Homemade Peanut Butter Eggs

If you like Reese’s eggs, you’ll love these homemade chocolate peanut butter eggs! Once you try these homemade chocolate Easter eggs, you will want to make them every year. Using quality Belgian chocolate, really makes these homemade peanut butter eggs special. You can taste the quality of the chocolate, and it has loads of peanut butter flavor. These are certain to be one of those Easter sweet treats your family asks for every year.

My middle son has always been crazy about peanut butter and chocolate anything, so I have been making these easy chocolate Easter eggs in one form or another for decades. We used to make them with hard molds, and the silicone makes it so much easier, I love modern silicone molds. Now this is a really easy recipe, and it’s delicious too.

The recipe is simple to do, with no candy thermometer, or rolling, and no cookie cutter needed. You can vary the peanut butter filling to suit your family favorites, smooth and creamy, or lots of crunch, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate, add salt to reduce the sweetness.

This is a tried and true recipe I have been making forever, I know it will be one of your favorite recipes for homemade candy.  This recipe makes large eggs about the portion size small chocolate bar.  Some are decorated with bright colored chocolate for the children,  and the adults can have a less sweet dark Belgian plain chocolate. 

Homemade Chocolate Easter Eggs Recipe

Ingredients

You only need a few simple ingredients for this peanut butter eggs recipe, and I love that you can pronounce every ingredient. You should be able to find all the ingredients at the grocery stores or the bulk food stores.

Use whatever peanut butter you enjoy, smooth and creamy peanut butter or crunchy peanut butter in your favorite brand is fine, but don’t use natural peanut butter, it has too much oil. Use real butter instead of margarine. Icing sugar (confectioner sugar) is necessary to thicken the peanut butter. Vanilla for flavor

The most important ingredient of course is the chocolate, if you can find it use Belgian chocolate melting wafers, in dark or milk chocolate. Belgian chocolate is a more delicious chocolate as it contains less wax than the other chocolate coating melts. Graham cracker crumbs, Rice Krispies, chopped peanuts or coconut can be added to the peanut butter mixture. The graham cracker crumbs give the filling a reeses egg filling texture, but I used rice krispies in mine.

Ingredients for 6 large or 12 small Easter Eggs

Tools

The easiest way to make the egg shape is with a silicone mold. If using colored chocolate, you will also need squeezable chocolate containers or a small paintbrush for decorating.

Make the Peanut Butter Mixture

In a large mixing bowl combine peanut butter and butter. Beat together with an electric mixer until very well incorporated at least a minute to prevent little separate bits of just butter.

Once well blended add the icing sugar (confectioners sugar) To prevent the icing sugar from flying everywhere, start on low speed until the sugar is somewhat incorporated. Then add the vanilla extract and beat on high speed for at least two minutes. Occasionally scrape the side of the bowl.

Add 2 cups of whatever additional ingredients you like. 1 cup rice krispies, 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup chopped peanuts, 1/2 cup of coconut, or a combination.

The peanut butter mixture should be the consistency of thick cookie dough. You can adjust it by adding more icing sugar. The difference will be from the brand of peanut butter you use or the heat of your kitchen.

Place the filling in the fridge while we prepare the chocolate.

Melt the Chocolate

Although we used to rely on a double boiler, the microwave, I now prefer to melt chocolate in the microwave, especially for small amounts. While there are specialty plastic melting containers available, I prefer using a 2-cup glass measuring cup or microwave-safe bowl filled with high-quality 3-cups Belgian chocolate wafers. Microwave on the defrost setting for six minutes, checking after four minutes, and stirring to finish melting. If the wafers aren’t fully melted, continue microwaving in 30-second intervals until smooth. Keep in mind that different colors of candy melts can have varying melting times, my yellow melted in half the time it took for the blue.

Easter Eggs Two Ways

There are two ways to fill the chocolate easter egg molds with melted chocolate.

Plain Chocolate Eggs

The easiest way to make the Easter eggs is to line the silicone mold with melted chocolate and using a spoon spread the chocolate around until the entire outside shape is covered. Then place it in the fridge to harden.

Using a spoon spread the chocolate so that it goes up to the rim of each egg mould.  Make sure the bottom is covered with chocolate.  Put in the fridge and let chill while you make your filling.

Colored Chocolate Eggs

If you want to fill in the patterns within the forms of the chocolate egg mold with different colors. Melt one color at a time and do all the molds. Place it in the fridge for a few minutes and then repeat the process with the next color.

Chill one color, ensuring the chocolate is hardened before starting the next.

Color in the different sections of your egg by piping or painting in the chocolate. You can use a fondant tool, a new tiny paintbrush, or a toothpick to remove any spillover.

Once you have all the color chocolate done. Coat the entire outside of the egg mold with chocolate. You can use either a spoon or a paintbrush to spread the chocolate. Place in the fridge to chill completely.

Add the Peanut Butter Filling

Remove the chilled peanut butter mixture from the fridge.

Dust your fingers in icing (confectioners) sugar to reduce the stickiness. For the smaller Easter eggs take about a tsp of the peanut butter mixture and instead of rolling it into little balls, roll it into little fingers. For the larger Easter eggs do the same thing, but use a Tbsp of the peanut butter mixture. Once formed, place on parchment paper and set aside. (Note: you can just scoop the peanut butter mixture into the chocolate molds but I find it easier to roll it first.)

Assemble the Homemade Easter Eggs

The chocolate hardens in the fridge within a few minutes (5-10min ).  Once you have your fillings made, remove your chocolate-lined molds from the fridge. 

Once your chocolate has the peanut butter filling, continue by filling up the entire mold with chocolate.

Lift the mold up about half an inch and drop it.  This removes the air bubbles in your chocolate and you will see the chocolate in the mold go smooth.  Cover and place the filled chocolate molds in the fridge until the chocolates are set.   The time differs depending on size, but an hour is plenty of time.

Pull off the silicon tray and serve.

If you happen to have excess chocolate around the outside of your egg from filling it. While still cold, hold the egg in one hand using parchment paper to prevent it from melting. Then cut the extra little bit off using a small knife

Storing the Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs

Store the chocolate eggs between layers of parchment paper in an airtight container for up to two weeks. These chocolate eggs freeze very well, again store them in an air-tight container wrapped in parchment paper for up to three months. They are delicious right out of the freezer but to thaw place them in the refrigerator overnight.

Cream cheese is great mixed with icing (confectioner) sugar, and jam. My favorite is international flavored powdered instant coffee mixes and cream cheese, or cocoa with cream cheese and icing (confectioners) sugar.