I had never made Easter Eggs before but I know families that did growing up and always thought it might be fun. There are a lot of Easter Egg recipes in community cookbooks but this one looked so promising I put it on my calendar to make in March. The recipes in other books were fine but often were buttercreams (seemed heavy and fiddly), very nut-forward (not my preference) or, unlike this one, seemed like they’d be difficult to halve or even third. I don’t need to make dozens of eggs!
This recipe purported to yield roughly 2 lbs of “fondant” so I halved it and made some tweaks. I added the suggested coconut and used dark chocolate melting wafers . I thought the 72% dark would cut some of the sweetness and we are dark chocolate fans. The original recipe suggests chocolate chips but I don’t find they work well for coating candy–they have ingredients in them to help them maintain that “chip” shape which is not what you want when you are melting chocolate to coat something else. I also used my stand mixer and the dough hook rather than knead the “dough” by hand. I did not find it needed milk but if your dough is very thick, it would be a good way to thin it out so it’s malleable.
They aren’t the cutest eggs–next time I think I’ll add some sprinkles for decorations–but they are tasty!
Coconut Easter Eggs
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter. at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup sweetened condensed milk
- 3 ½ cups confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 8 oz dark or demi-sweet dipping chocolate
Instructions
- In the bowl of standmixer, cream together the butter, salt, and sweetened condensed milk using the paddle attachment. Add the in the confectioners sugar, vanilla and shredded coconut and switch to the dough hook attachment when it becomes thick and knead for 1-2 minutes. The “dough” should be thick and almost paste-like.
- Line baking sheets or baking pans with parchment. Form the “dough” into roughly 2 inch by 1/4 inch eggs. Place in a single layer on the pans. Cover and refrigerate 1 hr or up to overnight.
- Melt the chocolate over low heat in a small pan. Lower the candy into the chocolate on a fork, taking care to cover each side. Reheat the chocolate as needed. Return to the lined pans and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until set.
- Store in a single layer or in wax paper separated layers refrigerated or in a cool place in an airtight container.
Updated and adapted from Irene Galloway’s Easter Eggs recipe appearing in the Pro-Kids Potluck compiled by PRO-Kids, Inc of Charleston, West Virginia (best guess, 1996 or 1997)