While I grew up in the Chicagoland area and still live here (another story entirely), most of my family lives in the great state of Ohio — specifically Cincinnati. I have a special place in my heart for Skyline Chili, Graeter’s Ice Cream, Montgomery Inn Ribs, LaRosa’s Pizza, Grippo’s Pretzels…you get the idea. But one of my all-time favorite Ohio-influenced foods is the Buckeye — basically a peanut butter ball dipped in chocolate. If you’ve spent any time reading this blog, you’re well aware of my peanut butter obsession, so this Buckeye thing shouldn’t be a surprise to you.

To bring PopChips week to a close, I decided to take the basics of the Buckeye and give it a crunchy spin by sandwiching the peanut butter filling between two of the chips…and then dunking it in chocolate. Not complicated by any means, but pretty darn tasty. Plus I’m pretty much diggin’ the saltiness factor that PopChips bring to the party.

By the way, if you haven’t entered to win a PopChips variety pack (12 snack-sized bags of various flavors), there’s still time! All you have to do is one (or more!) of the following:

• Comment in this post (and/or any of the posts this week)
• Follow me on Twitter @FreshandFoodie
• Follow PopChips on Twitter @PopChips or @PopChipsChicago
  
• Retweet or comment on this giveaway on Twitter and include the hashtag #FoodiePopChips

I’ll choose one winner out of all “entries” received next Monday  (the 30th) using random.org. For shipping purposes, winner must be a residents of the continental United States. Good luck!

Crunchy Peanut Butter Chocolate Snackwiches

What you need:

• 2/3 cup natural peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, divided
• 2 snack-sized bags of PopChips original potato (about 40 chips)
• 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

How you do it:

1. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, powdered sugar and one tablespoon of butter with a hand mixer until well blended.
3. Gently spread a tablespoon or so of the peanut butter mixture onto 20 of the PopChips, and use the other 20 to create a sandwich. Put the sandwiches on the baking sheet and put in the freezer for at least 15 minutes to harden slightly.
4. In a double boiler, gently melt the chocolate and one tablespoon of butter, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Dip half of each sandwich into the melted chocolate and place back on the wax paper-lined baking sheet. After all sandwiches have been dipped, put the tray in the refrigerator for at least 15 minute to harden.
5. Store in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.