The buckeye is the nut of the Ohio state tree, a round, brown nut with a white center. The actual nut is highly toxic and causes paralysis, but you can make and eat buckeyes made from chocolate and peanut butter. The buckeye candy is essentially a ball of peanut butter and sugar dipped in chocolate, leaving a circle of peanut butter at the top free of chocolate. The sweet treat can be stored for about two weeks at room temperature, but you can freeze them to preserve them for several months if you don't eat them first.
Step 1
Place the buckeyes on a tray lined with wax paper immediately after dipping them in chocolate. Space them close together but without any sides touching. Allow about half an hour for the chocolate to set. If the buckeyes are pre-made, set them on the tray just as you would with fresh-dipped candies, but skip the setting period.
Step 2
Set the tray in the freezer for about one hour until the candies are frozen solid. Remove the tray from the freezer.
Step 3
Transfer the buckeye candies from the tray to a freezer storage bag, leaving about an inch or two of headspace between the top of the buckeyes and the bag's seal. Alternatively, you can arrange them in layers in an air-tight storage container.
Step 4
Seal the container or bag tightly, removing as much air from inside the bag as possible. While this doesn't require a vacuum seal, you can achieve a similar seal with a simple straw. Seal the bag most of the way, leaving only enough space unsealed to insert the straw. Suck out the air through the straw, pull the straw out quickly and seal the bag closed. Store in the freezer for up to 12 months.
Step 5
Unseal the bag and remove individual buckeyes from the bag as needed. Reseal the bag tightly to continuing storing the remaining buckeyes.