My Favorite EASTER Eggs

(Photo Source: http://www.hersheys.com/reeses/recipes-and-ideas/seasonal/products.aspx?ICID=RES2004#/REESES-Milk-Chocolate-Peanut-Butter-Eggs)



Have you seen the Reese's Chocolate Egg video yet? If not, click on this link and watch it before you read another word: http://www.hersheys.com/reeses/experience/watch.aspx.

Now, are you drooling and just wishing for one of those yummy, chocolatey, peanut buttery eggs? Good! One of the best parts of celebrating Easter with the kids and grandkids is that you get to indulge in these egg-shaped candies. Sooooo good!

You can't go wrong when you combine chocolate and peanut butter. You'll love the chewy combination you get when you bake the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars from today's recipe (below-- end of post). The great thing is, if by some miracle you have leftover Reese's Easter candies, you can chop those into "pieces" and toss them into the batter instead of your chocolate chips. It only makes them better.

Also, if you are really in the mood for a great Reese's dessert (both elegant and delicious), check out this previous blogpost where I made a Reese's Peanut Butter Cheesecake and some mini-cheesecakes to accompany it at a baby shower (the mom's favorite treat was Reese's Peanut Butter Cups). Here's a pix of the cheesecake:

 

And, here's a pix of the mini-cheescakes that accompanied the full-sized version (same ingredients, just baked in a cupcake tin):

Drooling yet? :-) Here's the cheesecake link: http://www.pinchofthissmidgenofthat.blogspot.com/search/label/Reese%27s%20Peanut%20Butter%20Cups

If you don't want to go to the trouble to make a cheesecake, and you're still craving peanut butter and chocolate, or you want something you can actually consider a "healthy" snack, you might want to make Be Mine Chocolate Bars: (photo below)

 

These are great for breakfast or any time of the day. They have lots of good-for-you oats in them. You can locate the recipe for Be Mine Chocolate Bars here: http://www.pinchofthissmidgenofthat.blogspot.com/2011/02/chocolate-love.html

Before you get too impatient with me, let's check out that recipe for Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars that I promised when we first started. I'll have to confess to being in such a rush to get a pan of these made that I forgot to take photos until the end. So, no step-by-step pix today --- all we have is the finished product. Your imagination will have to work overtime to earn these delicious bars---but, I promise, it's well worth it!



PEANUT BUTTER and CHOCOLATE BARS

First, consult the list of ingredients below and collect all your stuff before we begin.

If you're sure you have everything, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease (using Crisco solid) a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips (or if you want you can substitute an equal amount of chopped Reese's Peanut Butter cups or eggs).

Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. It should look something like this:

Cool completely (if you can wait that long, if you can't go ahead and indulge :-). Cut into bars.
Yield: 2 dozen, or more, depending on how large you want to cut the bars.

Don't forget to print the complete recipe below or copy and paste it to your word processing program and save the file for future reference. I'd LOVE IT if you would leave your comments at the end of this post, as well. I promise to respond! :-)

If you'd like more Easter ideas and recipes, check out this previous post and find out the meaning behind RED Easter eggs: http://www.pinchofthissmidgenofthat.blogspot.com/search/label/Strawberry%20Pretzel%20Salad

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars

Ingredients

2/3 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package (11-1/2 ounces) milk chocolate chips

Directions

In a large bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely. Cut into bars.
Yield: 2 dozen, or more, depending on how large you want to cut the bars.

Easter is one of my favorite holidays -- and not just because I get to have fun hiding/hunting Easter eggs with the grandkids or making yummy Chocolate and Peanut Butter Bars! It reminds me of the reason we have salvation -- the Gospel of Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection. The word "Gospel" means "good news". This good news of the Gospel is that Jesus died, was buried, and resurrected in order to provide salvation for us -- all of us, if we'll only trust Him and accept His gracious gift. Paul tells us about the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, "... that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;  And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures ..." (See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2015:1-4&version=NLT.)

Jesus was our ultimate sacrifice who paid the ultimate price for our sins, but it wasn’t enough for Jesus to just die on the cross. He also had to be buried and resurrected from the dead. (See also, 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2015:12-20&version=NLT.)

Through the acts of his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus bought our salvation. He purchased salvation with his own blood and made it available to all. If we've accepted that gift, we should remember what it cost Him and THANK Him,

not only on Easter, but all year long.

I pray you enJOY a BLESSED Easter with your family and friends.