Inside Out Reese Easter Eggs

Say what?  Yep, I went there.

 

I've been seeing all kinds of recipes for homemade Reese eggs all over the Internets and decided I wanted to give it a try myself.  Among my favorite childhood Easter memories are finding the egg hidden in my grandparents' mailbox every year, chowing down on my mom's dye stained deviled eggs and sinking my teeth into these chocolatey, peanut buttery treats.  Now don't get me wrong, nothing can replace the original, but there is something about making your own that just makes it taste even more special.

The idea to make the inside out began when I realized I did not have regular peanut butter, but I did have dark chocolate peanut butter.  Not sure what kind of normal person has chocolate pb and not regular but let's just go with it.  From there, a dream was brought to life...read on for the dirty details.

Inside Out Reese Easter Eggs
Makes about 15 eggs

Ingredients:
3/4 c. chocolate peanut butter (I used Dark Chocolate Dreams from Peanut Butter & Co.)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 stick butter
2 c. powdered sugar
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
10 oz. peanut butter chips
2 tbsp. vegetable shortening
jimmies or your choice of decorations

Mix peanut butter, vanilla, butter and powdered sugar together.  Add melted chocolate chips to mixture.  Mixture will be slightly crumbly.  Form dough into "eggs" using your hands.  Be sure to press the mixture firmly together.  Place eggs on a wax paper or silicone mat lined baking sheet and freeze until firm (roughly an hour).  

Ok, they aren't exactly cute yet, but bear with me.

Next, melt the peanut butter chips and shortening in a microwave safe bowl.  I melted mine for about 20 seconds at a time stirring between until completely melted.  Dip each egg in the peanut butter, covering to coat.  I scooped mine out with a fork and transferred back to the baking sheet.  Quickly sprinkle with jimmies before peanut butter coating sets.

 

Look!  Chocolate on the inside, peanut butter on the outside!

If you have leftover melted peanut butter, go ahead and make yourself some pb bark, it's good for the soul!

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

What surprising twists have you tried on a classic recipe?  Feel free to share links in the comments!

Simple Balsamic Roasted Asparagus

In a world of cakes, candies and cookies, sometimes you just need...asparagus?  Yes, over here at The Sweet Touch house, we do sometimes eat green foods.  Crazy, but true.  I rarely "crave" vegetables.  Quite frankly, I question the sanity of people who do but that's a different story for a different day.

My belief is that vegetables don't have to be boring and bland.  You shouldn't have to plug your nose in order to get down a bowl full of salad or a side dish of green beans.  Likewise, asparagus, especially right now while it's in season, can taste delightful with just a few simple ingredients.  Veggies such as asparagus can be quite intimidating if you have never tried them.  Here are a few tips to get you started.

1.  Buy it in season.  Asparagus season runs roughly from April through June, so now is a great time to give it a try!
2.  I don't discriminate against different sizes of asparagus but some say that the thinner spears are more tender, less "woody" and cook faster, so if in doubt I would go thinner.
3.  Store your asparagus upright in a shallow mug or bowl filled with water to keep it from drying out.
4.  To determine where to cut your asparagus, gently bend near the base of one spear and see where it snaps in half.  Cut the rest of the spears in roughly the same place.
5.  This one is for Vanessa ;)  If you have an urge to grow your own asparagus, the tomato serves as a good companion plant because they both protect each other from bad stuff (research done by my husband, the scientist/wikipedia addict).
And finally,
6.  Choose a simple recipe that enhances the natural flavors found in your asparagus.

Here's a recipe my mom taught me several years ago that is impossible to screw up.  It uses ingredients you probably already have in your pantry so hurry to the store and get your asparagus then we can get started!

Ready?  Ok, here we go!

Simple Balsamic Roasted Asparagus

- bundle of asparagus
- about 1 tbsp. olive oil
- about 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- about 1 tsp. minced garlic
- salt n pepper 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  (*Side note* If you are cooking out your could probably wrap the asparagus in a foil packet and put right on the grill.)  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil (I do this to help during cleanup time but it isn't necessary).  Cut woody ends off each asparagus spear and place in one layer on the sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (I usually just put on a couple glugs of the bottle but if you aren't sure you can use a measuring spoon).  Sprinkle garlic over the top and add salt and pepper to taste.  I like to use a more coarse sea salt to add some texture.  If you need to, use your hands to make sure all of the spears are evenly coated.  Bake at 425 for 10 minutes, carefully stirring the mixture about halfway through.  Serve it up!

Enjoy!     

Macaroon Easter Egg Nests

 

 
Since Easter is so late in the month this year, I haven't seen many fun Easter recipes popping up just yet.  However, all of the stores are going full steam ahead with the Easter candy, which means I am on my second bag of those addictive Cadbury mini eggs.  I started with a bag of the classic and then yesterday, found a bag of dark chocolate.  Dark chocolate, I tell you!  This is my weakness so naturally I bought another bag.  (Side note:  Did you know these famous mini eggs have there own Facebook page?  Check it out!)

 

So once I got home, I started brainstorming ways I could incorporate these eggs into a fun Easter cookie and I decided I wanted to put them in little "nests."  Sometime last year I tackled macaroons (not to be confused with macarons, although people do interchange the spellings) and I remembered the little bits of toasted coconut slightly resembled the twigs in a nest.

 

If you have never had a mararoon, you really should try these.  I don't really like coconut and even I think they are tasty.  They are light and airy, slightly sweet, and a bit chewy.  And of course the trio of dark chocolate eggs in the center doesn't hurt!  I revisited the recipe I used last time from Ready For Dessert by David Lebovitz but made a couple of changes to get the nest effect.

 

Macaroon Easter Egg Nests

adapted from Ready For Dessert 

Makes about 20 nests (His recipe makes 30 but I made mine a bit bigger to hold the eggs)

Ingredients:

4 large egg whites
1¼ cups sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
2½ cups unsweetened coconut (I used sweetened and thought it worked great)
¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
small chocolate eggs (I used Cadbury minis)

In a large skillet, mix together the egg whites, sugar, salt, honey, coconut and flour.

Heat over low-to-moderate heat on the stovetop, stirring constantly, scraping the bottom as you stir.

When the mixture just begins to scorch at the bottom, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer to a bowl to cool to room temperature.

(At this point, the mixture can be chilled for up to one week, or frozen for up to two months.)

When ready to bake, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Form the dough into 2-inch mounds with your fingers evenly spaced on the baking sheet. Gently press a slight indentation in the center of each cookie.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, until deep golden brown. As soon as you remove from the oven, (carefully) add 2-3 chocolate eggs (depending on the size of your cookies) to each "nest."  Cool completely.

Notes:  Avoid packing the dough when transferring to the baking sheet - you want your cookies to stay light and airy.
Also, if you feel like making these during other times of the year, they taste amazing dipped in melted chocolate (as the original recipe suggests).

    

How sweet are these?  Wouldn't they be cute as and extra treat from the Easter Bunny?

 

Here, I made one for you - Enjoy!