Rice Krispies Easter eggs

I really wasn't planning on making any Easter treats this year.  I was content to munch on my little bags of Cadbury mini eggs and to just stockpile Easter goodies (for my son, of course...) from Target.  But then I watched The Pioneer Woman's Easter episode and saw the rice krispies eggs.  Since I had about half a box of the cereal sitting in the pantry, I just couldn't resist!  

The Pioneer Woman stuffed a Cadbury mini egg - those delicious little chocolate eggs ubiquitous at Easter - inside each of her krispy eggs and since I love any excuse to buy and eat more of those crispy, creamy, dreamy chocolate eggs, I was all for it. But then I was telling my husband about my plans and he had a funny idea.  Why not stuff a Cadbury creme egg (he's the creme egg lover in the family) inside instead? Then, you've really got the whole egg theme going.  I think he thought that's what I meant in the first place when I was describing the project but after he said it, it seemed such a hysterical idea that I had to try it.

So I did and you can see what I ended up with!  Those eggs totally cracked me up (haha...corny joke alert).  We all had a good giggle out of these creme-egg-within-an-egg eggs!

Besides the creme eggs, I did make a bunch of rice krispies eggs filled with a mini chocolate egg inside and also a few with some classic M&M's tucked into them too.  I was a little worried about the rice cereal setting before I had time to mold each of them around the plastic egg but it really wasn't a problem if you work relatively quickly.  Being rather impatient and given that fear of the cereal setting up, I started with large plastic egg molds before switching to a few smaller ones.  I think the smaller ones look a bit more realistic but the larger ones make quick work of it. 

I had a good time whipping these eggs up.  These tasty little eggs, with their chocolaty surprise inside, are just plain fun.  

I had just about 4 1/2 cups of rice cereal left at home so I adjusted the standard rice krispies recipe accordingly (you usually start with 6 cups of cereal so basically, I made three-quarters of the typical recipe).  If you make a full recipe, you'll get a good dozen or so large eggs (about 3x2 inches), and obviously more if you use smaller plastic eggs as molds.  A mix of the two sizes is fun; for little hands and portion control, the little ones are a good choice.  However, in the case of the creme egg-filled ones, you will need to go with a large mold.

I use my dutch oven for times when I make cereal treats.  It retains heat well to keep the mixture warm a bit longer.  You do want to work pretty quickly while the mixture is warm and easier to handle/mold that way.  This is a good project to recruit a helper for.

Spray the two sides of your snap-apart plastic egg mold with some cooking spray.  Spray your hands as well so you'll have an easier time working with the sticky mixture.  Fill one half of the mold with the rice cereal mixture - pack it in firmly but not too intensely jam-packed.  Press a chocolate mini egg (or a few M&M's or any other egg-shaped (or not) treat of your choice) into the center, and then fill the other half of the egg mold with more of the cereal mix.  Now just press the two parts together.  You'll hear a bit of a crunch as they meet and once together, release the rice krispies egg from the mold, decorate, and set it in an egg carton.  Repeat with the remainder.

In the case of filling with a Cadbury creme egg, you will need to use a large plastic egg mold.  Fill the plastic egg halves with a thin layer of the rice cereal mixture to make a little more room for the creme egg.  I tried seeing if I could just mold the rice cereal mixture around the creme egg freeform but it just slides off and doesn't work without the plastic egg mold.

I considered making chocolate or cocoa eggs using this recipe (since eggs come in brown, after all) but I stuck with the "plain" and decorated them lightly with some pastel-colored sanding sugar and a little bit of sprinkles.  I found it's probably best not to wait too long to decorate them since the sprinkles stick better when the treats are still a tad warm.

I hope you have an egg-cellent Easter weekend!

Recipe:

Rice Krispies Easter Eggs
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman and Kellogg's

- For approximately 12 large eggs - 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 (10-ounce) package mini marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies
For filling: Cadbury mini eggs, Cadbury creme eggs, or other small chocolate/candies of your choice
For molding: Plastic 3x2 inch snap-apart Easter eggs (you can keep reusing the same one so you just need as many as the number of people molding)
For decorating: Colored sanding sugar, assorted sprinkles

Over low-heat, melt butter in a dutch oven (or large heavy-bottomed saucepan).  Add marshmallows and stir with a rubber spatula until completely melted.  Turn off the heat, add cereal, and fold together until fully incorporated.

Lightly spray the inside of a plastic egg with cooking spray.  Spray your hands as well for easy handling.  To fill with a mini chocolate egg, first fill each side of the plastic egg with the cereal mixture.  Pack the cereal fairly firmly, slightly over-filling one side. Press a mini chocolate egg into the center of one side, then bring the two sides together and press firmly to mold (you should hear a slight crunch).  Remove the cereal egg from the plastic mold, decorate, and place in an egg crate to set.  To fill with a Cadbury creme egg, follow the same instructions except fill the plastic molds with a slightly thinner layer of the cereal mixture to make more space to fit the larger creme egg within.