Homemade Butterfinger BBs

Butterfinger BBs were a cult candy — bite-sized spheres with that signature flaky, peanut-buttery crunch enrobed in milk chocolate — discontinued in 2006 and mourned ever since. The secret to the real thing's crunchy, layered interior is pulled peanut butter taffy: a mixture of peanut butter, corn syrup, and sugar cooked to hard-crack stage, then stretched while hot to aerate and laminate the candy into brittle, crackly sheets before cutting and dipping. This recipe replicates that process at home, yielding a candy that's genuinely crisp, not chewy, with the slightly salty-sweet peanut roast depth that made the original legendary.

Ingredients

• granulated sugar – 1 cup
• light corn syrup – 1/3 cup
• water – 3 tablespoons
• creamy peanut butter, conventional (not natural — natural's oil separation will break the candy) – 1/2 cup
• baking soda – 1/4 teaspoon
• fine sea salt – 1/4 teaspoon

• milk chocolate chips or chopped milk chocolate, divided – 2 cups

Instructions

1. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with a silicone mat or well-buttered parchment. Set it on a heatproof surface near your stove — you'll need it within arm's reach. Clip a candy thermometer to a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in the saucepan over medium heat, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Once it comes to a boil, stop stirring entirely and cook, swirling the pan occasionally if needed, until the syrup reaches 310°F / 154°C (hard-crack stage).
2. The moment the syrup hits 310°F / 154°C, pull it off the heat and quickly stir in the peanut butter, baking soda, and salt all at once. Work fast — the mixture will foam and spit slightly from the baking soda. Stir until completely combined, then immediately pour it onto your prepared baking sheet in a rough rectangle. Do not scrape the pan.
3. Let the candy cool on the sheet for about 3–4 minutes, just until the edges are firm enough to handle but the center is still pliable and warm — around 250°F / 121°C if you probe it. Butter your hands generously (have more butter nearby; this is hot). Fold the edges of the candy toward the center, then pick up the mass and begin stretching and folding: pull it into a rope about 18 inches long, fold it in half, then pull and fold again. Repeat this pulling and folding for 2–3 minutes, working continuously. The candy will change from glossy and translucent to opaque, pale, and visibly striated — this is exactly what you want.
4. Once the candy is pale, opaque, and has developed visible layering, work quickly — it's becoming rigid. On your buttered surface, pull or roll it into a log about 1 inch in diameter. Cut the log into small rounds or nuggets roughly 3/4 inch across using buttered scissors or a sharp bench scraper. They don't need to be perfectly round at this stage. If the candy hardens before you finish cutting, you can briefly warm it in a 200°F / 95°C oven for 2–3 minutes to restore pliability. Let the cut pieces cool completely to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
5. Temper the milk chocolate using the seeding method: place two-thirds of the chopped chocolate (about 225g) in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water (the bowl should not touch the water). Stir continuously until melted and the temperature reaches 115°F / 46°C. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining one-third of chopped chocolate (the 'seed') in small handfuls, stirring constantly until fully melted and the temperature drops to 88–90°F / 31–32°C for milk chocolate. The chocolate should look glossy and smooth; when you dab a small amount on your lower lip, it should feel just slightly cool.
6. Line a second baking sheet with parchment. Working in batches, drop the candy pieces into the tempered chocolate and use a fork to roll them and lift them out, tapping the fork against the edge of the bowl to let excess chocolate drip off. Set coated pieces on the parchment-lined sheet. Once all pieces are coated, let the chocolate set at cool room temperature (65–68°F / 18–20°C) for at least 30 minutes, or until fully hardened and glossy. Do not refrigerate — condensation will ruin the temper.