Make the peanut butter filling: Use either a stand mixer or a hand mixer to beat the peanut butter, salted butter, and vanilla extract together until they are creamed together. Then add the powdered sugar and mix on low until it is thoroughly combined with the other ingredients.

Roll the filling into balls: Scoop out roughly 1 tablespoon of the peanut butter filling. Then use your hands to roll this into a smooth ball. Transfer this to a wax paper lined baking sheet, and repeat this process until all of the filling is portioned out into little balls.

Place this baking sheet in your freezer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the peanut butter balls become firm. You can also do this in your refrigerator however it takes much longer for them to firm up.

Melt the chocolate: Add the chocolate chips to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the chocolate chips for 30 seconds then take them out and give them a good stir. Then microwave them for another 30 seconds and give them another good stir. At this point, the chocolate chips should be starting to melt. So just keep microwaving the chocolate for 10 second increments making sure to stir between each increment until the chocolate is fully melted.

Dip the balls in chocolate to make buckeyes: Take the peanut butter balls out of your freezer. Pierce the top of one with a toothpick so that it can be held. Dunk this into the melted chocolate so that the bottom and sides are covered but the top is still exposed. Transfer this back to the baking sheet and remove the toothpick. Then use either a finger or a butter knife to smooth out the top so that hole is no longer visible. Repeat this process until all of the peanut butter balls are coated in chocolate.

Place these in your fridge to chill for an hour so that the chocolate hardens up.

Keep your buckeyes refrigerated and enjoy them whenever you want!