Tag Archives: Easter

CULINARY AND CRAFTY ADVENTURES

Culinary Adventures: Chocolate Peanut Butter Birds Nest Cookies

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Chocolate peanut butter birds nest cookies for Easter. Easy and delicious spring cookie recipe–just like Mom used to make

 

My Mom always made these cookies around Easter, and they were so good. Aside from the sugar and butter, they are otherwise somewhat healthy and contain fiber and protein. They are more commonly called “no-bake” cookies, but I’d rather call them chocolate peanut butter birds nest cookies. It’s more descriptive.

I’ll admit this isn’t the most unique recipe to share, but I’ve been working on our Iceland trip post and wanted to share something we’ve been up to in the meantime, even if it isn’t super exciting. If you’ve never made chocolate peanut butter birds nest cookies, they are ridiculously easy and so good. They’re also cute, and easy to take to a spring gathering or dinner party if you like.

There are a ton of recipes for chocolate peanut butter birds nest cookies out there, I googled and decided on this one from Gatormommyreviews.com, it’s the closest to the one my Mom used.

**Note: It says it yields 20 cookies, but I doubled the recipe and got 20 cookies. You might consider doubling it as well.

chocolate peanut butter birds nest cookies chocolate-peanut-butter-cookies-instructions

 

When you combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and milk in the saucepan, keep stirring as the butter melts and everything mixes together so that it doesn’t burn. Once mixed, stir occasionally and let it come to a boil for 1-2 minutes. Don’t over-boil.

Stir in the oats and peanut butter once pot is removed from heat, and mix well. Cookies are ready to drop onto waxed paper to form.

chocolate peanut butter birds nest cookies

I used a spoon to make the indents for the chocolate eggs. In retrospect, I should have just put the eggs in while the cookies were still wet. I waited until they were cool like the recipe said, and the eggs didn’t fit well and kept falling out. Lesson learned.

chocolate peanut butter birds nest cookies

chocolate peanut butter birds nest cookies

My Mom always used jellybeans, but I like Cadbury Mini-Eggs because they look a little more realistic. Plus they’re really good and taste better with chocolate peanut butter birds nest cookies.

chocolate peanut butter birds nest cookies
Chocolate peanut butter birds nest cookies

 

Happy spring!

CULINARY AND CRAFTY ADVENTURES, Uncategorized

Culinary Adventures: Japanese Style Deviled Eggs

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Make Easter brunch more interesting, or add Japanese style deviled eggs to your next party spread. They take a bit of planning ahead, but are so easy and so delicious.

 

This recipe for Japanese style deviled eggs is essentially just a Japanese marinated egg topped with a squirt of mayo, a squirt of Sriracha, and some toasted panko. The only hard part is planning ahead to marinate them. Other than that, they are actually less work than regular deviled eggs.

Japanese marinated soft boiled eggs (Ajitsuke Tomago) are what they use in Japanese ramen noodle bowls. For this recipe, I just made standard hard boiled eggs and marinated them with a marinade recipe that I found on SeriousEats.com.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sake
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup mirin
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 6 eggs

Also needed: Mayonnaise, Sriracha sauce, and Panko (Japanese style bread crumbs)

If you’re not familiar with mirin, it is a sweet rice wine product used for cooking, and is pretty essential in Japanese cuisine. You can find it in the Asian foods section at the grocery store, usually near the rice vinegar.

Mix the liquid ingredients and the sugar and whisk the sugar until it is dissolved. Hard boil, cool, and peel the eggs and add them to the marinade. Cover eggs with a folded paper towel saturated in the marinade to help hold the eggs in the marinade, as they tend to bob to the surface and leave a side exposed. Marinate in the fridge overnight.

If you want to make more Japanese  style deviled eggs, adjust the recipe above accordingly.

Once your eggs are marinated, pull them out, pat dry with a paper towel, and cut them in half. Squirt a little mayo and a little Sriracha sauce on the cut halves. I like to use Asian Kewpie mayo which you can find at most Asian grocery stores, it has a fine tip. Regular mayo works just as well.

Japanese style deviled eggs

Next, take the panko and spread it on a baking sheet and toast it for a few minutes. I do this in the toaster oven. If you don’t have a toaster oven, you can toast them in the regular oven on a high temperature as well. Keep an eye on them, they toast quickly.

Toasted Panko Japanese style deviled eggs
Toasted Panko

Sprinkle the toasted Panko on top of the eggs, adding another delicious layer of crunchy toasty goodness. Your Japanese style deviled eggs are now ready to serve.  If you make these for a party, use at least a dozen eggs. They will go quickly.

Japanese Style Deviled Eggs
Japanese Style Deviled Eggs