Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeyes (no refined sugar)

Peanut butter and chocolate are a match made in heaven. Especially if the peanut butter is sweetened, but is it possible to make delicious peanut butter and chocolate candies without refined sugar?

This recipe holds up. In place of loads of powdered sugar found in traditional buckeye recipes, we use whole food plant-based date sugar, as well as maple syrup or honey to round out the sweetness.

This recipe can quickly become vegan by using coconut oil, or you can use butter if that isn’t a concern.

I have been using stevia-sweetened chocolate chips for the outer chocolatey shell. If you can’t find those, I suspect it would be relatively easy to make your own with unsweetened bakers chocolate and powdered stevia, monk fruit, or erythritol. Just make sure you use the powder form of sweetener and thoroughly mix it into the melted chocolate. Water and chocolate don’t mix, and a liquid sweetened might just ruin your baker’s chocolate.

So before we move on, I just want to sing the praises of date sugar. It has a deep flavor, similar to brown sugar but it is chock full of nutrients and fiber. Dates have the highest amount of antioxidants of all-natural sugars, including maple syrup and honey. Additionally, because date sugar is a whole food, it includes naturally occurring fibers. This combination of antioxidants and high fiber accounts for date sugar’s very low glycemic index. By eating lower glycemic index foods, you can keep your insulin levels steady. Since insulin is the master hormone, keeping it steady ultimately improves the function of all your hormones.

So enjoy some buckeyes for the holidays, and hold onto this recipe for the whole year. By altering the shape of your candies, you can make treats for every holiday of the year, including all of your “unbirthdays”

Buckeye candies, no refined sugar

These are probably the original inspiration for Reese's peanut butter cups, but I gotta say, the real ingredients and lack of refined sugar make them much more enjoyable. Make them in the original buckeye shape or use a silicon muffin liner to make them a peanut butter cup. These are not as sweet as a store bought PB cup, if you prefer sweeter, increase the date sugar.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Dessert, vegan, vegetarian

Cuisine American

Servings 30

Ingredients

  

• 1 c natural peanut butter
• .5 c date sugar sifted to remove clumps
• .25 c honey or (maple syrup if vegan)
• 1 T melted butter or (refined coconut oil if vegan)
• .5 c almond flour (not almond meal)
• .5 c Crispy Rice Cereal
• 1 T vanilla extract
• .5 teaspoon salt

Chocolate Shell

• 1.5 c "Bake Believe Stevia sweetened chocolate chips" any sugarfree brand of choice is fine, or you can melt Lily's sugar free chocolate bars if you can't find chips
• 2 T refined coconut oil

Instructions

 

• Mix filling ingredients together till well incorporated
• Shape into large teaspoon size balls and freeze on parchment paper lined tray for 15 minutes
• Melt chocolate and coconut oil at 50% power in 30 second increments until a melty consistency is achieved. Be careful not to overcook your chocolate.
• Dip cold peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate and place back on parchment lined tray.
• Freeze or refrigerate until serving.

Keyword No Refined Sugar, peanut butter cups