Vegan Easter

For vegans, some holidays can be a challenge. On the one hand, you want to savor the tastes of the season,  but you still want to maintain your commitment to cruelty-free living. For me, easter wouldn't be the same without a basket of chocolate on easter morning, but I was not about to go out and buy snickers eggs, milk chocolate peanut butter cups, and marshmallow peeps. Instead, I spent last weekend doing something that I have always loved: making candy. I boxed up some of these treats and distributed them to friends, both vegan and non, and saved some for myself. I've dutifully kept said candy stored in the freezer so that I would be able to enjoy a basket on easter morning.
The chocolate eggs pictured are just dark chocolate chips melted with a tiny bit of earth balance and then poured into candy molds. I also made delicious haystacks, peanut butter truffles, and vegan cream cheese mints. Everything came out really nicely. I found the cream cheese mint recipe here, and substituted tofutti vegan cream cheese instead. The peanut butter truffles and haystacks, however, were all my doing. They came out great, and I am pleased to be able to share both recipes after the jump.
Peanut Butter Pretzel Eggs

• 3/4 c. unsalted organic peanut butter
• 3/4 c. powdered sugar
• 1/2 c. ground pretzels (either pulse them in a food processor or put them in a ziploc bag and pound them with a rolling pin)
• 1/2 lb. dark chocolate

In a double boiler (or just a frying pan on top of a pan of boiling water), melt the dark chocolate until smooth, stirring often.
Using a paintbrush, paint a thick layer of chocolate in the bottom of candy molds. Let these set in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Heat the peanut butter, sugar, and pretzels in a frying pan. 
Spoon the peanut butter mixture into the candy molds, drizzle additional chocolate on top until the molds are full. Give them a good shake to let everything settle and freeze for 30 minutes or until the candy can be easily popped out.


Vegan Haystacks

• 1/2 c. peanuts 
• 1/2 c. orange flavored dried cranberries
• 1 c. pretzel sticks, broken in half
• 1 bag of dark chocolate chips

In a double boiler or microwave,  melt the chocolate chips until smooth, stirring often.
Mix in the peanuts, cranberries, and pretzel sticks.
Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a baking sheet covered in wax paper.
Refrigerate for about an hour or until firm. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.