Decadent and delicious, these no-bake Buckeye Graham Crackers are sweet peanut butter buckeye filling slathered on a graham cracker, and covered in semi-sweet chocolate! These Buckeye Graham Crackers are freakin’ fabulous and you’ll be hooked!
Two separate ideas collided to result in this Buckeye Graham Crackers recipe. Indulge me as I tell you about how these came to be. Then, you go indulge! Make some of these Buckeye Graham Crackers. 🙂
A few weeks ago, leading up to the BCS National Championship Game, since the Ohio State Buckeyes were playing, it got me thinking about Buckeyes…. the candy, that is. Peanut butter is always at the forefront of my mind, and I’m always looking for new ways to incorporate it into a life that is already pretty saturated by the nutty stuff, but eating it 3x a day from a spoon isn’t enough. Nope, gotta cram it in in every way possible! So while I’m not suggesting that I rooted for Ohio State to win the game (Sorry! It goes against my core football beliefs!), I was nevertheless inspired to revisit classic Buckeyes to see if I could spin a new twist on them!
So that was Part 1 of the evolution of this idea for Buckeye Graham Crackers.
Part 2:
When I’m not eating peanut butter straight from a spoon, I will sometimes spread it on a graham cracker. Do other people do this? I love it as a quick snack. Peanut butter and graham crackers are such a great pair. Graham crackers have a honey-like essence to them that I think is a perfect complement to PB! I also love the contrast of creamy peanut butter with a crunchy graham cracker. With that in mind, I decided that I wanted to combine Buckeyes and graham crackers. And here we are: Buckeye Graham Crackers.
I loved the idea of taking my basic snack of PB on a graham cracker, but making it unhealthy. No, wait. I didn’t mean to say that. I meant… making it an indulgent candy! Yes, that. Sounds much better. Pretend I didn’t say unhealthy. Forget that even came up.
I am in loooove with these Buckeye Graham Crackers. They have the same traditional Buckeye elements with peanut butter candy filling and a coating of smooth chocolate, but with a crunchy and sweet graham cracker base. And for good measure, a drizzle of melted peanut butter chips, which adds a nice decorative touch too. 😉
I also really like that they’re flat so they can be eaten like a cookie. The format is just… fun.
I fought the urge to take this idea a step further by stuffing a melted marshmallow in-between two of these. Is that going too far? If you really want to get bonkers, you could definitely do that. Live on the edge. It’ll be worth it.
If you love other peanut stuff, you know I have no shortage of PB recipes. Some of my most popular are these White Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle Bars, this Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Torte, and my Gma’s No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie Recipe, of course. These White Chocolate Buckeyes are also SO popular!!! So there you go!
You did a fantastic job with these! Such a creative idea and beautiful!
Thanks, Nancy! It was really fun to make and turned out pretty well! 🙂
Buckeyes are one of my favorite cookies! I love your creative twist on these graham crackers, Sarah! Peanut butter and chocolate is the best combo ever!
These were *delicious*. They were such a great treat. Thanks, Gayle!
My family eats graham crackers and peanut butter sandwiches every day. I never even considered that we mit be the only ones… Well, if so, we’re proud to be just as weird as you;) I wasn’t born in Ohio, but have lived here for so many years, that I can make and appreciate a good Buckeye! I love what you’ve done with the traditional candy recipe and am sure that the crunch of the cracker really goes well with the smooth texture of a Buckeye:) Pinning these for our church’s Super Bowl party this weekend. I know they’ll go crazy over them! Thanks for the recipe, friend!
Thanks, Heather! I loooove PB on graham crackers. I didn’t know if anyone else did that? A friend in college turned me onto it! It’s such an easy and delicious snack. I just thought it would be fun to turn it into a candy, and they were delish! Let me know if you try them! They were a little time-consuming, but altogether easy! Just be careful not to break the graham crackers. I only broke 1, but I could see it happening if not careful!
I’ve never had a buckeye, but peanut butter on graham crackers is definitely one of the best snacks EVER!! Love these Sarah!
Buckeyes are just the ultimate in PB + Chocolate, and I thought it would be fun to smoosh one onto a graham cracker base. I love PB on graham crackers! Thanks, girl!
