Chocolate/Peanut Butter Eggs

It's difficult to break away from traditions like baskets full of Easter goodies even when the budget is groaning. But I remembered a long ago spring in West Virginia when a group of wonderful, farming mothers taught me to make candy and thought I'd give it another go.

The recipe is incredibly simple: equal amounts of smooth peanut butter and powdered sugar. 1/2 cup of each made these eight eggs. The mixture will be very stiff and if you can work in a little extra sugar, all the better. "Flour" your hands with powdered sugar and roll into egg shapes. Leave the eggs to sit on waxed paper for several hours to dry as much as the humidity will allow.

Melt about 1/2 square of Almond Bark. Put a dabs of melted Bark on waxed paper and top with each egg as you go. Dust your hands with powdered sugar if needed for easy handling. Allow the Bark to harden completely before handling further. These "bases" will give you something to grasp while dipping the tops of the eggs. If the base spreads out as it hardens, cut off the excess with kitchen scissors to maintain the 'egg' shape.

Once the Bark base is hardened, melt 1 1/2 squares of Almond Bark and stir in 1/2 tsp SOLID shortening - NOT oil or butter. Holding the eggs by their bark bases, dip into the melted Bark and place on a wire rack to harden.

Your eggs will likely come out much smoother and prettier than mine. I was using a mixture of new almond Bark along with some that I had saved from a previous use and the old Bark did not melt completely so I got lumps. Know what? The kids will never notice. Aren't they wonderful? The kids that is.

Anyway, enjoy your eggs. They take a little time but are certainly easy and cost next to nothing to make. Sure beats a dollar a piece at the grocery store and we can actually pronounce all of these ingredients.