The hubs and I have loved peanut butter Easter eggs as long as we can remember. Until last year. We started eating more cleanly over the past eighteen months or so, and, not being huge chocolate lovers anyway, rarely had candy. When we did, we bought Unreal brand, which is so much better than standard commercial candy bars, if you haven’t tried it. Target even sells it! But Unreal does not make peanut butter eggs, so we bought the big name ones…and didn’t like them! I remind myself that it’s a healthy thing that our tastes have changed (we don’t really like regular soda or processed foods, either), but so sad not to have our favorite treat in our Easter baskets.
Then I remembered a recipe my mom used to make for homemade peanut butter bars. It made an entire sheet pan full, and you just put a layer of chocolate on top of the filling. I thought it would work to shape into eggs, then cover with chocolate….and it did!
I know, they’re not as uniform and pretty as store-bought, but they really do taste much better, and the ingredients are, while not healthy, at least not harmful to you!
Peanut Butter Eggs
(makes about 18 eggs)
- 1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
- 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (I used 2 sheets of crackers, finely smashed!)
- 12 oz milk chocolate chips
1. Combine peanut butter and butter, and microwave for 30 seconds, just to loosen up the peanut butter. Stir in powdered sugar and graham cracker crumbs and blend well. It will be a really, really thick dough. Pinch off a piece and make a ball about 1-1/2” in diameter and place on a parchment lined pan. When all the dough is used, shape each into an egg about 1/2” thick. Place in freezer for half an hour or so.
2. Melt the chocolate in the microwave according to the package directions. It’s kind of a pain…15 seconds intervals at 50% power…but worth it to avoid burned chocolate.
3. Using a fork (I used 2 wooden forks from store-bought salads), dip each egg, spooning chocolate over the top if needed. Lift the egg and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl. Set the chocolate-covered egg back on the parchment paper and continue on dipping all the other eggs. When finished, refrigerate or freeze until the chocolate is hardened.
I definitely need this recipe after I had a craving for one and bought one at K-Mart……….for a buck! I couldn’t believe I paid that for one. I thought it was maybe .50 cents, till the boy rang it up. Oh well. Now I’ll never have to pay that again!
And they’ll be (a little) healthier, maybe! So you can eat lots!
These look really good. I think I would eat all of them before they would make it to any Easter basket. lol
~Sarah
http://atowngirlslife.blogspot.com/
Yeah, I’ve not made them yet this year for that very reason, Sarah!