Cheer On The Bengals With Some Peanut Butter And Chocolate Buckeye Dip

With the Cincinnati Bengals' win against the Tennessee Titans last weekend, the tigers from the Buckeye State are one round closer to the Super Bowl. There's gonna be a lot of Cincinnati fans rooting for their home team, and hopefully plenty of Ohioans across the state shouting from their couches too.

When you think of the Buckeye State, it's hard not to immediately think of, well, buckeyes. But I'm not talking about the nut-bearing tree that inspired the state's nickname, I'm talking about the sweet peanut butter chocolate candies that Ohio's known for.

For those not as acquainted, buckeyes are a ball of peanut butter fudge dipped in chocolate, leaving a little of the fudge visible up top. They're called buckeyes because they look like the nut from the buckeye tree. (If you do a quick image comparison of the candy and the nut, you'll see it immediately, it's pretty cute.) Peanut butter and chocolate are a winning combination, so I turned the two into a dessert dip using a fluffy peanut butter and cream cheese base along with a secret ingredient on top: Magic Shell.

Sure, you could toss chocolate chips into the mix and call it a day, but the thing is, chocolate gets waxy and unappealing when it's cold. But Magic Shell retains its solid crackly nature until it hits your mouth, where it'll immediately begin to melt into a sauce. Plus, cracking into a magic shell lattice when you're dipping is pretty fun.

If you want to make your own Magic Shell (which I highly recommend because it only takes two ingredients along with an extremely quick zap in the microwave), read our guide here.

• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened at room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup Cool Whip or non-dairy whipped topping
• Homemade or store-bought chocolate Magic Shell
• Coarse sea salt for garnish (optional)

Place cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, and peanut butter in large mixing bowl. Using an electric beater, start on low and gradually increase speed to high (so you don't cause a big mess), and blend the mixture together until all ingredients are fully incorporated.

Next, gently fold in Cool Whip in two batches, until just barely mixed in. Transfer contents to a low serving bowl (a pie tin works perfectly). Chill mixture in fridge for at least two hours.

When ready to serve, drizzle generous amount of chocolate magic shell on top. It should firm up within under a minute, but if it retains its glossy look, simply place dip in refrigerator for five minutes.

Garnish with coarse sea salt prior to serving if desired. Serve with graham crackers.