Description

Peanut butter eggs have a rich peanut butter center with a dark chocolate shell. They’re easy to make, and so much better than Reese’s. You can also make them into ball shapes, so that you can enjoy them any time of the year.

Ingredients

Units Scale

Peanut butter filling

1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons fine blanched almond flour

Chocolate coating

8 ounces dark chocolates (I like 60% cacao)
1 teaspoon extra virgin coconut oil

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Instructions

Mix together the filling: In a medium-sized mixing bowl use a spatula to mix together the peanut butter, honey, and vanilla extract, (Note: if your peanut butter doesn’t contain any salt, add a pinch of kosher salt to the filling), mix until well combined. Stir in the almond flour in in batches, until it is well mixed. The filling should have thickened quite a bit.
Freeze the filling: Place the bowl in the freezer for 35 minutes, or until the dough is mostly solid, but still pliable. In the meantime, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Shape into eggs: Scoop out about 1.5 tablespoons of the chilled dough (I like using a medium sized spring-loaded cookie scoop to make this easier), and place it in your hand. Use both hands to roll the dough into a ball, then flatten the ball out a little and use your fingers to taper off one end of the sphere to look like an egg shape. It’s okay if they look a little rustic at this point, they will look more like eggs once they are covered in chocolate. I did find it helpful to google a picture of a peanut butter egg to look at for reference. Place the peanut butter egg onto the parchment lined baking sheet, and continue until all of the dough has been used. You will have about 12 to 14 eggs. (See notes below about making these into balls instead of eggs, if desired).
Freeze the peanut butter eggs: Place the peanut butter eggs in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours, or until the eggs are pretty well frozen solid.
Melt the chocolate: Just before you are ready to cover the eggs, chop up the chocolate, or break it up into small pieces, and place it into a microwave safe bowl (I like using a large glass liquid measuring cup since it has the handle, so I won’t burn myself), along with the coconut oil. Microwave the chocolate on high for increments of 30 seconds, stirring in between, just until melted. Alternately, you could melt the chocolate using the double boiler method.
Cover the peanut butter eggs in chocolate: This step can be a little tricky. The peanut butter doesn’t fully freeze, and melts sort of fast, so I suggest keeping most of the eggs in the freezer, and only having 3 uncovered eggs out of the freezer at a time. I covered a plate in parchment paper to place in the freezer to temporarily hold the eggs that were waiting to be covered. To cover the eggs, drop one egg at a time into the melted chocolate and use a spoon to spoon the chocolate over the egg. Use a fork to lift the egg out of the chocolate, tap any excess off, and place back on the parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat until you have worked through all the eggs. Work quickly, as the eggs do get soft from being left out. If the chocolate starts to get too thick at any point, give it a 20 second blast in the microwave to warm it back up.
Decorate: I like to use the remaining chocolate to drizzle over the eggs, using a spoon. This is optional, of course. Another fun option could be to use some died candy melts in various colors. This would be especially fun if you’re making these eggs for kids.
Freeze, one last time: Freeze the chocolate covered eggs for 15 minutes, or until the chocolate is set.
Store: Once the eggs are frozen, they can be transferred to a freezer ziplock bag, or an airtight container. They will last in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To eat: Pull as many eggs as you plan to eat out of the freezer, and allow them to come to room temp for 10 to 20 minutes, before eating. The peanut butter eggs are best stored in the freezer and then allowed to come to room temp, just before eating them. They will start to get a bit too soft when left at room temp for longer than 45 mins (ish).

Notes

make them into balls: If want you can make these into balls instead of eggs, you can. They are a little easier to work with because there is less shaping involved, and it’s easier to cover the smaller portion in the chocolate. The balls would be a great option if you want to make the same dessert any other time of the year. To make the balls, follow the same directions, only portion out 1 tablespoon of the dough, and roll it into balls. You will gave about 23 balls.

maple syrup: You can use maple syrup in place of honey, I did test this recipe using maple syrup, it works. However, the filling does hold together just a little bit better when using the honey because it’s less liquidy.

vegan: To make these vegan use maple syrup instead of honey (see note above), and use vegan chocolate.

Dairy free: To make this recipe dairy free, use dairy free chocolate.

Peanut butter substitute: you could easily swap the peanut butter with any smooth, natural, nut or seed butter you like. Cashew butter, or almond butter would be great options.