buckeyes Recipe

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"Clean" Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls aka Buckeyes

Peanut-free, gluten-free, sugar-free and vegan

Author Holly Bertone | Pink Fortitude

Ingredients

• 1/4 Cup Soft Vegan Butter Earth Balance is our fave!
• 1 1/2 Cup Arrowroot Powder
• 1/4 Cup Marshmallow Creme or Melted Marshmallows We love Dandies!
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 Cup Sunbutter Or your favorite nut butter
• 1 Bag Dairy Free Chocolate Chips We love Enjoy Life!

Instructions

1. Mix together all ingredients EXCEPT for the chocolate. It's best to use your hands.

2. When it turns into a soft and combined "dough" roll into 1" balls.

3. Place balls in the fridge on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

4. Let sit for 2-4 hours.

5. Melt the chocolate on the stove in a double boiler.

6. Take out a few balls at a time.

7. Stick a toothpick in the ball and dip it in the chocolate, leaving an exposed circle on top.

8. Place on wax paper to harden.

9. Keep refrigerated and enjoy!

While I love Aunt Dot’s traditional Buckeyes, I love these clean Buckeyes even more.  Why?  Because I can eat them!!!

Your Next Step…

Love, hugs, and honoring Great Aunt Dot’s legacy – just a little cleaner.