These Gluten-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs taste just like Reese's! An easy and delicious homemade Easter Treat!
Last year I went a little crazy making homemade Easter treats. This year I stuck with the basics and made only my favorite - Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Eggs.
Now I know what you're thinking - "Didn't you already post a recipe for those last year?" Why yes I did. But this is a new updated version. Both are good, so use whichever one works better for you.
Last year I made the recipe with graham cracker crumbs, like many of the recipes I found online suggested. While I was happy with the results, I wasn't done experimenting.
I could taste the graham and feel the texture of the whole wheat. They just weren't quite close enough to my beloved Reese's to completely satisfy me.
What's different about this updated recipe?
This time around I made a few changes. The first thing I did was to completely replace the graham crumbs with ground peanuts. This change makes these eggs 100% gluten-free, which was not something I could say about the previous recipe.
I cut back on the butter in the peanut butter filling, since I didn't feel that it added anything to the recipe.
I also slightly cut back on the coconut oil added to the chocolate, due to problems I was having with melting.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs Ingredients:
- Unsalted roasted peanuts
- Smooth peanut butter (Not natural peanut butter)
- Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- 10 ounces melting chocolate (Either dark or milk chocolate, depending on your preferences)
- Coconut oil (optional - to thin the chocolate coating, to make dipping easier)
I found the peanut butter dough a little easier to work with this time, probably due to the reduced amount of butter used. It was just a little firmer, which made it easier to roll, cut, and dip. However, it did still need to be frozen between each step.
How thick you roll your dough and how large of a cookie-cutter you use will greatly affect the number of eggs (or whatever shape you decide to make), so keep that in mind.
Also, keep in mind that the size of your eggs will greatly impact their nutritional content - and we're NOT talking about low calorie treats here. In fact, because peanuts are higher in fat (and calories) than graham crumbs, this recipe makes for some pretty calorie-dense (and high fat) treats.
Even with the changes I've made to keep these Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs firmer and less melt-prone, I'd still keep them refrigerated or frozen if you know it's going to be warm or if you're not going to eat them for a while.
I guess that's one good thing about having a cold forecast for Easter. At least we won't be finding the chocolatey treats that I've slaved for hours on completely liquefied in their plastic eggs at the Easter egg hunt!
Want more homemade candy recipes?
Gluten Free Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Eggs Nutrition Notes:
Nutrition information will vary depending on how many eggs you make, which will depend on the size of the cookie cutter(s) you use and how thick you roll the peanut butter dough.
These treats are gluten-free, and can be made vegan and dairy-free with your favorite dairy-free butter alternative.
Gluten Free Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Eggs
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted roasted peanuts
- 1 ¼ cups smooth peanut butter (don't try to use natural peanut butter here)
- 2 Tablespoons butter softened (salted or unsalted - use dairy-free butter alternative to make these eggs dairy-free or vegan)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 10 ounces melting chocolate (dark or milk - your preference)
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil (optional)
Instructions
- Process peanuts in a food processor (or coffee grinder in batches) until you reach a medium grind, like coarse sand.
- Add ground peanuts, peanut butter, butter and confectioners sugar to a medium bowl. Stir together until completely mixed.
- Place peanut butter mixture on a sheet of wax or parchment paper and place another sheet of paper on top. Roll with a rolling pin or press evenly with the palms of your hands to a thickness of about ½". Place mixture (still between the wax paper) onto a baking sheet and into the freezer to harden.
- When peanut butter mixture is hardened, cut into egg shapes (or any shape desired) using a cookie cutter. Re-roll peanut butter scraps as needed, refreezing if the mixture becomes too soft to cut. Place cut shapes back in freezer.
- While waiting for the peanut butter shapes to re-harden, begin melting the chocolate. Place chocolate and coconut oil (if using) in a double boiler or small glass bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Melt chocolate, stirring often. When chocolate is melted, remove from heat.
- Dip peanut butter shapes in chocolate with a fork, letting excess drip off into bowl. Place back onto parchment paper. Once all eggs are coated, place back in freezer to set.
- Once the chocolate is completely hardened, transfer to an airtight container or bag. Store in fridge or freezer as they will get quite soft at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
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