Coconut Easter Eggs

Coconut Easter eggs are the seasonal dessert you’ll want to make throughout the year, especially if you’re looking for inspiration for parties, pot lucks or buffets. They’re easy to prepare; the recipe calling for ingredients to be combined, shaped and chilled. It’s that simple. 

The advantage of making coconut Easter eggs at home is that you can control the sweetness and skip the preservatives or additives that you’ll typically find in ready-made chocolate eggs. You can also make some easy tweaks to adjust the flavor profile depending on whether you want to lead with chocolate or coconut.

Ingredients for Coconut Easter Eggs

• Cream cheese: Allow it to soften before mixing. It gives the filling a great texture and sets well in the refrigerator. 
• Butter: This will create that smooth and creamy filling as it softens. Use unsalted if you like your cream eggs really sweet.
• Confectioners’ sugar: Use this fine sugar to bind the filling and give the ‘yolks’ their powerful sweetness. 
• Shredded coconut: You’ll find that sweetened coconut works best in a chocolaty treat such as this one.  
• Chocolate chips: These will melt down to make the shell. Choose semisweet chips so as not to overwhelm the sugar levels in the filling.  
• Shortening: The shortening will melt to give the chocolate chips their smooth and velvety consistency so that coating the eggs is easier. 

Directions    

Step 1: Blend the ingredients 

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In a bowl or blender, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar and shredded coconut, then refrigerate for 1-1/2 hours until the mixture is easy to handle.

Step 2: Mold the eggs

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Dust your hands with confectioners’ sugar and mold the chilled coconut mixture into egg shapes. Place on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet and freeze for two hours until the eggs are firm.

Editor’s Tip: If you find that the coconut cream mixture is too sticky in your hands, you can use two cold spoons to shape the eggs instead. 

Step 3: Coat with the chocolate shell

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Gently melt the chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave or in a pan on the stovetop. Remove the eggs from the freezer a few at a time and drop them into the chocolate mixture until completely coated and lift out with a pair of forks or tongs. Return to the waxed paper and refrigerate until hardened.  

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Recipe Variations 

• Go dark: You can substitute the sweet chocolate chips with dark chocolate or go half and half if you want a more complex, adult-oriented flavor profile that pairs perfectly with an after dinner brandy, digestif or coffee. 
• Try peanut butter: If shredded coconut are one of those foods you just can’t learn to love, make peanut butter cream eggs instead. It’s a straight swap and all the other ingredients are unchanged. 
• Tweak the flavors: Want it more coconutty? Add a dash of coconut extract. Less sweet? Use salted butter instead and even add a pinch of salt to the cream cheese filling. 

How to Store Coconut Easter Eggs

The chocolate shell will start to melt and the eggs lose their shape if left at room temperature too long. Store them in an an airtight container in the refrigerator where they’ll stay good for up to a week. 

Can you freeze coconut easter eggs?

Arrange your coconut easter eggs on waxed paper and store in an airtight container and you can keep them in the freezer for months. You can even eat them straight from the freezer when you’re ready. 

Coconut Easter Eggs Tips    

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What’s the best way to cool the coconut easter eggs?

You might be tempted to cool the coconut easter eggs on a wire rack like you would cupcakes or cookies. If you do the chocolate will stick. Instead, use waxed paper and simply break off any chocolate spikes around the base with a knife (or your fingers). 

How do I get the perfect egg shape?

If aesthetic appeal is as important as taste and texture, you can use silicon molds. However, you’ll have to follow the steps in reverse. Line the silicon halves with the melted chocolate first and then add the filling to get that uniform, smooth shape. 

Can I decorate the coconut easter eggs?

Yes. For a real gourmet touch, decorate the chilled eggs with a different shade of melted chocolate, such as milk or white chocolate. Just dip a fork in the chocolate and drizzle over the surface of the chocolate shell for a textured effect.