It’s hard to believe that it’s already almost Easter… {Ummmm, wasn’t it January just a couple of days ago?! I’m certain it was.} Either way, it’s about time Miss G and I get busy with some Easter fun, and we decided we’d start with baking up something delicious in the kitchen along with our friends from Hillary with two Ls {please} and Little Miss Mama. As usual, we started with a totally non-healthy recipe {this one for Rice Krispie Treat Speckled Eggs} and then worked our magic on it to make it sugar-free and more whole foods based. While we concocted a delicious healthier version of rice crispy treats over a year ago {and even formed them into rice crispy treat eggs last Easter}, this time I wanted to try something new.
Though I’d still much prefer to use sweeteners such as pure maple syrup, honey, and brown rice syrup over refined white sugar any day of the week, over the past year or so, I’ve slowly been relying more and more on dates {and other fruits} for sweetness while baking. So this time, instead of using our usual brown rice / maple syrup combo, we opted for homemade date paste instead. It’s super easy to make, even if you don’t have a fancy blender or food processor, and is great for using in all kinds of recipes. So much so, in fact, that I often make and refrigerate a small batch on the weekends to use in our recipes the following week.
Here’s our line-up of ingredients for both the date paste and the finished crispy rice eggs dipped in chocolate… Organic crispy rice cereal {if I were back home, it would be a brown rice variety, but unfortunately here in Kuwait, a sugar-free organic option is as good as it gets}, all-natural cashew butter, dates soaked in boiling water, pure vanilla, super dark chocolate, and organic unsweetened coconut – some toasted and some not.
To start with, we made our date paste. To do so, we just barely covered our dates with boiling water, then let them sit for about 15 minutes to get them nice and soft. After that, we pitted them, chucked them into the blender with a bit of the soaking liquid, and pulsed them until smooth. While not at all difficult, this process can require a wee bit of patience as you do have to stop and scrape down the sides of the blender {or food processor} several times during the process.
Next up, measured out our cashew butter {hey – sometimes you’ve just got to use your hands!} and put it into a large pot with our date paste. Stirring regularly, we heated the mixture until just about bubbly, then added our vanilla, gave it a quick stir, and removed it from the heat.
Then it was time to stir in the crispy rice cereal.
To form our eggs, I simply filled both sides of the plastic eggs with rice crispy mixture, packed it down ensuring that one of the sides was a wee bit over full, and closed them up.
Side note: The crunchy mama inside of me did cringe at the BPA possibilities involved with this step, which led me to researching BPA-free plastic eggs. Sure enough, they do exist! {Check them out here.} I’ll probably buy some for next year, but this time around I choose to pretend there is no such thing as BPA. {There isn’t, right?}
Then we let our eggs set for about 10 or 15 minutes.
When we slowly removed the egg tops, we found this – perfectly formed rice crispy treat eggs ready to be dipped in chocolate!
For the chocolate part of the process, I simply put some dark chocolate (85%, I believe) in a shallow mason jar, set it in a pan of water on the stove, and heated it until fully melted. By this time, Grae had moved onto playing with her Papa, so I dipped the eggs in chocolate and sprinkled them with coconut myself.
Of course, Miss G was back and overwhelmingly enthusiastic when it came time to the tasting part. ☺ Her verdict? ‘YUM!!! SO GOOD! AND SOOOO CHOCOLATEY!’ I declare that a win. And while I thought they lacked a bit of the crunch our usual rice crispy treats normally have, I think cereal may be the cause because in Brad’s words, ‘it always tastes sort of stale’. Hah!
Healthier Dark Chocolate Dipped Rice Crispy Eggs
- 1/2 a heaping cup of dates, packed down as tightly as possible
- boiling water
- 1/2 cup of all-natural cashew butter
- 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla
- 3 cups of sugar-free {preferably brown} crispy rice cereal
- dark chocolate
- unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted or not
Pack dates down into a small glass bowl or jar and just barely cover them with boiling water. Allow them to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before pitting them and puréeing them with a tiny bit of the soaking liquid in a blender or food processor.
Heat the date purée and cashew butter in a large pot on the stove until hot and just about bubbling. Add the vanilla, give it a good mix, and turn off the heat.
Add the cereal and mix well. Using slightly dampened hands, fill both sides of the plastic eggs with the mixture, and pack it down well, ensuring that one side is a wee bit over full. Close the eggs and let set for 10 or 15 minutes.
Melt the chocolate and dip the bottom part 1/2 of the eggs in. Let the excess chocolate drip back into the bowl, then sprinkle the eggs with coconut. Set on a parchment or wax paper lined tray to cool.
Enjoy!
Curious as to how our lovely less crunchy friends made their versions?
Pop over to Little Miss Mama to check out Tairalyn’s marshmallowy candy-coated eggs and to Hillary with Two Ls {please} to see Hillary’s peanut-y cranberry-covered eggs.
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