Easter Eggs- with a Surprise

Look at my pretty little eggs I dyed.  Do they seem extra special to you?

Maybe not from that angle, but now can you see? There are brownies baked inside!!

I used the directions from la receta de la felicidad (scroll down for the English version), but tweaked them to what worked best for me. Here is how I did it...

What you need

1 Brownie recipe or box mix

12 Eggs

Corkscrew bottle opener

Piping bag

Paper towel

Muffin tin with aluminum foil or mini muffin tin

Dye kit or food coloring and vinegar

Directions

• Dye uncooked eggs. Let dry.  (This is optional: colored eggs are not necessary)
• Carefully poke a small hole at the bottom of each egg, using a corkscrew bottle opener.
• Once you have poked a tiny hole, peel back the edges of the hole to expand it a bit. The holes need to be large enough to fit the tip of a piping bag inside.
• Turn the egg upside-down and dump out the contents. (I saved the innards to use/cook with)
• Rinse the insides of the eggs out thoroughly under the faucet.
• Immerse eggs in saltwater for thirty minutes. Eggs need to be filled with the saltwater in order to sink.
• Rinse the egg shells in cold water and lay the eggs hole side down in the egg carton covered in paper towel.

• Prepare the brownie batter. I used Betty Crocker's Gluten free mix but you can use another mix or your homemade version.
• Drizzle about 1 teaspoon of oil in each egg and turn it in your hand until the inside is completely covered. Dump out any excessive oil.
• Load the batter into a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Make sure that the tip can fit the egg hole. If it can’t, expand the hole a little bit at a time until it fits. Fill your eggs about 1/2 to 2/3 full with batter.

This part gets tricky! If you overfill, the batter comes out of the egg (see below) but if you under fill the egg will crack.  You may want to try a 'test' batch like I did.

• Place the prepared egg shells into a mini cupcake tin or use aluminum foil in a larger tin to help them stand upright.
• Bake the eggs at 350º F for 15-20 minutes.

Learn from my mistake below! I obviously overfilled them a bit. Although it looks ugly right after baking,  just remove the excess cake and clean the shell with a damp towel. It is important to do this when the cake is still hot, because if the egg is cold it is almost impossible to get off without the shell breaking. Or you can avoid it all together by not filling up as much :)

 

After your eggs are done baking, remove them from the oven, let cool, and eat.

I placed 2 to 3 in mini bird nests on each place setting... full tablescape coming up later!

Have a great weekend!