Vegan peanut butter eggs that are made with healthy ingredients and taste incredible – can it be possible? In a word, YUP. These fun treats are perfect for your vegan Easter chocolate cravings.
Hey friends, it’s been a minute! How are you? Is it just me or is 2019 flying by too quickly? My little boy Josh is about to turn FOUR (sniff, sniff), and I keep telling him to stop growing up. He says it’s part of life. Totally my fault for telling him that, now he uses it against me. Kids.
Speaking of birthdays, Pass the Plants is about to turn FIVE. Well, technically, it was called Eat Within Your Means for the first 3 1/2 years, but still, the blog itself has been running for almost five years. This is a big deal, and yes we will be celebrating.
But first, we’ve got Easter coming up, and that means chocolate! It also means navigating the tricky treat situation, because most of what’s out there for vegan Easter sweets is pretty expensive or requires ordering online ahead of time. Enter…vegan peanut butter eggs!
These little cuties are super easy to make, taste amazing, and have a sneaky healthy addition that no one will detect! In fact, Mr. Pass the Plants says these are better than his former favorite Reeses. High praise indeed!
The Ingredients:
- Chocolate chips (check that they’re vegan-friendly!)
- Maple syrup
- Peanut butter
- Chickpeas
Wait…WHAT???? Beth, you’ve gone too far. CHICKPEAS?
Yep. Chickpeas. You’ve gotta trust me on this, people. They actually improve the texture and flavor of the filling, but you won’t be able to detect them in the finished product. It sounds weird, I know, but these are so good. Have a little faith in me, will ya?
How to make vegan peanut butter eggs:
1. Pulse the chickpeas into fine crumbs.
2. Add the maple syrup and peanut butter and blend into a soft dough.
3. Make the egg shapes
Pat out the filling with your hands into a 1/4″ thick disc, and use an egg-shaped cookie cutter to make each egg. You can also use your hands to mold the filling into an egg shape, using about a tablespoon of filling for each.
4. Freeze the filling, then coat with chocolate.
It’s super important that you freeze the egg shaped filling pieces first, so that they don’t fall apart when dipped into the melted chocolate. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second intervals or on the stovetop.
Because the filling pieces are cold, it brings down the temperature of the chocolate quickly, so you may need to rewarm it through the dipping process. I use a fork to quickly coat each side and then scrape off any excess chocolate on the rim of the bowl before placing on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Place in the freezer to set for at least 15 minutes before enjoying!
Yes, I placed the vegan peanut butter eggs in an egg-shaped pattern on this plate. At least I didn’t use an egg-shaped plate! Wait a minute, why didn’t I think of that? Food photo prop fail. Such is life, maybe I’ll get it right before the next 5 years is up.
Happy Easter, everyone! Get ready to party for the Big 5!
Vegan Peanut Butter Eggs
Ingredients
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (check label for vegan-friendly ingredients, the Enjoy Life brand is great)
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained well
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- pinch of salt, if using unsalted peanut butter
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas into fine crumbs.
- Add the peanut butter, maple syrup, and salt (if using).
- Pulse mixture until combined into a soft dough-like consistency.
- Pat out filling into a 1/4" thick disc and use an egg-shaped cookie cutter to make the filling for each egg. Alternatively, measure out 1 tablespoon of filling and mold it into an egg shape by hand.
- Place each filling piece on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and place in the freezer for 20 minutes.
- While the filling is chilling (hey, that rhymes!), melt the chocolate chips until smooth and pourable. If the mixture is too thick, thin out with 1 tablespoon of melted coconut oil if desired.
- Coat each frozen piece of filling in the melted chocolate, using a fork to drag the egg across the edge of the bowl to remove any excess chocolate.
- Please the finished egg on the baking sheet and repeat until all the filling is coated with chocolate.
- Freeze or refrigerate for at least 15 minutes until set.
- Store the finished treats in the fridge for up to one week, or the freezer for up to 6 months.
Love love love this! I used peanut butter that I make from dry roasted peanuts, so I had to add a smidgen (that’s a professional measurement, right? ????) of salt to the mixture.
Oh my goodness you’ve made them already! Go Kris! So so glad you enjoyed them! I use a smidgen of salt when I make them too, but I use the dry roasted peanut butter fresh from the machine at the grocery store. Mostly because I’m lazy. 🙂 And yes absolutely a smidgen is a professional measurement. 😉 I actually once saw a set of measuring spoons and one of them was labeled “smidgen”.
Well, I think this would work for Passover as well (Ashkanzic), ????
Good point! Thank you Laurette! 🙂
So easy and healthy to make!!
Many thanks for the awesome recipe!!
You are more than welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
I just premade a batch of these for Easter, yummy!!! And I just found out there will be a peanut/nut allergy there! Oh darn, we get to eat all these. 🙂 I still want to bring these though so I’m going to give Trader Joe’s sun butter a try. Fingers crossed and I’ll report back how it works out.
Reporting back as promised, I made these for Easter with the Trader Joe’s brand sunbutter and chocolate chips. The dough was way stickier than the peanut version and in no way could be rolled out. I ended up rolling little balls and pressing into an egg shape but I had to keep my fingers wet to keep them from sticking like crazy.. I was a little worried but I needn’t have feared. Once the filling was frozen it coated in chocolate just fine and turned out delicious. You would never know there was garbanzo beans in there. You’re probably better off not mentioning them until after people decide they like them though because once it got out they were made with garbanzo beans they got dubbed “chocolate hummus balls” and some of the guys wouldn’t even try them. Their loss our gain! Definitely recommend this recipe. And “keeps in the freezer for 6-months” hahaha, hilarious, that would be a feat of will power beyond my ability to comprehend!
hahahaha “chocolate hummus balls.” What’s wrong with that??? 😉 Definitely their loss, your gain. I need to try these with sunflower seeds, I’ve been meaning to experiment more with those for a nut-free option. Thanks for the update, my friend!! <3
Hi Erin, as a mom of 2 adult children (not to mention my hubs), you have learned my motto: Never, ever, ever let them know about those secret ingredients! ????
Oh, darn, indeed. 😉