In the Key of K

When I was a kid, my mother made these every Easter. Many different flavors, such peanut butter, coconut, maple and pecan, cherry, and peppermint. However the only flavors I make today are peanut butter and coconut. This year we made them as coconut christmas trees and Rudolph the reindeer heads (so what if Rudolph looks more like a mouse—the kiddo had a blast decorating!).

Holiday/Easter Eggs
1/2 pound melted plant-based butter (two sticks)
2 pounds powdered sugar (usually one whole bag)
1/2 tsp salt
A splash of vanilla
2 vegan egg whites and a 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar, whipped to peaks (6 tbsp of aquafaba–juice from a can of chickpeas)
Peanut Butter, sweetened coconut and coconut extract, maple extract and pecans, cherries and cherry extract, and peppermint extract. How much of each? It depends on how you dived
1-2 bags of vegan chocolate chips, melted (I use Enjoy Life mini chips)

Step one is to whip the vegan eggs. I put the aquafaba and cream of tartar in narrow plastic cup and use my electric hand mixer with one beater (just leave the second one out) until the peaks are stiff. It can take as long as seven minutes on high to get there. If you can turn it upside down and it stays in place, you’re there.

After that, use the hand mixer to combine the butter, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla. Keep using the mixer and add in the stiff-peaked vegan egg mixture until everything is fully combined.

At this point you need to divide the dough. For me, it’s usually 2/3 of it for peanut butter and 1/3 for coconut but you can divide it any way you want with any of the flavors. With the 2/3 division, I use 1/2 to 3/4 cup of peanut butter for the peanut butter ones and 1/2 to 3/4 sweetened coconut and a few drops of coconut extract for the coconut ones. Use your judgement and keep tasting until you find a combination you like. Don’t get carried away with the extracts–they will make things taste artificial and chemical-ly if over used.

Mold the dough into the shapes you want.

Next melt a bag of chocolate chips in the microwave. Start with 45 seconds then stir and keep doing 30 seconds, stir until it is all melted. cover the dough with chocolate. Once it sets, you’re done.

In this example we used the traditional easter egg shape and decorated it with pretzels for reindeer ears, peanuts for eyes, choccy chips for pupils and smiles, and sprinkles for the red nose. For the trees, we decorated with sprinkles.