Master Baker - Easter Candy

This month's Master Baker Challenge was Easter Candy. I knew exactly what I wanted to do too - Cadbury Eggs!! My husband went to get groceries, so I asked him to grab me some. He came back with the miniature eggs. I was expecting the big ones, but I guess the only big eggs the store had were funky flavored ones, and I just wanted to regular Cadbury eggs. Anyway, my original plan was to take the cream filling out of the eggs and put them in chocolate cupcakes, but since I got the minis, I had to change plans.

My WC sister Gillian sent me this great book awhile back: I'm Dreaming of a Chocolate Christmas by Marcel Desaulniers. Great book! Now I finally have an excuse to use the recipes from it.

Everyone likes the peanut butter cup cookies, so I took that idea and ran with it. This recipe can be found on Page 29 of the above referenced book. I have paraphrased below:

ma tante minnie's chocolate peanut butter blossoms
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
8 tbsp (1 stick) of butter, cut into pieces and softened
4 oz semisweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used semisweet chocolate chips)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
2 tbsp whole milk (used skim)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
16-18 Reese's miniature peanut butter cups - unwrapped (I used mini Cadbury eggs of course)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine all ingredients (use only about 1/2 cup of the sugar and save the rest) in a mixing bowl. Using a standing mixer, mix ingredients for about 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again for 10 seconds. You should have a pretty thick dough, and it won't take long to combine.

Portion 3 level tablespoons or 1 level #50 ice cream scoop of the dough for each blossom (I don't measure, I just make 1" balls). Form into balls using your hands, and then roll each ball in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, lightly coating each.

Place the balls on baking sheets about 3-4 inches apart. Please the sheets on the top and center racks of your oven and bake for 1o minutes, turning halfway through baking time.

Remove cookies from oven and immediately put Cadbury eggs in the middle of each, pressing down lightly until set in cookies and the sides crack a bit. Let cookies cool completely and store in an air tight container.