Copycat Peanut Butter Eggs
This past month I received a lot of requests for a healthy Reese's egg makeover. My first thought was to freeze a blob of peanut butter, shape it into eggs, and cover it in chocolate. But that seemed too easy. I was up for a challenge. And so, without a clue if it would work, I used Sugar-Free Powdered Sugar to make more authentic chocolate Reese's eggs. It did work! These irresistible chocolate eggs taste just like the real thing. No, seriously, they really do.
This past month I received a lot of requests for a healthy Reese's egg makeover. My first thought was to freeze a blob of peanut butter, shape it into eggs, and cover it in chocolate. But that seemed too easy. I was up for a challenge. And so, without a clue if it would work, I used Sugar-Free Powdered Sugar to make more authentic chocolate Reese's eggs. It did work! These irresistible chocolate eggs taste just like the real thing. No, seriously, they really do.
- Carbohydrate 3.31127666666666 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 3.66344518518518 g
- Fiber 0.661851852840847 g
- Protein 1.86750740740741 g
- Saturated Fat 0.628874629629629 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (9g)
- Sodium 45.3028888888888 mg
- Sugar 2.64942481382581 g
- Trans Fat 0.183045185185185 g
- Calories 51 calories
Step-by-step
- Mix the first three ingredients together in a bowl until it becomes a crumbly dough. (Note: if your nut butter is from the fridge, let it sit awhile—or microwave it—so it’s easier to mix. Also, I put the dough into a plastic bag to shape into a ball with less mess.)
- Add the extra 2 tbsp. sugar/sf sugar if it’s too gooey, and add a little more pb if it’s too dry. (Different brands of peanut butter will yield different results.)
- Taste the dough and add a little more salt if desired.
- Form dough into flat little ovals (or egg shapes, but real Reeses eggs are flat).
- Freeze the dough for an hour or so, until it’s hard.
- Meanwhile, mix the cocoa and coconut oil (melt the oil if it’s not already melted) in a shallow dish.
- Add the agave/maple or stevia drops.
- If you use the stevia option, also add a scant 2 tbsp. water or extra oil.
- Mix until it looks like chocolate sauce, and then take one “egg” out of the freezer at a time (so the rest stay cold) and cover in chocolate. (I used a corn-cob skewer. No idea why I even have those, but they worked really well! A fork would also be fine.)
- Immediately return covered egg to the freezer and let harden.
- Best to store these in the freezer as well. You can thaw a little before eating, or eat when frozen–either way, they’re awesome!
Ingredient quantities alone fail to convey how drastically different peanut butter brands behave when mixed with powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Natural nut butters containing only peanuts and salt release oils that make the dough slick and uncooperative, whereas commercial stabilized spreads contain hydrogenated oils that absorb solids differently. Bringing nut butter to room temperature before mixing prevents seizing, ensuring the dry ingredients incorporate evenly without forming stubborn pockets of powder. When formulating the interior dough, achieving a crumbly consistency requires manual adjustment; adding extra sweetener resolves a sticky dough, while an extra teaspoon of nut butter remedies excessive dryness. Shaping the mixture into flat ovals rather than rounded spheres mirrors commercial proportions and ensures an even coating ratio of filling to shell. Freezing the shaped ovals for one hour solidifies the fats completely, which is structurally necessary so the centers do not dissolve when submerged in warm coconut oil and cocoa. Melting the coconut oil fully before mixing with cocoa powder guarantees a glossy, uniform sauce that solidifies upon contact with the frozen peanut butter centers. Dipping each piece individually while keeping the remaining portions in the freezer prevents premature softening during the coating process. Storing the finished confections in the freezer maintains their snap, and allowing them to temper for five minutes at room temperature before eating softens the center just enough to release the nutty aromas without compromising the chocolate shell.