I have never had a Buckeyes but these pictures are tempeting me so much! Especially that peanut butter drizzle! Yum!
Oh wow! You must try them! They’re basically like Reese’s cups, but homemade (of course!) and round like a ball. They’re fabulous! I love graham crackers with peanut butter, so I thought these would be a fun spin!
Oh my GOSH. I could just faceplant into a huge pile of these and be happy for the rest of my life! Who needs pain-in-rear-to-make classic buckeyes when you can have these easy little guys?! These would be perfect for Superbowl Sunday! You know, um pre-game snacking and all that. 😉
Lol. Right? These are addictive!!! PB + Chocolate + Graham = best snack ever!!
These are brilliant! Of course, I would have to make them for someone else because if they stuck around my house for very long I’d eat every last one.
For sure. We ate them all, went through them quickly, and didn’t share. They’re definitely a decadent treat!
Graham crackers are good, and you just made them even better!!
Thanks, girl!
I love great, easy ideas like this! Perfect for afterschool on busy days.
They’re a delicious snack! We loved them! Thanks, Marye! 🙂
Those look amazing. Did you pay for the ingredients with free tattoos? 😉
Is there another way? 🙂
OoOo these are so cute! I love anything PB and chocolate. Pinned this recipe 🙂
Me too!! Such a great combo. And the graham crackers add a nice crunch and honey essence. YUM!
These looks amazing!
Thanks, Amanda!!
This just makes me so happy. I heart buckeyes!
Haha! I’m so glad! Me too! Thank you. 🙂
What a great idea! So creative! I love buckeyes but these sound even better! They look amazing, Sarah!
Thanks so much, Kelly! The graham cracker adds a nice crunch and honey flavor! 🙂
I was looking for a healthy recipe for a dessert and this looks absolutely amazing to me! Omomomomom!! I’m in love with your goodie!
Yay! So glad you like the recipe. I can’t promise how healthy they are, but there are definitely worse things! They’re delicious!
Okay want to make these but cannot see if you topped them with another cracker or one layer?
I only did 1 layer, but you can certainly do that. The exact way I made them is explained in the recipe directions and you can see in the photos pretty well too. I hope you like them! Thanks!
Tapping into those Ohio roots, eh?!?!
LOL! That’s right, girl! If I must! I love a good Buckeye dessert! 😉
Just wanted to say I am now a senior citizen and when I was in grade school I always took graham cracker with peanut butter and marshmallow cream for lunch all the kids would want to trade me out of it, its wonderful.
Oh really?? That’s such a neat memory, Debbie! I’ve really only ever known one other person who ate peanut butter on graham crackers. I didn’t know how common that was. I was so tempted to put marshmallows or fluff in these somewhere! I love marshmallow w/ PB! Thanks for you comment!! 🙂
I think these look great!! Will def try! I recently discovered PB on vanilla wafers are amazing!! The second batch I make will likely have them in for a twist. Thanks for the ideas!
Oh, that’s a GREAT idea, Sarah!! I bet the vanilla wafer thing is amazing!! I will have to try that. Now you’ve got me brainstorming all kinds of other things I can slather Buckeye filling onto…. haha! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
I’m a OSU alum and buckeye fan to the core! I would love a pile of these. On a side note, my boyfriend went to Penn State. Could be worse, could’ve been Michigan 😉
Lol!!! That’s so true!! How funny. There’s a few ‘divided households’ in my family too – my brother is a PSU fan, but married a Buckeye, and my dad’s wife is a OSU fan too. I have to endure them. Hahaha! I kid. Thanks so much, Erin! 🙂
Two Yums (thumbs )up my friend! Pinned to my just desserts board ♥ Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. xo
Thank you!
Ooooh. The men in my family will love this – thanks for sharing!
Yes, they’re a sure win for all PB and chocolate lovers! Thanks so much, Maritza!
Oh my gosh! These look amazing. I love buckeyes and I love graham crackers!
Thanks, Amanda! 🙂
Oh Yes! These look perfect! Peanut butter and chocolate is my all time favorite dessert combo! This will be going on my Pinterest boards and will be made in my kitchen soon! Thanks for sharing!
Yay! So glad you like them! I am a bit for PB and chocolate together too. Such a classic convo! Thanks, Brittany!
