Recipes with Julie Van Rosendaal: Enjoying eggs, both traditional and chocolate

Easter is the weekend for eggs — cooking them, dying them and eating chocolate versions of them.

This week on the Calgary Eyeopener, we talked about a few ways to enjoy the staple ingredient.

If you find yourself with a surplus of boiled eggs, here's a way to devil them, with or without a quick pickle (or pickled beet) brine, and a tender cookie made with hard-boiled egg yolks pressed through a fine sieve.

And with the price of chocolate treats rising, you can make your own chocolate-covered peanut butter eggs and top them with sprinkles or flaky salt for a fraction of the price.

Chocolate-covered Peanut Butter Eggs

You don't need a specific recipe to make these, just a roughly equal quantity of peanut butter and icing sugar, and some chocolate to dip them in. 

If you like, add some bashed pretzels or cookies (like Biscoff) for some crunch. If you use all-natural peanut or almond butter and it's too dry, add some soft butter, melted coconut oil or a drizzle of honey or syrup until you have a soft mixture you can shape, like dough.

To make 10 eggs, I used one cup each peanut butter and icing sugar with about ½ tsp vanilla, and about 150 g chocolate, melted with a couple teaspoons of coconut oil.

Ingredients

• peanut or other nut butter (any kind)
• icing sugar
• vanilla
• finely crushed cookies or pretzels (optional)
• dark chocolate, chopped
• coconut or vegetable oil or butter
• flaky salt or sprinkles (optional)

In a medium bowl, combine the peanut butter and icing sugar, with a few drops of vanilla.

Mix until well blended and you have a soft dough you can mould with your hands.

If you like, knead in some cookie or pretzel crumbs. Shape into egg shapes slightly smaller than actual eggs. Put them on a baking sheet and refrigerate for an hour or so, just to firm them up.

Melt the chocolate with a small dab or drizzle of oil or butter (a teaspoon or two per cup of chocolate) in the microwave or over low heat on the stovetop, stirring until smooth.

Dip the eggs into the chocolate, turning with a couple forks to coat, and then lift them out, letting the excess chocolate drip off, and set on a parchment-lined sheet.

Let sit at room temperature or pop into the fridge until set. If you like, drizzle more chocolate overtop, and sprinkle with sprinkles or flaky salt.

LISTEN | Julie Van Rosendaal describes all of the ways you can enjoy eggs this Easter:

Chocolate Sablé Cookies after Dorie

Fine-textured shortbread, or Sablé, cookies can benefit from a hard boiled egg yolk or two pushed through a sieve into the dough — egg yolks add richness, and the fat they contain helps interrupt the gluten development, producing a more fine-textured cookie.

I added egg yolks to one of my all-time favourite cookies — cookbook author Dorie Greenspan's World Peace cookies, tweaking the recipe a bit. 

Ingredients

• ¾ cup butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp fine salt 
• 2 hard-boiled egg yolks (optional) 
• a small handful of chopped dark chocolate

In a large bowl, beat (use the paddle attachment, if you're using a stand mixer) the butter, sugars and vanilla for a minute or two, until creamy and light.

Stir together the cocoa, baking soda and salt and add it to the butter mixture; stir or beat on low until the dough starts to come together.

Stop mixing and press the egg yolks through a sieve into the dough, and add the chopped chocolate. Stir or beat on low until the dough comes together.

Gather it up, divide it in half and shape each into a log. Wrap in plastic or parchment and let sit or refrigerate for at least half an hour. You can, of course, chill them for up to a week and your cookies will hold their shape better. The dough also freezes beautifully.

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When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment.

Slice the logs into 1/3-inch thick slices and place them on the sheet, leaving an inch or two between them.

You don't need to bake them all at once! You can slice and bake as many or few as you like — a toaster oven or air fryer works well for this.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until just set. Let cool for a minute or two on the sheet before transferring them to a wire rack, or let them cool on the sheet completely. 

Makes: About 1 ½ dozen cookies. 

Devilled Eggs

The beauty of a devilled egg is that beyond the usual mayo, mustard and pickle bits, you can add just about anything to the yolks — ripe avocado, a bit of chopped kimchi, curry paste, chimichurri, Sriracha — anything that goes well with eggs can be mashed in.

If you like, soak your peeled hard boiled eggs in pickle or pickled beet brine for a few hours or overnight first for a pickle-y flavour and in the case of beet brine, a brilliant purple colour.

I love topping mine with crushed chips (all dressed!) or garnish them with chopped parsley or chives.

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• ¼ cup mayonnaise (or to taste)
• 2 tsp grainy mustard
• a bit of finely chopped pickle, or pickle juice
• salt and pepper, to taste
• Chopped parsley or chives or crushed chips, for garnish

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil — enough that the water will cover the eggs by about an inch. Lower them in gently, reduce the heat to a simmer and set the timer for 11 minutes.

When the timer goes off, drain the water and let the eggs run under cold water for a few minutes, until they're cool enough to handle. Or boil your eggs however you like to do it.

Peel the eggs and if you like, brine them in pickle brine or pickled beet brine for a few hours, or overnight.

Cut them in half lengthwise, popping the yolks out into a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, mustard, pickle, salt and pepper to the yolks and mash with a fork (or put the whole mixture through a potato ricer or food mill), until smooth. 

Spoon into a piping bag or zip-lock bag, snip off one corner and pipe the filling into the egg white halves, or fill them with a small spoon.

If you like, put a little pile of crushed chips in the bottom of each egg white before you fill them. Top with parsley or chives or crushed chips right before serving, so they stay crunchy.

Makes: 12 devilled eggs.

Falafel Scotch Eggs

I usually measure when I make falafel — I add a bit of onion, some garlic, a bunch of cilantro stems, a bit of heat in the form of a jalapeño or pinch of chili flakes, and sometimes some baking powder to lighten them.

Sometimes I add a spoonful of wheat or chana flour. It's not necessary, but will help them hold together a bit.

Ingredients

• 1 19 oz can chickpeas, drained well
• 1 small shallot, a chunk of purple onion or a few green onions
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• a handful of cilantro, or about 1/3 cup chopped stems
• 1 tsp cumin
• ¼ cup chickpea (or wheat, or rice) flour, plus more if needed
• a big pinch of salt
• 6 hard-boiled or jammy eggs
• Panko or other dry breadcrumbs, for coating
• canola or other mild vegetable oil, for cooking

Combine the drained chickpeas, shallot, garlic, cilantro, cumin, flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse, scraping down the side of the bowl until it's well blended and you have a mixture that holds together when you squeeze it.

If it's too runny, add a bit more flour, or let it sit for a bit.

Put some panko into a shallow bowl. Shape a handful of chickpea mixture around each hard-boiled egg to cover it completely, and roll in the panko to coat.

Heat a couple inches of oil in a heavy, shallow pot until it's hot enough that a scrap of bread sizzles if you dip it in, or if you dip in a wooden spoon, the oil bubbles around it. If you have a thermometer, aim for 350 to 375 F. 

Cook the coated eggs, rolling them around in the oil until golden and crisp. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Makes: About 6 falafel scotch eggs.