Thursday, April 5, 2012

Low Carb Sugar Free Chocolate Dipped Pudding Eggs Make Easter Fun!

“No, I like them crunchy. I could eat a hundred melted Peeps!”

Low Carb Sugar-Free Chocolate Dipped Pudding Eggs
taste like chocolate dipped melted Peeps!
That’s what Joey from Friends woulda said had he eaten these Low Carb Chocolate Dipped Pudding Eggs.

It IS what Denny said when I proclaimed in discouragement that I felt like I should have taken a bit more time to get the erythritol and xylitol blended into a finer powder.

Powdered Erythritol and Xylitol is smoother and blends into confectionary better than granular because Erythritol, especially, LOVES to be a crystal and resists changing composition. So the Low Carb Chocolate Dipped Pudding Eggs have a little "attitude" and crunch bit with their meltingly soft center.

Low Carb Sugar-Free Chocolate Dipped Pudding Eggs
wrapped and ready for the Easter Bunny!
These eggs must be frozen prior to dipping or they will melt in the dipping chocolate - frustrating you and causing you to swear vociferously. I actually am storing them in the freezer after dipping as well because they taste most excellent with that little chill on them.

The chocolate shell cracks when you bite into it and the creamy center oozes onto your tongue – even when frozen. Um, yummy! Hello? It's me, Susie, pleased to meet you!

It’s an easy, super easy, oh, so easy recipe! I found it on this cute site called Instructables(dot)com. The recipe for the high carb version of Pudding Eggs uses a package of Jell-o Pudding with tons of sugar and some other things and I decided to try to low carb it instead. The eggs are darling! She did a great job and even colored the centers.

My easier version low-carbed and re-worked turned out fine. Only a slight cooling on the tongue from the E/X blend - but tolerable! I didn’t bother with dying the mostly yellow pudding centers. Too much hassle, too little energy still. But I did split the batch of pudding up (I used Vanilla flavor) and intensified the vanilla flavor in one half and added coconut extract to the other half. Go ahead and freeze the eggs once you scoop them, a couple hours should do it.

The pudding center melts on your tongue while the
crisp chocolate shell makes a crack with each bite!
Low Carb Sugar-Free Chocolate Dipped Pudding Eggs
Yield – 56 Mini Eggs – About ¾” Eggs
Prep Time – 20 Minutes
Freezing Time – 2-24 Hours
Shaping & Dipping Time – 20 Minutes
Difficulty – Easy


Ingredients
1 oz pckg SF, FF Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
1/3c Unsalted Butter
1-3/4c Erythritol, granular
1/4c Xylitol, granular
1/8 tsp Stevia Glycerite Powder
1/3c Boiling Water
8oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips or 2 Lindt Chocolate Bars *85%Cacao
1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
Food Coloring (Optional if using vanilla pudding)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Coconut Extract


Directions
In small sauce pan bring water to boil. Add butter and melt.

In small mixing bowl, combine instant pudding, butter and boiling water. Stir with spatula to combine.

Use a coffee grinder to powder granular erythritol, xylitol, and Stevia mixture by combining sweeteners and pulsing to a powdered state. Work in small batches.

Add powdered sweetener to pudding mixture and blend well with spatula.

Divide mixture into 2 batches. Flavor one batch with vanilla extract and the other with coconut extract.

Drop by ¾ teaspoonful’s onto cookie sheet or plate that has been wrapped in plastic wrap. Freeze for 2-24 hours.

Work in small batches, reserving remaining eggs in freezer. Shape each portion of pudding dough into an egg shape by rolling between your palms. If the eggs become too soft at this point, refreeze them for 30 minutes prior to dipping.

Melted chocolate is easier to use when poured
into a cup because it's deeper.
When ready to dip, melt 8oz semi-sweet chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil or palm oil. (I use Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chips because they have a low carb count per serving and use Spectrum Organics Palm Kernel Oil shortening for the dipping mixture.)

Melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted. This takes about 1 minute – 30 seconds in my microwave, but settings vary.










Eventually you work out a system. Don't forget,
small batches are your friend!
Dip in melted chocolate and return eggs back to a plastic wrapped surface. Refreeze eggs until time of use. The eggs should be stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator or deep freeze.

When well-frozen you may wrap eggs in foil paper – available from Michael’s or Hobby Lobby.

Enjoy!







Nutritional Information

Low Carb Sugar-Free Chocolate Dipped Pudding Eggs - Full Recipe
Only 41.2 Net Carbs for the entire 56 egg recipe!



















Low Carb Sugar-Free Chocolate Dipped Pudding Eggs - Single Serving
Only 0.7g Net Carbs  and 31 calories per egg!



SusieT’s Notes -
I give these three forks due to the crunch and slight cooling, but they still eat just fine!

Ok, it's a mess! A tasty mess!
These are not for the faint of heart, however! Dipping anything in chocolate is messy and if you aren’t careful, you’ll end up with chocolate from one end of the kitchen to the other.

I almost wanted to do a "Kathy Bates" from Fried Green Tomatoes and wrap myself nekkid, in plastic wrap while dipping them because I had chocolate from one end of me to the other!

Perseverance saved the day and I pressed onward through the fog. Easter approaches and the bunny waits for no man, woman or child!



Daddy's prized carbon steel carving and barbeque fork
gets a new job as a chocolate dipping fork!
But with practice and stealth you develop a system - a system that does not include donning a shower cap and dipping the eggs in the shower. My system includes two forks. One fork, the large fork, is a gnarly little love from my precious Daddy – his prized carbon-steel meat slicing and barbeque fork. The other, small fork, is a regular table fork.

Since I wasn’t using a ton of chocolate, it’s easier to melt the chocolate in a big bowl and transfer portions of the melted chocolate into a cup for dipping, because the cup makes the chocolate deeper.

The deeper the chocolate, the easier it is to roll the eggs without misshaping them. Letting some of the chocolate drip back into the cup off the tines of the large dipping fork helps decrease puddling under the eggs.


Working in small batches also helps control the quality of the dipped eggs. They are easier to roll when frozen and also easier to dip because they hold their shape better. Fear not and try these out! Denny really likes them and thinks, as Joey from Friends would, that the vanilla cream eggs taste like melted peeps. Hmmmm.

The boys are deceptively quiet on this subject. I think they don’t want to upset any apple cart that might interfere with the Easter Bunny’s visit...

4 comments:

  1. yum yum I am going to make these. I like how you wrapped them. Thanks for the recipe!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I can't tell you how long I've had the packs of foil and never made anything to wrap in them! *snort* But gosh they just fit the bill perfectly!! Hope you try these - messy but easy and fun!

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks Jen! :hugs: and Easter blessings to you my sweet friend! I can't take the credit for the idea. The link to the original is in the post and I'm sure her recipe came from somewhere else! LOL! But she did an awesome job on them!

      Jen your orange cake and mint log look heavenly!!! I may have to make one or the other for Easter dessert! Everyone, Jen's blog if you don't already know it - is AMAZING!!! She is a well known and popular cookbook chef, recipe developer and food writer and I'm blessed by her friendship and knowledge!! Her sight Splendid Low-Carbing With Jennifer Eloff can be googled. I don't know how to put links in the comments but here it is: www.low-carb-news(dot)blogspot(dot)com.

      Jen I didn't want to post the address cuz sometimes when you do it, those darn web spider bots crawl in and get them - then sell your addy and you get spammed by terrible people! So folks, put a period where it says (dot) and you have her addy!

      Cheers!

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