My FAVORITE candy of all time would be the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. I love them so much that I try to stay away from them, otherwise I might go a little overboard and feel guilty later. When I was young and had no regrets about what I ate I used to buy whole bags of peanut butter cups and eat them all within a couple days and I didn't think twice about the calories. Those days are long gone (DARN). I still will sneak one every once in a while when my children receive a candy stash of some kind. I tell you, I am in heaven for that 30 seconds it takes to eat it. I stumbled upon this recipe that was apparently a copy-cat version of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and wanted to find out for myself if it was possible to make them at home. I must say that they do come pretty darn close. It took all my willpower not to take a spoon and work my way through this peanut butter bliss pictured below.


I am happy to report that I was able to contain myself and finish whipping the eggs up. These will be a fun treat to make with your kids. They can take the peanut butter dough and shape them into eggs. Then after they are dipped in chocolate, they can go at them with the sprinkles. If you are a Reese's fan, your going to enjoy these for sure.

Peanut Butter Easter Eggs (Reese's Copycat)
recipe source Confessions of a Cookbook Queen


9 graham cracker sheets, crushed into fine crumbs
6 Tbsp butter, softened (6 Tbsp)
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 1//2 cups powdered sugar
Candy Melts or Almond Bark

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine all the ingredients except for the candy melts. Mix on low until fully combined. You can do this by hand as well if desired.

Shape the mixture into egg shapes. The easiest way to do this to roll some dough into a golf ball sized circle and then shape into an oval. Place on wax paper lined baking sheet and freeze for at least 1 hour. (I was out of wax paper so I just sprayed some foil and it worked fine)

Once the eggs are frozen, melt your chocolate according to package directions. Place the eggs in the chocolate one at a time and use a fork to remove to place back on the wax paper (foil). Sprinkle with sprinkles immediately before the chocolate has time to set up. Place back in the freezer for 30 minutes.


This recipe will make 12 Reese's Eggs sized eggs. You can double or even triple if desired. I guess you could even halve it or 6 but that would just be crazy. Enjoy!!

Easter is right around the corner and I've been trying to think of some fun Easter foods to make. I came upon these Easter Bunny Buns over at Mommy's Kitchen and knew right away that I wanted to make them. These are so easy to make because you use a cake mix. I've never used a cake mix in my bread baking but was intrigued at the idea. I have to say that they rose beautifully. I made four Easter Bunny Buns and with the rest of the dough I shaped into crescents for dinner tonight. The original recipe calls for a powdered sugar glaze to brush over the bunnies but opted out and kept them simple with a butter and cinnamon sugar dusting. Okay, it was pure laziness but they were still awesome just the same. I think these would make a fun Easter morning treat for your family. I hope you enjoy!

Easter Bunny Buns
Recipe source Mommy's Kitchen

1 - (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (I use rapid rise)
1 1/2 - cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 1/4 - cups all-purpose or bread flour (I prefer bread flour)
1 - 9 oz package jiffy yellow cake mix or 1/2 of
regular 18.5 oz cake mix approx 1 1/4 cups
1/4 cup butter, softened to brush on baked rolls
Cinnamon Sugar
Colored Easter Sprinkles (optional)

Glaze

2 - cups powdered sugar
2 - tablespoons milk
1/2 - teaspoon vanilla extract
1 - teaspoon butter, softened

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour and cake mix. Beat until dough is smooth. Add some flour on the counter and knead any additional flour into the dough. Knead until it is no longer sticky. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes - 1 hour. Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.

Roll dough into a long rectangle 1/2-inch thick.

Cut dough into strips 1/2-inch wide and 14-inches long. (sorry I did not get a photo of that part). Reserve 1-2 of the strips to cut into pieces about 1/2-inch long and roll into small balls (use for bunny tails).

Then roll the dough to make rounded snake shapes.( I just cut them into strips without rolling). Place one long piece of dough on a greased baking sheet. Place one end of the strip over the other to make a loop; bring the end that is underneath up and cross it over the other end. Place a ball of dough on top of the bottom loop (to be the tail).


Brush the bunnies with melted butter and sprinkle on a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. You can also leave some of the bunnies plain. Cover the bunnies with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with baking spray. Allow the rolls to rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes, until nearly double in size. Remove plastic wrap and bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Brush on a simple icing and add holiday sprinkles to the plain rolls. Just add the simple icing to the cinnamon ones.

GLAZE INSTRUCTIONS

Stir the powdered add the butter and blend with a fork. Add the milk and the vanilla extract and mix until you have the consistency of a pourable glaze. Brush on the glaze while the bunnies are still warm. Add colored sprinkles.

Note: These bunny buns can be left plain and used as a dinner roll. Just shape, rise and bake the bunnies. When they are finished brush with melted butter before serving.








I linked this post up with Sweet as Sugar Cookies & Mom's Crazy Cooking & Good Cheap Eats (What's on your Plate?) & At Home With Haley

Easter is one of my favorite holiday's. I think it is because I love Spring and get so excited when the weather is warming and flower's are blooming. Easter is also a fun time for kids with eggs coloring, egg hunts, and bunnies bringing baskets full of goodies. Coloring eggs is a blast, messy sometimes but still fun. I saw this idea over at Our Best Bites and knew that I wanted to try it out. I've never seen eggs dyed this way but loved the way they looked. They turn out to look just like dinosaur eggs, way cool! Just a little something different to try other than just coloring the shells. Something else that was fun was turning those colorful eggs into a rainbow egg salad. My daughters love egg salad and making it rainbow colored just pushed it way over the edge for them. They were so excited. So to make this just take your hard boiled eggs and crack them on the counter gently to make little cracks all over the egg.


Then take liquid food coloring and color some water. I used Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green. Just a note, Yellow didn't show up very well for me. I like the brighter colors best.


Then you set them in your fridge to color over night. Remove the eggs and rinse them off with water. Now you will be able to crack some of the shells off to reveal the dinosaur eggs.

I like the way the shells look on the inside.