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| Simple and delicious protein peanut butter eggs. |
I love the annual visit by the Easter Bunny and my favorite Easter treat of all times is a big ‘ol chocolate-covered peanut butter egg. Preferably EGGS plural. Chocolate and peanut butter have to be one of the best flavor combinations ever invented. Since I’m always trying to modify recipes with maintaining my waistline in mind, I came up with a slightly healthier option.
Even I can’t say healthy and candy in the same sentence with a straight face, but I will offer you a quick, easy chocolate peanut butter treat packed with a protein punch.
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| Pretty similar! I used dark chocolate coating instead of milk chocolate. |
I bought a Russell Stover’s peanut butter egg to do a side-by-side comparison and taste test. To me they taste exactly the same - the protein powder is undetectable. The secret is using a delicious protein powder.
The only slight difference is that I used dark chocolate to cover the PB filling rather than milk chocolate. That’s just my personal preference. Feel free to use milk chocolate if you like.
The peanut butter filling is the same as my Protein Peanut Butter Ball recipe which is one of my all-time favorite sweet cheats. I try to always have PB balls in the fridge or freezer for whenever I’m craving something sweet.
The only tweak is to form the delicious dough into an egg shape and then dip in melted chocolate. There you go. Super simple!
Protein Peanut Butter Eggs
Ingredients:
1-1/3 cup peanut butter or vanilla protein powder
1 cup smooth peanut butter
Wilton Chocolate Candy Melts
Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl, combine peanut butter and protein powder. Mix until a dough forms. The peanut butter filling should be playdough-like in consistency, not sticky. If your dough is a bit sticky, add a touch more protein powder.
Form the mixture into egg shapes. I used approximately 2 tablespoons of filling for some of the eggs, and others (not pictured) were smaller. If you want a huge Easter egg, then go for it!
Pop the eggs into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to dipping.
Prepare the chocolate for dipping: Place the Wilton Chocolate Candy Melts in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 50% power for one minute. Stir. Continue microwaving in 30 second intervals at 50% power until chocolate is completely melted and smooth. (Directions are on the bag.)
Coat peanut butter eggs with chocolate: Working with one egg at a time, place top side down in bowl of chocolate. Use a fork to flip the egg over and cover the bottom with chocolate. Place on wire rack, parchment or waxed paper to harden. Repeat with remaining eggs.
Should you wish to be creative and decorate your eggs, let your imagination run wild! I used a combination of chocolate drizzle - messy is good! - and some purchased candy flower decorations. “Glue” the decorations to the eggs with a tiny bit of melted chocolate.
Store your chocolate peanut butter eggs in the refrigerator or freezer.
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I’m not sure how many will make it to Easter…  |
NOTES:
Choose your protein powder carefully. I use Syntha 6 Peanut Butter Cookie flavor protein powder. Please choose a protein powder which tastes great. If you use a chalky gross powder (think hemp, ick), your peanut butter eggs will taste, well, chalky and gross.
Why not use “real” chocolate? In a perfect world I would use 85% dark chocolate for dipping the eggs, but to make a smooth melting chocolate you need to add a fat such as coconut oil, butter or cream. My goal was to make an EASY recipe, so I opted for Wilton Candy Melts. Everything in moderation, right??
So many choices for Candy Melts! I used dark chocolate candy melts, but feel free to try milk chocolate. Or, if you like white chocolate then by all means go with that. Even pastel colors would make a fantastic addition to an Easter basket. Again, I’m not advocating artificial colors on a regular basis, but it’s fine for an occasional treat.
Enjoy your Easter treats!
What’s your favorite Easter basket treat??
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These look so good. I ‘ve never seen Peanut Butter Protein powder. I know they make a lot of different flavors but not Peanut Butter. What brand is it ? Thanks for sharing they really turned out cute and yummy looking.
Kim ~ This Ole Mom
Hi Kim! You can use vanilla protein powder if you can’t find peanut butter. I use Syntha 6 brand peanut butter cookie flavor and I buy it from GNC. It’s also available on Amazon.
I’ve also heard good things about Cellucor and. Metabolic Nutrition brands, and they both have peanut butter flavors. They are also available on Amazon.
You’ll have to let me know if you try the peanut butter eggs. I’d love to get some feedback!
Could you use PB2 instead of regular peanut butter, to cut the calories?
Hi Patti! I wondered the same thing, since I am a huge fan of PB2. I tried it with my regular peanut butter ball recipe (which is essentially the filling without chocolate coating). It was an epic fail! You need at least some of the fat of peanut butter. Because PB2 has most of the fat removed it just became a sticky disgusting mess.
I may have to give it a try again some day, maybe just cutting down the peanut butter amount little by little and adding something in its place to give the smooth consistency. Great idea though!
These sound so good! I might have to give them a go, I’m such a huge fan of Reese’s eggs!
Reese’s eggs are amazing and these taste just like them! I hope you’ll give it a try and let me know what you think
I hate protein powder. What if I used PB2 in place of it?
Hi! Technically you can substitute PB2, but I don’t think you will be happy. I just tried a mini test batch. The taste was fine, but the texture was super sticky and you would never be able to form it into eggs. Also, it is incredibly when you take a spoonful - as if you were eating a big ‘ol spoonful of peanut butter. (Or am I the only one who has eaten peanut butter right off the spoon?)
If you don’t like protein powder you could substitute powdered milk. I would try just a mini batch first. I have a similar recipe for peanut butter balls that uses peanut butter, honey and powdered milk. Let me know if you give it a whirl!
These sounds great! And they are beautiful, too.
These looks DLish! Thanks for sharing, I can’t wait to try it!
Heather, thank you for stopping by! Please let me know if you try the peanut butter eggs - I’d love your feedback!
These are so pretty! I will be using this idea to make special treats year round for my daughter. I love that there is so much protein in a “candy” snack!! Thanks! Because my daughter has celiac, we have to be extra careful with ingredients. I get gluten free dipping chocolate discs (instead of candy melts) from chocoley.com . They taste delicious (more chocolate flavor, less waxy texture) for everyone in the family and melt beautifully.
Hi Wendy! I hope your daughter likes the peanut butter eggs. I agree that you have to be extra careful about the ingredients in protein powder and the Wilton melts when you are dealing with celiac disease. I’ll have to try the GF chocolate discs you mentioned. I normally don’t like using Wilton (sorry Wilton!) just because I like to avoid questionable ingredients like hydrogenated oils, but I was shooting for “easy” and the Wilton melts are definitely easy. Let me know what you think!
I have to say that I didn’t notice the difference between the eggs until I read the caption and looked - but when I looked closer I actually found YOURS more appetizing. The “originals” look rather…mushy and fake.
Aaaaawww, thanks Rachel! In real life they look very similar but I’ll take the compliment, lol. I appreciate you stopping by!
I will be featuring this recipe tomorrow on Tasty Tuesday! Make sure you stop by and check out our new party and grab a featured button!
Julia @ Mini Van Dreams
Candice says
what’s the nutritional info? and would they fit somehow into the 21dfx meal plan as a treat?
Candice,
The nutritional info would totally depend on the type of protein powder you use, peanut butter, the size you make your eggs and if you dip in chocolate and what kind. In other words, it’s really tough to figure. It’s not going to appear anywhere on the 21 day fix meal plan, but I would easily sub a smallish egg for a yellow container. It’s a healthier treat, but it’s still a treat
Jacqui