Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Chocolate Bird Nests

Chocolate Bird nests are one of my favorite springtime treats from my childhood.  I can remember making them with my mother around Easter. I would always make giant ones with peanut butter M&Ms for my dad. He is the peanut butter lover in the family. Lately, I've been craving the chocolatey crunch of birds nests. So yesterday my sister, Rachelle, stopped over to chat and help me make some.
They are pretty simple to make. The process is very similar to making rice crispy bars. We made about two dozen and used; one Large bag of Lachoy chow mein noodles, one bag of Hershey's milk chocolate chips, one bag of Hershey's special dark chocolate chips, one bag Cadbury milk chocolate mini eggs and/or one bag of M&Ms peanut butter eggs. We used half a bag of each kind of candy. If you don't like either of those options you can use any egg shaped candy instead like malted milk ball eggs or giant jelly beans.
First we emptied both bags of chocolate chips into a large pot set on low heat. I stirred until all the chips were melted together smoothly. Next Rachelle slowly poured all the chow mein noodles into the pot. I kept mixing until all of the noodles were coated evenly with chocolate.  Then I used two tablespoons to scoop small amounts of the mixture into cute little "bird nest" shapes which i set on wax paper covered cookie sheets. After that, my sister finished each nest by placing two or three of the brightly colored candy eggs into the center of each nest. The eggs have to go on before the chocolate cools otherwise they may fall off. Then we let the chocolate cool.
It was tough to wait until the bird nests were cool enough to sample but they were a hit! I took some to work with me and my coworkers all seemed to be very surprised that the nests were made of chow mein noodles. The noodles, combined with the chocolate give the nests the perfect balance of salty sweet, much like chocolate covered pretzels.
Make these spring deserts for your own family this Easter. I am sure they will love making them and eating them as much as I do!

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