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Wednesday, March 7, 2018

A 10-minute Easter treat -- good for Easter baskets or just a surprise for loved ones

Milk Chocolate Egg Nests


Including taking photos, these took me 10 minutes to make, start to finish. Many years ago, I made all of the treats for my kids' Easter baskets. I made molded chocolate bunnies, marshmallow Peeps, egg-shaped decorated sugar cookies, mini animal graham crackers, mini chocolate rabbits, fudge eggs, and these egg nests.

Russell Stover's sells a single coconut nest for about 33 to 39 cents. I don't think they even have the "eggs" in them any longer, just the coconut and chocolate. I made these for about 14 cents each.

The melting chocolate I bought on markdown, last spring, for $1.89/lb. You could also use chocolate chips (with about a teaspoon of shortening or coconut oil added to the melting), or a regular Hershey bar (again with a small amount of shortening for it to melt better), or you can use white "chocolate." With the white chocolate and milk chocolate bar, like Hershey's, you will want to melt slowly (a double-boiler, or if in the microwave, in short bursts of time -- 20 seconds -- with vigorous stirring in between. The high sugar content of both of those can scorch). Anyway, my price may be met using chocolate chips, if unlike me you do not happen to have coating chocolate in the pantry ;) My coconut was simply a bag of WinCo coconut that I purchased a year ago, and the jelly beans I bought for Easter egg hunts. But in calculating my cost per item, I included the cost of chocolate, coconut, and jelly beans.

Here is how easy they are:


I used about 4 ounces of chocolate, melted in the microwave according to package directions, stirring often between bursts of microwaving.


After melted, I stirred in 1/2 cup of coconut flakes.


I scooped the chocolate/coconut mixture into mounds on a sheet of waxed paper.


Using the back of the spoon that I stirred with, I formed the nest shape, making an indentation for the eggs.


I placed 3 jelly beans into each nest, pressing in slightly. Then I just let them sit and firm up on the counter. If I was in a hurry I might have put them in the fridge at this point.


So, this batch with 4 oz of chocolate and half-cup of coconut made 5  1/2 nests.If I had not been in such a hurry, I could have taken more time to divide the chocolate evenly, and made exactly 5. But this way, I get a little treat later today! You know, "quality control" sampling is allowed, and has zero calories.

I shared this idea because of all of the Easter treats that I have made over the years, these are one of the very easiest.

14 comments:

  1. Enjoy your quality control, calorie free sampling! :) Very cute!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kris,
      Thanks! And it was yummy! I think the quality was very good, but maybe I need more information on this. There are five more, after all. Have a great day!

      Delete
  2. Those are so cute, Lili. What a nice, easy idea!
    Mary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Mary! They are definitely easy to make. have a great day!

      Delete
  3. What a great idea! Our neighbor's elderly mom was visiting over Christmas and apparently likes to bake. She stocked them up on the melting chocolate, both white and regular. The neighbors are apparently following a strict diet and brought all the leftovers to me so I have 4 or 5 packages. Now I know what to do with some of it! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Hi Cat, Oh, lucky you! Have fun making these. I am sure your kids will be delighted. For using more of your new supply of melting chocolate, another fun and somewhat easy treat (but more complicated than these) is homemade Almond Joy candy bars. One of my daughters and I made a batch last summer. here's that post: http://www.creativesavv.com/2017/09/homemade-candy-bars-this-winner-may.html
      Hope your week is going well, Cat!

      Delete
  4. I'm going to make some of these. Love easy. Nannie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nannie,
      These are very yummy, and so easy. I hope you enjoy them! have a wonderful evening, Nannie!

      Delete
  5. Coconut and chocolate--sounds like an unbeatable combination to me. We are trying to eat fewer sweets around here so I probably be making these anytime soon, but they are very cute.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good for you, live and learn! I won't try to convince you to deviate from your healthier eating strategies.
      Have a wonderful evening, live and learn.

      Delete
  6. Lili,
    These are so cute!���� My Mom used to make something similar. She used crunchy Chinese noodles and made little nests. This made me smile and think of my childhood thank you. I am not even sure if they still make those crunchy noodles.
    Blessings,
    Patti

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Patti,
      I love those crunchy chow mein noodles. I've had the haystack treats before, made with I think butterscotch chips and chocolate chips, plus the noodles. And yes, I think they still sell the noodles in the Asian foods aisles of grocery stores. (Canned chow mein over canned chow mein noodles was a regular supper in our house, growing up.)

      I'm glad these brought back fond memories, Patti! Have a lovely evening!

      Delete
  7. Sorry about the question marks. They were hearts and a cute Easter Chick.
    Patti

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, how cute. I'll just imagine them, then.

      Delete

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