Paula Deen's Peanut Butter Chocolate Easter Eggs

Feeling Tired (I hate when Hubby is out of town)
Hearing I Surrender To You ~Jeremy Camp

I made these treats (I got the recipe out of our newspaper) a few days before Easter. They were tasty but I do not think I would make them again.



Paula Deen's Peanut Butter Chocolate Easter Eggs Recipe
Makes 20

Ingredients
2 cups creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
1 1/2 packages (18 ounces) dark chocolate chips
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1/2 bag (6 ounces) white chocolate chips (optional)
Food coloring of your choice (optional)
Coconut (optional)

Directions
In bowl of a standing mixer, combine peanut butter and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sifted confectioners’ sugar. Reduce speed to low and add crispy rice cereal just until combined. Cover and place bowl in refrigerator for about an hour (do not skip this step).

Line a baking tray with wax paper. Remove bowl from refrigerator. Shape mixture into approximately 20 egg shapes and place on baking tray. Place baking tray in freezer for a minimum of 30 minutes.

While eggs are freezing, use a double boiler and melt chocolate chips and shortening over low heat. Remove eggs from freezer and, using toothpicks, dip eggs in melted chocolate. Place back on wax lined baking tray. (At this point, you can sprinkle eggs with coconut if you like.) Once all eggs are covered in chocolate, place tray in refrigerator to cool.

While eggs are cooling, use a zip-top plastic bag to melt white chocolate and any food coloring in the microwave. Microwave for 10 seconds at a time, massaging food coloring into chocolate until completely melted. Remove eggs from refrigerator and allow to sit a minute. Snip end of zip-top bag and drizzle colored white chocolate over cooled eggs to decorate.

To serve, line a plate with coconut and place eggs on top.

**The first part of the recipe was easy. I did not add coconut to the mix. My first issue came when dipping the eggs in the melted chocolate. I let the chocolate drip off of the eggs but I should have let it drip a lot more as each egg had a chocolate pool under it. I shaved it off each egg but it was a pain.

The major issue was in decorating the eggs. I only ending up decorating 6 eggs. White chocolate is hard to work with sometimes and it not very easy to decorate with. I have some gel food coloring as well as some liquid food coloring. I was able to get a good mix with the blue and the green (that were gel) but the liquid red and the gel pink caused the white chocolate to harden up. I am not sure why! By then I had wasted so much white chocolate that I didn't want to try with any colors.

These were really yummy but I do not think I would make them again. I chose this recipe because I thought it would be cute to decorate the eggs for Easter.

I would consider making the recipe as a bar cookie (like Rice Krispie Treats). I think it would work really well by pressing the mixture into a small pan and after refrigerating spreading the chocolate mixture on top.

***There was melted chocolate left over after dipping all the eggs. I so could not let all that good chocolate go to waste so The Prince and I had THE BEST EVER chocolate milk with the leftover chocolate!