Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs

Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs are another childhood favorite of mine, but they are neither vegan nor gluten free. Fortunately, you can easily make your own at home! This recipe requires a lot of photos to show all the steps, but the eggs really are very easy to make!

The peanut butter makes a big difference in the texture of the filling. If you use a very smooth peanut butter like Jif, the filling texture will be more like a truffle than a peanut butter cup. That is not a bad thing at all, but I prefer the slightly grainy texture of a natural peanut butter that is not ground completely smooth. The 365 brand from Whole Foods is perfect for this recipe, and just a really nice peanut butter for eating as well. I pour off the oil on top before stirring it up:

Here are the ingredients you will need:

*Please note that I made a double batch of the peanut butter filling, so all the photos show the filling for 32 eggs. The chocolate shown is the right amount for the 16 egg recipe given below. (I made a second batch of tempered chocolate to dip the rest of my eggs later.) If you double the filling recipe, do not double the tempered chocolate recipe, because it will start to harden before you can dip all of the eggs. Make one batch of tempered chocolate and dip 16 eggs, then make a second batch and dip the rest.

To make the filling, melt the Earth Balance, add it to the peanut butter, and stir to combine:

Add the salt, vanilla, and light coconut milk. Stir again until evenly blended:

Add about a third of the powdered sugar, and stir again:

Continue adding and stirring in the powdered sugar until the mixture gets too thick to stir, then add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead it in by hand:

Let the mixture stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, then use an egg plate to mold the eggs. I got this plate at Walmart for $1:

The eggs should unmold easily by gently pushing on one end. If they don’t, chill in the fridge for 10 minutes and try again. (You can also shape the filling by hand if you prefer):

Chill the eggs in the fridge for 30 minutes, then temper your chocolate, and start dipping the eggs. Follow these directions for How to Temper Chocolate. Dipping the eggs is not difficult, but does take a little practice to get right. Don’t worry if your eggs aren’t perfect! They will still taste great and you will hide any imperfections with the wrapper anyway! Here is how to dip the eggs:

Gently place an egg upside down into the tempered chocolate:

Use a fork to turn the egg over, being sure the entire egg is coated with chocolate:

Lift the dipped egg out of the chocolate, move it to the side of the bowl, and gently scrape off the excess chocolate from the bottom of the form:

Carefully transfer the dipped egg to a sheet of parchment paper, using the tip of your finger to push the egg off the fork:

Continue dipping until all of your eggs are done. You will have some chocolate left in the bowl, and you can easily make bark out of it. Mix in about 1/3 of a cup of chopped nuts and/or dried fruit, then spread the mixture on parchment and allow to harden. Never waste good chocolate!

Chill your eggs for 30 minutes before wrapping them. Get your wrapping supplies ready while you wait. If you have colored foil, by all means, use it and save some time. If not, foil cupcake liners work pretty well!

You’ll need to double wrap the eggs to prevent any leaking from your filling. Use 5″ squares of foil, and place an egg right side up in the middle of each square:

Wrap the egg:

Next, place the egg upside down onto a square of colored foil or the inside of a flattened foil cupcake liner:

If using a square of colored foil, just wrap it around the egg. If using cupcake liners, fold the liner up around the length of the egg, and use a small piece of packing tape to secure the edges so they don’t slip (scotch tape didn’t stick well to the cupcake liner). Keep the egg centered and not too far to one end like this one is:

Fold the ends up over the egg and tape across the length of the egg with another piece of packing tape:

Here is what they look like on the inside:

They are perfect for your Ostara or Easter basket!