Chocolate Nests

Wow, look at the Nutella oozing from the chocolate nest. You just can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter.

 My parents never lied to me much when I was a child. Just about things like Santa and the Easter Bunny. I remember I burst into tears the day they told me Santa wasn't real. Granted, it was entirely my fault, as for several weeks I had been pestering them with 'he isn't real, is he?' and they would keep saying he was. Finally my Mum snapped and told me he wasn't real. It was very upsetting.

Now I have two younger cousins who very much believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny. I never really had cousins growing up, just my brother, so I kind of consider these girls to be my neices, not cousins. When I asked the older one, who is five, what was happenning in two weeks, she replied with 'CHOCOLATE!'. I put this in caps because she was very excited by the prospect.

It makes me sad that I won't be home this year to see them all excited about the Easter Bunny visiting. I don't think I was ever really that excited about Easter - we always celebrated it on Good Friday as my parents worked on the Sunday, so I suppose it didn't feel quite as real as when Santa came. I was a Christmas child. Still am.

So, I got thinking about Easter and decided to throw myself and my roomates a grown up Easter because I won't get to go home this year (they are - I'm all alone over the actual break). We're celebrating early, so the Easter-themed snacks have begun.

I always thought this recipe was my Mum's, but no, she got it off the back of the noodle packet used in the recipe. So the credit for this amazingly simple and tasty recipe goes to Chang, the company.

Who doesn't love a no-bake, peanut butter and chocolate treat that kids and adults alike will love. I always loved it when Mum made these and it was one of the first things she taught me to make by myself. Probably because there was no way I could injure myself.

And now, my roomates love them to. They were originally called 'Chocolate Spiders' but my roomate freaked out when she heard the name and refused to try them, so I am calling them 'nests' for her.

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Average Cost: $

Main Ingredients: chocolate, peanut butter, noodles – hey, that is all you need.

Recipe from: the back of Chang’s Original Fried Noodles

Occasion: Snack, Easter

Menu Options: This recipe is for the simple chocolate nests. I love sprinkling coconut over the top for a bit of spice, or making half a nest, putting a dollop of Nutella in the middle and placing the other half of the nest on top. You could replace the Nutella with peanut butter. You could add your favourite dried fruit to the mix. The possibilities are endless. Use your imagination.

Nutrition wise they're not brilliant - but seriously, it's peanut butter and chocolate. Who cares about nutrition.

What you need:

-          2 tbsp peanut butter – crunchy or smooth, but crunchy is definitely the best option for these

-          200 g chocolate (I used bittersweet chocolate melts) – your choice whether it is dark or milk chocolate – I made a mix

-          1 packet of Chang’s Original Fried Noodles (if you are Australian) or 100g of any kind of fried noodles

What to do:

Melt the peanut butter and chocolate together in a large bowl until there is a smooth dark brown paste. If using crunchy peanut butter, the mix will not be smooth, but will have the usual crunch.

Add the noodles and make sure they are coated with the chocolate mix and you can’t see the noodles. Here is where you can add anything you like to the mix – chocolate chips, dried fruit, coconut, Nutella, peanut butter, etc.

Scoop the noodles up into balls and place on a baking tray. You can make as many or few as you want – the size of the nests depends on you. I usually make around 12 – 15.

Refrigerate until the nests are set. For me, this was approximately 40 minutes, but you can eat them before the time is up.

Serve with easter eggs for a cute treat for the kids pre-Easter lunch. Of course, the adults may just eat them all anyway.