I Always Feel Like…

…Somebody’s watching me. Or at least that song’s been stuck in my head as I made Halloween Eyeballs today. I’ve been making these for at least 10 years, and now I think it’s my signature Halloween treat. How sad is that? I’m the eyeball lady.

They’re basically Buckeyes that have been gorified. That’s right, not glorified. Gorified.

Halloween Peanut Butter Eyes

1 lb smooth peanut butter (I use the natural, but any works)
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
2 bags vanilla candy melts
1 medium bag plain M&Ms
some red food coloring and a small paintbrush

Mix the peanut butter, butter, and sugar together. It will be crumbly; you’ll have to knead it until it’s like Playdough. Roll it into 1” balls and place on waxed paper on 2 rimmed baking pans. Some that will fit in your refrigerator. Chill them overnight. This makes around 80. Only 60 made it to actual eyeball-ness today, because my husband found them in the garage frig. He loves naked eyeballs!

After they’re cold, melt 2 packages of vanilla candy wafers. I’ve tried actual white chocolate, but it just doesn’t coat well. You don’t want lumpy eyeballs. Using a toothpick, spear the balls and dip them. Put an M&M on them as a pupil and a clever camouflage for the toothpick hole. Then put them back in to chill. I don’t use red M&Ms because I’m going to put red veins on next. I like the look of orange best. Yellow is good, too, for gross eyes, but my entire bag of M&Ms only had 12 yellows.

Put a little red food coloring on a plastic lid or piece of foil. Use a very small paintbrush to paint veins on your eyeballs. I mean, the eyeballs. (If yours are like mine, your children ensure that you already have red veins in your eyeballs.) It really doesn’t take long. Then put them back in the frig to dry or if you have room on your counters and little fingers won’t pick them up, you can leave them out. Out is actually better because sometimes they sweat when you take them out of the frig and the red smears a little.

I spent about 30 minutes last night making and rolling these. Then today another 30 minutes dipping and painting. It’s the 12 hrs of chilling between steps that forces you to plan ahead, at least a little.

Everyone I've ever shared these with loves them...kids, friends, soldiers. Of course, soldiers love anything, but that's beside the point. If you don't make them into eyeballs, they're just as tasty dipped in a little dark chocolate instead. It's always okay to play with your food a little, though, especially at Halloween!