We made these for the Super Bowl with friends and they were amazing. They didn’t look nearly as nice as yours, mostly due to some mistakes during the dipping process (we didn’t press the peanut butter down hard enough), but they tasted unbelieavable. Just for fun, instead of putting more peanut butter on top, we used butterscotch chips for the final drizzle. I would definitely recommend it! Everyone loved them.
I think it’s less about the PB getting pressed down, and more about keeping the chocolate thin and warm, and doing a pretty quick dunk. If it dunks too long, the peanut butter gets warm! Thinner chocolate helped – just add a little more shortening or coconut oil to it to thin it out! A teaspoon at a time until it’s smooth and thin. The butterscotch drizzle is a GREAT idea!!! I love that.
These are delicious! I just made 80 of them! One hitch: I let them dry too close to one another and a bunch ended up fused together. Still presentable though, and I love that they won’t dry out or go stale in a couple days like most Christmas cookies. Thanks for the creative recipe!
That’s wonderful! I’m so glad they turned out well! My brother made them and had a few dunking problems. I can’t believe you made EIGHTY!!!! That’s ambitious. So impressed!! Thank you for the feedback. 🙂
This is brilliant! We love buckeyes and I can totally imagine this recreation is drool worthy.
Can you make these ahead of time and freeze them? I do something similar with peanut butter and Ritz crackers. They freeze well.
Hi Marilyn! I have not tried that, but I would think you could do that, and they would turn out just fine! I hope you enjoy them!
hi, these looked so good i had to try them, and they were fantabulous! but i have to ask..why do you call them buckeyes? they are great candy/crackers, but they look nothing like a buckeye, which is where buckeye candy got their name, because it looks like buckeyes (a nut, kind of like a chestnut, state tree of ohio..go buckeyes!) just curious 🙂
Hi Shannon! Well, I guess I think of Buckeyes as peanut butter filling and chocolate coating, so these felt like Buckeye Graham Crackers to me, but I get a lot of questions about ALL my Buckeyes recipes! People keep saying they are not authentic because of things like that. Haha! I guess that’s true! I’m from Ohio originally, but I really grew up more in Pennsylvania, so I guess I’m bad at making Buckeyes authentic. Lol. I went to Penn State… Go Nittany Lions!!! 🙂 My SIL and step-mother are HUGE Ohio State fans!!! Happy New Year!
I do a “candy” my cousin Leah Peters in High Point, NC gave me.
Baby Ruth Bars
I bottle light karo syrup
2 cups white sugar
46-48 oz jar of crunchy peanut butter
8 cups special K cereal
I bag choc chips (milk or semi sweet)(2 cups)
1 bag peanut butter chips (2 cups)
Mix Karo syrup and sugar in large sauce pan, after sugar melts add peanut butter(I put peanut butter in micro wave and warm it so it pours out of jar easy). Stir well warm over medium heat until completely mixed.
Put 4 cups of cereal in large bowl pour 1/2 peanut butter over top and stir until coated. Add remaining cereal add rest of the peanut butter mixture. Stir well. Spread evenly into pan 13×17 with sides. Don’t use parchment or pam. Not needed. The karo keeps it from sticking. Let cool in counter top while you put both bags of chips in microwave safe bowl. Warm at 15 second intervals (about 4×15 is enough)Be careful with peanut butter chips, they burn easy. Stir together and spread over top of candy.
*very important* do not put into fridge to cool off before you cut the candy. Something will happen and you will forget it. Unless you have a hatchet that you use in the kitchen it will take two days for it to get to room temp to cut.(been there, done that)
I use a hard plastic edger, yep the kind they use in painting to cut the candy. Saves my pans. BTW. If you take these to church be prepared to bring them for all pot lucks, funeral, parties, and what ever gathering your church has. My Beloved cousin told me the same thing and I am making a bunch for our youth lock-in for New Years Eve. Blessings to you
That sounds absolutely amazing! I absolutely love that it includes Baby Ruths! Such an underrated candy bar. That recipe sounds incredible, thank you so much for sharing it with me, Snowie. Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Do these have to be refrigerated? Would like to send them to my son in Arizona.
Hi Barbara! These probably would not ship well, I will say. I’m sorry! I’d probably go with something that would be more friendly to it… let me think on that though. :/