Buttercream Candies are treats with a soft and creamy buttercream filling dipped and covered in melted chocolate. If you love chocolate-covered treats, try my Chocolate Covered Cherries and Martha Washington Candy!
Buttercream Candy Ingredients
Room Temperature Ingredients: Using room temperature butter will help you get the best results when making these candies. Butter is at room temperature at 65°F. Don’t put it in the microwave to soften it; simply cut it up into small pieces and let it sit out if you forgot to take it out of the refrigerator.
Chocolate: Look for baking chocolate to use as the coating on these candies. I prefer semi-sweet chocolate for just enough sweetness. Stay away from chocolate chips; they don’t melt and coat as well.
Chocolate Coating: Microwave vs. Double Boiler
After the balls of buttercream have chilled in the refrigerator, they will be ready to be coated in the melted chocolate. There are a couple of ways you can melt chocolate. You can melt it in the microwave or use the double boiler method.
Melting Chocolate in the Microwave
To melt the chocolate in the microwave, add the chopped chocolate and oil into a microwave-safe bowl. Heat the chocolate in 20-second increments, stirring after every 20 seconds, until melted. Once melted and smooth, let the chocolate sit for about 5 minutes before dipping the buttercream.
Double Boiler Method for Melting Chocolate
Using the double boiler method helps ensure that the chocolate is not burned and the gently melted chocolate will be smooth and shiny. And, you don’t need any fancy kitchen gadgets to use this method.
To melt the chocolate, fill a pot about halfway full of water. Bring it to a simmer over low heat. Find a heat-safe bowl (glass or stainless steel) that can be set into the pot. Make sure the bottom of the pot is not touching the water. The steam is what will melt the chocolate.
Add the chocolate and oil to the heat-safe bowl. With the heat on low, use a rubber spatula to stir the chocolate until it is melted and smooth. Again, once melted, let the chocolate cool for a few minutes before dipping the buttercream into it.
Can I Make These Ahead of Time?
These treats are perfect to prepare ahead of time since the filling can be kept in the refrigerator overnight!
How to Store Buttercream Candies
Store the candies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Freeze them for up to 3 months. If freezing the candies, be sure to label and date the freezer-safe container. When ready to eat, let them thaw in the refrigerator.
More Candy Recipes
Buttercream Candies
Ingredients
Buttercream Filling
- ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups (500 g) confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 pinch kosher salt
Chocolate Coating
- 4 bars (4 ounces each) semi-sweet baking chocolate bars, chopped
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Instructions
Buttercream Filling
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using a handheld mixer), beat the butter until creamy (about 2 minutes).
- Add the confectioners' sugar. Beat on low for about a minute. Add the milk, vanilla, almond extract, and pinch of salt. Beat on high until smooth and creamy (about 3 minutes).
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place the buttercream mixture in the refrigerator to chill for one hour, up to 24 hours.
- When ready, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and remove the chilled buttercream from the refrigerator.
- Scoop out the buttercream with a one tablespoon scoop and roll it into a ball. Place it on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining buttercream. (If the mixture gets too sticky, add some confectioners' sugar to your hands.)
- Place the balls of buttercream in the refrigerator to chill for another hour, up to 24 hours.
Chocolate Coating
- In the last few minutes of chilling the buttercream balls, melt the chocolate. Add the chocolate pieces and oil to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 20-second increments, stirring after every 20 seconds, until the chocolate is melted and creamy. Let it sit for about 5 minutes to cool before dipping the buttercream balls.
Assembly
- Remove the buttercream balls from the refrigerator. Working one at a time, gently drop the balls into the melted chocolate, making sure they are completely covered in chocolate.
- Using a fork, lift out the chocolate-covered buttercream. Use a toothpick or another fork to slide the buttercream candy onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Drizzle the remaining chocolate over the candies. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, or until the chocolate has set.
- Store candies in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Can you freeze these till xmas??
Came out awesome thanks for sharing this. Will be one of my new holiday candys i do every year. Again thank you for sharing
These little gems are awesome! Now… I wonder, if you wanted maple flavor, what to do? Would replacing the vanilla with maple extract give it enough maple taste? Increase it? Would it bugger up the consistency of the cream? Use pure maple syrup? Amount? I’ve over thought myself into a quandary so now I need expert help.
Is there such a thing as maple extract?? You would want it to be concentrated so you only need a little bit, otherwise it might effect the mixture and be too runny??
you can buy mapeline extract or even better at the craft store you can get many different flavor emulsions. My favorite is Cherry!
Great suggestion!! Those are my favorite to use – the flavor doesn’t have that chemically taste like some extracts have.
If it was me, what I would do, is swap out the vanilla extract for maple extract. You’ll have to do a sample taste to make sure it’s the right amount. But, that’s what I do when I want to change a flavor of a cookie or candy.
There is an awesome maple cream chocolates recipe online . It uses maple flavoring – I use 2 1/4 t. maple flavoring. I use 1/2 semisweet and 1/2 milk chocolate chips to dip.
My mom used to make these for us when we were children 50+ years ago. I never got her recipe though. Sometimes she would change the flavor – orange, lemon, coconut and add coconut to the filling. Sooooo good!! I am be making some now
Whenever I’ve done anything chocolate covered, I usually just melt the chocolate. What does adding the oil do? Does the chocolate harden with the added oil? Thank you.
My Mom always used paraffin wax in her chocolate when dipping! I still use her recipe!
I substituted raspberry extract for vanilla, and used a few drops of red food coloring to tint it pink. They’re fun to put together and delicious too!
Is there any way to make the centers chocolate, without a raw cocoa taste?
About how many does this recipe make? Looks delish.
It says 26 candied in the recipe card. 🙂
Very good, although I had to remelt the chocolate after a few balls because it got too cold to stick correctly. I melted it in a double boiler and didn’t let it cool off before starting because it didn’t seem that hot (and obviously it wasn’t).
The almond extract over powers the butter flavor. I will leave it out next time.