Paleo Buckeye Bark & Balls

Paleo buckeye bark and balls are a delicious combination of peanut butter, chocolate, and a little bit of sugar! These buckeye bark pieces and buckeye balls are grain-free, gluten free, low in sugar, and can be made dairy-free. I love how simple this dessert is to make, yet it’s still an amazing treat! A sweet, creamy peanut butter mixture covered with a layer of flavorful, soft chocolate means you will be making these bars and balls over and over again!

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My Buckeye

The term ‘buckeye’ can refer to a variety of different buckeyes such as the Buckeye chicken breed, the Buckeye State (Ohio), the buckeye nut, or the buckeye dessert! My favorite buckeyes include the chicken breed and the dessert. Let me give you a little bit of history on both!

Buckeye Chickens: The buckeye chicken breed is a heritage, dual-purpose chicken breed that was developed in (you guessed it!), Ohio. It is the only chicken breed that has been developed by a women and accepted into the American Poultry Association. Buckeye’s are a deep red color with a pea comb and small wattles. They are very cold hardy, friendly, and good layers. Buckeyes lay light brown eggs of medium size and are regular layers. I love my one Buckeye hen who is a part of my flock. She is docile, handles the cold Michigan winters excellently, and gets along well with the rest of my flock!

To find out how I rank the different breeds in my backyard flock, check out these Show Chicken Breed Reviews!

Buckeye Dessert: The buckeye dessert has taken on many different shapes and forms over the years. Typically you hear of the classic buckeye ball, which is a sugary, peanut buttery ball dipped in chocolate. By dipping the peanut butter ball in the chocolate, you make the balls look like a buckeye nut, hence the name buckeye balls. However, now buckeye desserts have taken on the forms of bars, cookies, brownies, pies, and more! They still have the same classic ingredients though: peanut butter, sugar, and chocolate!

I have made healthier versions of the balls and bark, but I still want to attempt a healthier buckeye pie and a healthier buckeye brownie!

Bark or Balls?

With the buckeye dessert being so versatile, I had to decide what version of buckeye I wanted to share with you! I decided on either the classic balls or the easier bark. Lucky for you, this recipe can be turned into both! I like to make both buckeye balls and buckeye bark with this recipe. The balls are fun because they look like the buckeye nut and they are fun to dip into the chocolate. However, the bark is easier and less time consuming, so if you are in a pinch, buckeye bark is an easy peanut butter chocolate dessert to whip up!

No matter what style I did, I knew my buckeyes had to follow some basic ‘healthier’ guide lines. The typical buckeye recipe is loaded with sugar, dairy, and grains. I wanted to (had to) make my buckeye’s healthier! This buckeye bark recipe is:

• Gluten-free
• Grain-free
• Tree nut free
• Refined sugar free
• Dairy-free
• Corn free

Both the buckeye bark and buckeye balls are no-bake too! If you already have too many things to bake for the holiday festivities, no worries, these buckeyes have the dessert portion taken care without the need to fire-up the oven!

About the Ingredients

Like all my recipes, I try to keep them simple and include ingredients that you may have on hand in your pantry. As a side note, the ingredients that I use in my recipes are all ones that I keep on hand on a regular basis. This is because I can only bake with gluten free and/or grain free flours, dairy free milk, un-refined sugars, and tree nut free ingredients. If you do not have those diet restrictions, these ingredients may not be a staple in your pantry. However, there may be some substitutions you can make!

• Organic Peanut Butter- for a substitute, use your favorite nut butter such as almond butter or sunflower butter
• Virgin Coconut Oil- you can easily use organic butter or ghee in place of coconut oil
• Organic Coconut Sugar- the coconut sugar in this recipe is a little harder to replace, but you could use maple sugar or a form of xylitol (cut the sugar in half if you are using a xylitol based sweetener)
• Raw Honey- honey can be replaced with maple syrup
• Tapioca Flour- I have not tried any flour substitutes with this recipe, but I think you can probably substitute arrowroot flour for the tapioca flour
• Coconut Flour- coconut flour is very absorbent, so any other flour you use as a substitute will need to be increased to keep the buckeyes from being too soft

Recipe Tips

Making buckeye bark is pretty straightforward. That’s one reason why I like making bar recipes! Making this recipe into buckeye balls is a little more tricky, but simple nonetheless. Here are few tips to ensure your buckeyes turn out a success!

• You must powder the coconut sugar if you want the peanut butter mixture to have a smooth texture and extra sweet taste! I use a seed grinder do powder small batches of coconut sugar.
• If you use butter or ghee instead of coconut oil, make sure you brown the butter before adding it to the buckeye batter.
• Beat everything together thoroughly, you don’t want any flour clumps to remain. Sifting your flours will also help remove any clumps.
• Letting the dough set in the fridge or freezer is essential if you making buckeye balls!
• If you are making buckeye balls with this recipe, let the dough chill then make small balls. Save out some of the balls to dip in the chocolate immediately and put the rest back in the freezer to keep them chilled.
• Chilling the peanut butter mixture before applying the chocolate will help the chocolate harden quickly. This is especially important for buckeye balls!

Buckeye bark and balls are a fun recipe to make for the holiday season! It would be a perfect snack option for Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve! This recipe makes a lot of bark and quite a few balls, so it’s perfect for family gatherings or parties. I love keeping a batch of these buckeyes in my freezer for whenever I need a peanut butter and chocolate fix!

Where to Find Ingredients:

• Navitas coconut sugar
• Thrive Market coconut flour
• Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
• Navitas cacao powder
• Nutiva coconut oil

Paleo buckeye bark and paleo buckeye balls are sweet, smooth, and simple! I love that I was able to keep it as healthy as possible by using gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and tree nut free ingredients. Don’t worry, the delicious sweet taste of buckeyes are not compromised by the healthier ingredients! You will still get the smooth, creamy peanut butter texture with the sweet chocolate flavor even in these healthy buckeye bark bars or balls!

Need more dessert ideas for the upcoming holidays? Check out my Dairy-free Peanut Butter pie or Gluten-free Moose Bars!

by Alexa