Peanut Butter chocolate eggs/balls (Knock off of Reese!)

My Husband is a peanut butter lover...any kind of candy or cookie or sweet with a peanut butter base is one of his favorite treats. This past Easter, he actually raided my Easter Basket and took all the chocolate peanut butter stuff (eggs, filled, covered - anything with the BP in it) and replaced it with the standard Easter chocolate and jelly beans. I like peanut butter too, ya know!

Anyway, I came across this recipe this past weekend and made a quick batch to see what they tasted like and if they really did taste like Reese Peanut Butter Eggs. I made mine more of a ball shape (similar to cake balls) and I happened to have everything in my cupboard to whip these up.

Ingredients:

 4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (I had three partial jars I used)
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 Tbs  milk (I happened to have skim; just in case you are watching your figure :-) )
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips OR any type of melty chocolates

• NOTE: I have about 10 pounds of unsweetened bakers chocolate and a few packages of semi-sweet blocks, so I couldn't really "measure" 3 cups. So I put in what I thought would be enough to cover all the balls I made - otherwise, you can kinda wing it

2 Tbs butter OR 2 Tbs of vegetable oil

 

 

Directions:



1.  Combine peanut butter, powdered sugar and butter with electric mixer until combined. Add the milk, starting with 2 tablespoons, until it becomes a soft dough you can form into balls.

2. Form the dough into egg shapes about 3 inches long and 1/2 inch high (or into whatever shapes you'd like yours to be) and place on wax-paper lined baking sheet and place in freezer for half an hour to harden up

3. Melt chocolate (Chips, bars, bark; whatever) and 2 tablespoons butter (or vegetable oil)

• You can melt these in the microwave safe dish, 30 seconds at a time OR
• Double boil the chocolate until very smooth and liquid OR
•  Do like I did, and melt directly into a small non-stick pot, over low low heat and dip into the pot

4. I used a wooden skewer to pick up my balls and placed them over the pot. With my other hand, I spooned the chocolate over the balls and quickly (but GENTLY) tapped it on the edge to release the excess.

You can do this step in any fashion you want; with a fork, pop stick or if you have the kitchen gadgets, use a metal steamer, place all the balls into it and pour the chocolate over it...gently swirl the balls to evenly coat and remove with a spoon to wax paper.

5. Place your finished balls into the freezer to chill quickly.


Overall, these really DID taste just like the peanut butter eggs that you get at Easter. My husband only got a few though - the rest went to work with me to treat the co-workers!!