DIY: Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs! (Options for dairy free and PB free)

I normally don't buy lots of candy but at  Easter and a few other holidays, like Christmas and Valentines Day, it's hard not to! One of my families FAVORITES is Reese's Peanut Butter cups... and how can you not LOVE all of the shapes they put them in for each Holiday!  However, Per piece of candy, these can be pretty pricy especially if you are buying them for your whole family! Here is an example from Target...Each egg is on SALE for 75 cents!!!! 

As you pick up an egg to decide if you are going to spend your money on it, you turn it over and check out the ingredients...It doesn't look too bad! OF COURSE it has sugar in it, it's CANDY! And everything else looks pretty normal...Companies have gotten smart by shortening or nicknaming their additives so you can easily over look them...Do you notice the third from the bottom, TBHQ....? This is short for Tertiary Butylhydroquinone...WOW that's a mouthful!!!! I don't know if any of us are adding this to our homemade baked goods! TBHQ is a controversial additive, used to keep oils from going rancid. It's a petroleum Derivative. The food industry pushed the FDA for years to get it approved as a preservative despite the fact that ingestion of large doses (a thirteenth of an ounce) can cause nausea, delirium, collapse, ringing in the ears, and vomiting. There are also other suggested problems that TBHQ may cause but I won't go into all of them. The FDA has rules on TBHQ that it cannot exceed 0.02 % of the oil and fat content in a food, which is their side of the argument...The trace amounts "can't hurt you"is what they would argue, but why even mess with it!? If something has to be LIMITED in or foods why would we even want a trace amount!? AND then on top of this, FEED IT TO OUR CHILDREN!!!!

 This leads me to something else! My husband got me into this FREE app that is SOOOO COOL! It is called Fooducate. Check it out! You can scan most bar codes and it will tell you a little about what you are eating and give it a grade! Here is the grade for one Reese's PB Egg. I knew it would get something LOW because it is candy but it will also tell you about the additives and preservatives inside what you are about to eat so you can really THINK before you buy it!!! 

 I don't want this post to be all a downer!!!!! Lets get to the POSITIVE stuff!!! How can you not love the combination of Peanut Butter and Chocolate!?! I couldn't help myself when I saw a recipe for DIY- Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs on Pinterest! YUMMY is all I could say! Thank you The Whimsical Princess for your post! I tried the recipe and changed it a little and ALSO will give you recipe suggestions for those of you who have peanut or dairy allergies! You should be able to enjoy these too! =) Let me say that I normally DON'T use sugar in my baked goods but when it comes to homemade Reese's with no preservatives VS. store bought....I'M IN!! This recipe will make you about 28 (2 inch) eggs! You can also make them smaller for portion control. Here's what you need.

Ingredients:

"Peanut Butter" filling

• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 cups Creamy Peanut butter (Almond or any nut butter will work also)
• 1/4 cup butter melted (I would use Earth Balance for a dairy free choice, which also makes this Vegan)
• 2-3 tablespoons milk (almond, coconut, or other will work)

Chocolate coating

• 2 1/2-3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (carob chips if recipe is Vegan or dairy free chips will work just the same)
• 1 tablespoon butter (Earth Balance or other butter substitute)

Directions:

Mix together the powdered sugar, peanut butter, and MELTED butter. 

Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until it becomes a nice workable dough. 

Then form the dough into egg shapes, and place in the freezer for about an hour.

If you are making these for another Holiday form them into Trees, or Hearts...Etc.

Place the chocolate chips and shortening in a glass measuring cup.  Microwave 30 seconds at a time stirring in between until completely melted. This step only took me 1 1/2 minutes.

 I used five wood skewers for this next step, Stick in into the bottom of five eggs at a time.

Then dip into your chocolate and let as much excess run off as you can. I used a spoon to help me cover the whole area of the egg! Then place on Wax paper to dry. It's very simple to remove the skewer to use again.... just twist!

If you have any...cut off excess chocolate around each egg.

These are SO much better than store bought!!!!! Also they are pretty rich so you can ACTUALLY stop after just one! 

Totally kid approved....We even shared with our neighbors and the kids wanted more! =)

Here's to a CHEAPER and NO ADDITIVE candy!!!! Happy Easter!