A couple of weeks ago, we had a little family outing to a quaint little downtown shopping district. Inside one of the stores, I spied a basket full of pink and purple foil packets near the cash register.

I’m just like a cat — shiny things always catch my eye. “What are these?” I asked the shop’s owner.

“They’re chocolate covered Easter eggs that the local church makes. The pink are peanut butter, and the purple are coconut.”

She was speaking my language. I snatched up three — two peanut butters and a coconut — for my husband, son and I to enjoy as a little afternoon snack. I couldn’t resist. Shiny paper. Chocolate. And just 80 cents each.

Oh my goodness! Those eggs were to-die for. Sinfully delicious.

We’re big Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs fans in our family, and these were even better. And the coconut eggs, which I was a little unsure about, they were even better than the chocolate ones. They were so good that I bought a half-dozen more. I shared a few with my neighbors. The pregnant lady next door even hatched a plan to send her husband on a road trip to buy more.

But I couldn’t let her do that, So, I did the neighborly thing and made a batch of my own peanut butter and coconut chocolate-dipped eggs.

If you gave up sweets or chocolate for Lent, you’re going to want to make up a batch of these to have when you break your fast.

Oh my goodness!

I adapted slightly two different recipes I found online for peanut butter balls from Sweet Anna’s and homemade Almond Joy bars from Joy the Baker. Each recipe made a dozen or so Easter eggs.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

Ingredients
1 jar of creamy peanut butter1 stick, plus 2 TBS butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
1 bag semisweet chocolate chips or 1 bag white chocolate chips

Using a handheld or stand mixer, whip together the peanut butter, vanilla and 1 stick of butter. Add powdered sugar, in small batches, until blended. If the mixture is too crumbly, melt remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter and add, a little at a time, until the mixture forms a slightly dry, sticky ball. You may not need to add all the butter.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or place into the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Using hands, shape into Easter egg shapes. Place formed eggs on a parchment- or wax paper-lined  baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or freeze for 5 to 10 minutes. This will make the peanut butter balls easier to work with.

Once balls have chilled, melt chocolate chips over a double boiler (or in the microwave, being careful to follow the instructions on the bag). Stir to ensure the chocolate doesn’t burn or seize. Be careful that you don’t get water in the mixture.

Once chocolate has melted, dip peanut butter eggs into the mixture. Roll them around using two forks. Lift, letting the excess chocolate drip back into the bowl, and cool on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.

Let cool and harden, then enjoy!

I dipped some of my peanut butter eggs in semisweet chocolate and the rest in white chocolate. Melt them separately, so you don’t have to dip as quickly.

**** Very important tip, in other words, learn from my mistake: I thought I was smart cooling my chocolate-dipped Easter eggs on a wire rack, but that was dumb, dumb, dumb. Once the chocolate had hardened, my eggs got stuck to the wire rack. I had to scrape them off the rack using a spatula, leaving the undersides uncovered.

Not such a bad thing, as I was able to “save” all the chocolate and peanut butter bits for snacking. But this definitely complicated my candy making. It made a mess and it added a step. To fix my mistake, I popped the eggs back in the fridge to cool and melted a bit more chocolate. I placed the eggs, naked side up, on parchment paper and used my offset spatula to add more chocolate to them. Mistake fixed, but take my advice and cool these on parchment or wax paper so you don’t have to go to all this messy trouble.

Chocolate Covered Coconut Easter Eggs

Ingredients
1/2 can (7 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut (the original recipe calls for unsweetened coconut, but I had trouble finding that, so I went for the sweet stuff)
1 bag semisweet chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, mix together sweetened condensed milk, powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Stir in the coconut.

Mix well, so coconut is coated with milky mixture. Allow to set in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Shape coconut mixture into egg shapes, working quickly. The warmth from your hands may make the sticky mixture hard to work with. Place eggs on parchment or wax paper. Once you’ve shaped all the eggs, return the pan to the freezer for 10 to 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate chips over a double boiler (or in the microwave, being careful to follow the instructions on the bag). Stir to ensure the chocolate doesn’t burn or seize. Be careful that you don’t get water in the mixture.

Once chocolate has melted, dip coconut eggs into the mixture. Roll them around using two forks. Lift, letting the excess chocolate drip back into the bowl, and cool on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. If the coconut eggs get too soft, return them to the refrigerator and freezer, then continue dipping.

Let cool and harden, then enjoy!

Dough for the peanut butter eggs

Forming the peanut butter balls

Ingredients for the coconut eggs

Coconut eggs ready to go in the freezer

Dipping the eggs in chocolate

A tasty snack

Pretty little chocolate eggs, neatly bundled

Linking up at the following parties:

What’s It Wednesdays Ivy & Elephants