Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper.

Using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and peanut butter. Add vanilla and mix.

Keep using the hand mixer as long as you can, but don’t burn up the motor. Incorporate all the powdered sugar into the peanut butter mixture. Continue with a strong wooden spoon or your clean hands until it’s all mixed. The dough will be very crumbly, but will come together into perfect balls as you grab about a teaspoon’s worth and roll into a ball between your palms.

Melt the paraffin in a double boiler on the stove top. Add the Hershey’s (broken into small pieces) or chocolate chips and stir until completely melted. If using almond bark, follow package directions for melting in microwave.

Drop one ball at a time in the melted chocolate, cover completely then scoop underneath the ball with a fork, allowing the excess chocolate to run off before transferring to the waxed paper. Let the chocolate dry and re-solidify before serving.

To make the balls look like buckeyes, insert a toothpick into the center of a ball and carefully dip 3/4 of the way into the chocolate leaving a small round bare spot on the top. Sometimes the ball will want to fall off of the toothpick, or the ball with break apart. Chilling the balls in the fridge for a 1/2 hour or so may help.

Happy eating!