Hi and happy Thursday!

I’m excited to share a yummy holiday recipe with all of you featuring A Loving Spoon’s Honey Vanilla Bourbon Peanut Butter. (yes it’s as good as it sounds!)

Sarah Kay Hoffman, creator of A Loving Spoon Nut Butters is actually hosting a holiday recipe contest with her amazing Honey Vanilla Bourbon Peanut Butter.  As soon as I heard about this contest, I knew I had to jump on board.  So many of my favorite things all balled up into one delicious package! (holidays, kitchen experiments, baking, contests!)

Each recipe will be pinned to the Holiday, 2014 Baking with A Loving Spoon nut butter’s Honey Vanilla Bourbon Peanut Butter Pinterest Board.  The recipe with the most repins  will WIN 6 jars of A Loving Spoon Honey Vanilla Bourbon Peanut Butter to give away as stocking stuffers throughout the holiday season 🙂

So please, head on over to the board and PIN away!!

When I think of holiday baking, I think of the wonderful cookie spread that my mom makes every single year.  It is THE best with all of my family/childhood favorites.

When I think of peanut butter…I think of buckeyes (which are definitely part of my mom’s cookie spread!)!  The chocolate and peanut buttery combo is definitely a favorite flavor combo of mine. 🙂

I’m going to be honest in saying that my first thought was to make a “healthified” holiday buckeye recipe, but then I thought to myself…it’s the holidays! And to me, life is about moderation and finding the perfect balance for YOU.  Believe it or not, I do LOVE to indulge in sweet treats on occasion, so I created a delicious and decadent holiday buckeye recipe for you that will be sure to impress if you choose to include it on your holiday cookie spread.

ENJOY and share the joy with others! This is a great treat to give 🙂

Honey Vanilla Bourbon Buckeyes

Yields: 20-24 buckeyes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup A Loving Spoon Honey Vanilla Bourbon Peanut Butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup chocolate chips (use your favorite brand, dark or semi sweet!)
• 2 tsp coconut oil

Directions:

1. Stir your peanut butter to incorporate all the healthy oils.
2. Combine peanut butter and powdered sugar in a bowl either using a stand mixer, electric beater, or the original mixing tool…your hands!  The mixture will look very crumbly.
3. Add the melted butter to the mixture.  This is where it will form the “dough” for the peanut butter balls.
4. Once all the ingredients have combined, take a small piece from the bowl and attempt to roll it into a ball.  If it rolls into a ball nicely and stays in that shape you are ready to roll (literally!).  If it seems too crumbly, add a little more melted butter (Start with 1 Tbsp and work your way up until the mixture forms a little peanut butter ball.) If it seems too runny, then add a little more powdered sugar.  (Start by adding a small amount around a quarter cup, then work your way up until the mixture forms a nice peanut butter ball.)
5. Roll the “dough” into balls that are about 17-18g. (Mine fit nicely into a mini cupcake liner.)  You should have between 20 and 24 balls depending on how big you make them.
6. Place the peanut butter balls in the freezer to firm up for about an hour.
7. In a small sauce pan, melt the chocolate and the coconut oil over low heat.  Make sure to constantly stir to prevent burning, and don’t get any water into the mixture (otherwise you will have to start over!).
8. Remove the peanut butter balls from the freezer and coat with chocolate.  I like to place the peanut butter ball into the chocolate, then remove with a set of small tongs but a toothpick works fine too!
9. Place the chocolate covered peanut butter ball onto wax paper lined pate/baking sheet.
10. Once all the balls have been dipped in chocolate, place in the freezer to allow the chocolate to harden.
11. Store in an airtight container in a cool area (like the fridge or garage if it’s cold where you live!)
12. Enjoy!!

I’ll be the first to admit that I am NOT the best buckeye dipper…and this is what mind look like when they are hardening on the wax paper.

How do I solve the problem?

I put them in adorable mini cupcake liners!

Let me know if you give them a try and pin, pin, pin!! 🙂