EASTER EGG BROWNIES

Want an alternative to Chocolate Easter Eggs this year? Make these Easter Egg Brownies. This recipe is adapted from  Kraft Recipes. You can always use your favorite brownie recipe or a mix. Whatever works for you.

EASTER EGG BROWNIES

Ingredients
4 ounces unsweetened Chocolate  (or very dark chocolate and reduce the sugar)
3/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup chopped Walnuts
assorted decorating gels
assorted candies

Directions
Heat oven to 350°F.
Line 13 x 9-inch pan with foil, with ends extending over sides. Grease foil; set aside. Melt chocolate and butter in saucepan over another saucepan over simmering water. Stir until chocolate is completely melted (but don't burn).
Add sugar; mix well. Blend in eggs and vanilla.
Stir in flour and nuts until well blended; spread into prepared pan.
Bake 30 to 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.)
Cool completely.
Use foil handles to lift brownies from pan. Cut into egg shapes with 3-inch oval cookie cutter.
Decorate with decorating gels and candies to resemble Easter eggs (as in photo or get creative!) 

Serve in an Easter basket! How fun!

See's for Easter: Rocky Road Eggs!

I love all the special chocolate eggs and bunnies that proliferate at Easter Time from well known and lesser known chocolatiers. One of my all time favorite traditional chocolate companies is local See's Candies. I've mentioned them before, but this year I was lucky enough to find a Chocolate Rocky Road Egg in my basket! Rocky Road is a mixture of chocolate, marshmallows and walnuts mixed together. Check out the history of Rocky Road Ice Cream HERE.

This See's Rocky Road Egg isn't ice cream, but it's delicious!!!  It contains honey marshmallow, crunchy California Walnuts and See's signature milk chocolate all hand-decoraded with a candy bouquet. It's 3.7 ounces,.dwarfed only by the huge chicken in my yard! There are other great Easter selections at See's, but this one is my favorite!

Yum!

Chocolate Easter Eggs

I posted about Chocolate Bunnies, but Chocolate Easter Eggs are just as popular. Some are filled, some are hollow, some have vignetttes inside, some are solid. Since we know that chocolate is good for the heart--a small piece of chocolate every day reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes--then a small Chocolate Easter Egg--or a bite of a larger one--is a great way to take your medicine. These must be dark chocolate eggs to get the full effect. So enjoy your Chocolate Easter Eggs guilt-free.

I mentioned before that I have a large wooden Easter Rabbit in my living room. Well I also have a large paper mache Easter Chick, just ready to be surrounded by Chocolate Easter Eggs.


A little goes a long way, but check out these Enormous Chocolate Eggs from Tim Fonseca at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston.


There are the traditional Chocolate Easter eggs from See's, (Check out the Making of a See's Chocolate Egg on the YumSugar blog)  Ghirardelli and Cadbury (the original creme egg)* I love caramel filled eggs--and I'm a big fan of coconut.  ..  Some are big, some small, some decorated, some plain. 

Valrhona is one of my favorite chocolates, and this year they have their solid dark and milk chocolate eggs. The milk chocolate Tanariva (33%) gives sweet notes of caramel, and the milk chocolate Gianduja has subtle flavors of hazelnut. The dark chocolate eggs have either a juicy raspberry or Manjari (64%) (dark bitter chocolate) center.

Recchiuti Chocolate has some beautiful Chocolate Eggs that I will be eating this Sunday. They have a shell of dark chocolate that surrounds a silky center of Force Noir (dark chocolate ganache. Each piece is made and decorated by hand).

Divine Easter Eggs. 100% fair trade. Available in Milk chocolate, Dark Chocolate and new Speckled varieties. Mini-Eggs (great for Easter Egg Hunts)

There are so many delicious Chocolate Easter Eggs out there, but maybe you want to make your own Chocolate Easter Eggs.

There's a great Recipe for Chocolate Easter Eggs by Elizabeth LaBau on About.com. Easy, and no candy thermometers. These are beautiful flowered Easter eggs that have a chocolate-walnut filling and a deep, dark chocolate coating. Of course how you decorate is up to you. I'm o.k. with undecorated if you're making these yourself.

Want to make another variety of Chocolate Easter Egg? Chef Mariajane posts another easy recipe for Chocolate Easter Eggs using sweetened condensed milk on RecipeZaar. Go HERE. 

Hunting Eggs in the Bay Area this weekend? Here's a list of locations. Alas, they won't all be Chocolate.

Addendum: It occurred to me when I was posting Chocolate Easter Egg info to my blog that I forgot to mention the Teuscher Beverly Hills Easter Bunny Scavenger Hunt when I blogged about Chocolate Bunnies. It's not too late to join in the fun! Go HERE for more information.