Me & My {Peeps}

Some of you may have seen these adorable bird nest treats, but this is a tutorial of my version which I am making for the first time. These will be displayed at the treat table for the Spring Luncheon I will be hosting tomorrow.

This is what you'll need:

Wax paper

Cookie Sheet

Chow Mein Noodles

Bag of chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate for the flavor)

Peeps or other edible bird (tee-hehe)

Candy eggs (I used Reeses, yum!)

Creamy peanut butter

*1 bag of chocolate chips is needed per each bag of chow mein noodles, but you will not need to use the entire bag of noodles because the chocolate will not completely coat them if you do. This recipe can easily make 16 or more nests, depending on how big you make them.

Begin by melting your chocolate chips. I typically heat them in the microwave in 10 second intervals. Be sure to use a microwave safe bowl. In between intervals, stir the chocolate until it is completely lump free and creamy.

Next, add a small amount of noodles and fold them into the chocolate until completely covered. If there is a lot of excess chocolate, continue adding small quantities of noodles until you begin to see there is no excess chocolate in your bowl.

Let the mixture cool so that it is not in liquid form and too hot to handle, but not hard enough that you cannot mold it. I recommend using gloves for the next part. I didn't use gloves and the noodles began to stick to my hands. I tried 2 different ways of molding the nests. First off I took approximately a tablespoon of the mixture and plopped it down onto the wax paper and pushed a small dent into the center for the eggs to sit in. Another way to do this is to use a cupcake pan. Once the baskets are formed, put them in the refridgerator until they are hardened. If using a cupcake pan, use a butter knife to loosen around the perimeter of the nest to break it free. The nests from the cupcake pan tend to be more consistently shaped, but also taller.

Once the nests are hardened, you can remove them from the fridge and begin to apply your birds and eggs by using small amounts of peanut butter as the adhesive.

My daughter was so excited when she saw these cute little birds in their nests and her first instinct was to pull one off.  However, it was an easy fix. I just replaced the little guy with a birdie buddy using the peanut butter. These were easy to make, especially because they don't have to be perfect. If you choose to, you can wrap them in individual cellophane wrappers for your child's Easter party at daycare, school or church. Just make sure it's age appropriate because the small eggs can be a choking hazard.

Tada!

...and my daughter cracked me up as she channeled Rapunzel from Tangled in our kitchen with a frying pan.

Nobody was harmed during the making of this tutorial, but there was a little animal testing. ;)