Peeps, jellybeans, and chocolate eggs are extremely popular types of Easter candy, but the National Confectioners Association says that on Easter, children head for chocolate Easter bunnies first.

No matter how old we are, we all have our preferred way of attacking the chocolate rabbit. Just so you know where you rank, 76% of us eat the ears first, 13% bite off the feet, and 10% go for the tail. Sixty-five percent of adults prefer milk chocolate; 27% prefer dark chocolate.

Bunnies aren’t the only chocolate treat of the season. Chocolate eggs — solid, hollow, decorated, candy-coated, and filled with sweetness – give the bunnies a race through the grass.

Easter Bunnies and Eggs – the Confectionary Type

Chocolate Easter eggs, along with chocolate bunnies, first made their appearance in the 1800’s. They can be found everywhere and at every price point, some decorated with flowers and others wrapped in foil.  You can find them in chain stores, discount stores, high-end chocolatiers, and sitting in a bowl on just about every receptionist’s desk.

Easter is the second ranked holiday for candy purchases in the United States (just behind Halloween) and solid, hollow, and filled chocolate Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies are extremely popular choices.

Hollow and Solid Chocolate Easter Eggs

Today’s Easter eggs are mostly sweet chocolate made from cocoa solids, fat, sugar, and some form of milk. The first chocolate eggs were solid and made of a ground roasted cacao bean paste. Hollow eggs didn’t come on the scene until sometime later when a type of “eating chocolate” was developed.  By the turn of the 19^th century the improved process of making chocolate, along with newer manufacturing methods, made chocolate Easter eggs an Easter gift of choice.

Decorated with Flowers and Wrapped in Shiny Foil

John Cadbury developed the first French eating chocolate in 1842, but the first Cadbury Easter eggs didn’t arrive until 1875. A far cry from today’s Cadbury Crème egg, early Cadbury eggs were smooth surfaced dark chocolate filled with small silver candy balls called dragees.

Today’s Cadbury Crème Egg has a chocolate shell and a filling that’s a mix of white and yellow fondant made of sugar and water beaten into a crème. Since the first egg was made in the 1920s, new varieties include fillings of caramel, chocolate, mint, and peanut butter.

The average calories in popular types of chocolate Easter eggs:

Hershey’s

• Cadbury Chocolate Crème Easter Egg, 1 egg (39g): 180 calories, 8g fat, 25g carbs
• Cadbury Crème Egg, original milk chocolate with soft fondant crème center, 1 egg (39g): 170 calories, 6g fat), 28g carbs
• Cadbury Mini Eggs, 1 package (1.4 ounces): 190 calories, 9g fat, 27g carbs
• Cadbury Mini Caramel Eggs, 4 pieces (1.3 ounces): 180 calories, 9g fat, 23g carbs
• Cadbury Mini Egg, 12 eggs (40g): 200 calories, 9g fat, 28g carbs
• Milk Chocolate (foil) Eggs, 7 pieces (1.4 ounces): 200 calories, 12g fat, 24g carbs
• Candy Coated Eggs, 8 pieces (1.3 ounces): 180 calories, 8g fat, 27g carbs

Dove

• Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate Eggs, 6 eggs: 240 calories, 14g fat, 26g carbs
• Foil Dark/Milk Chocolate Eggs, 6 eggs (1.5 ounces): 230 calories, 14g fat, 26g carbs

Reese’s

• Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter Eggs, 5 pieces (38g): 190 calories, 12g fat, 21g carbs
• Reese’s Pastel Eggs, 12 pieces (1.4 ounces): 190 calories, 8g fat, 25g carbs
• Reese’s Giant Peanut Butter Egg (whole egg, 6 ounces): 880 calories, 52g fat, 100g carbs

M&M’s

• Milk Chocolate Speck-Tacular Eggs: 1/4 Cup (12 pieces): 210 calories, 10g fat, 29g carbs
• M&M’s Peanut Butter Eggs, ¼ cup: 220 calories, 13g fat, 23g carbs
• M&M’s Pretzel Eggs, ¼ cup: 180 calories, 6g fat, 28g carbs

Snickers

• Original Peanut Butter Egg (1.1 ounce): 160 calories, 10g fat, 18g carbs
• Snickers Mini Filled Egg (0.9 ounce): 130 calories, 6g fat, 17g carbs

Russell Stover

• Caramel Egg (1 ounce): 130 calories, 6g fat, 19g carbs
• Truffle Egg (1 ounce): 140 calories, 8g fat, 15g carbs

Whoppers

• Robin Eggs, 8 pieces (1.4 ounces): 180 calories, 5g fat, 3g carbs

• Mini Robin Eggs, 24 pieces (1.4 ounces): 190 calories, 5g fat, 35g carbs

Nestle

• Butterfinger Eggs, 5 pieces (1.5 ounces): 210 calories, 11g fat, 29g carbs
• Crunch Eggs, 5 pieces (1.3 ounces): 190 calories, 10g fat, 25g carbs

The average calories in popular types of chocolate Easter bunnies:

Solid Milk Chocolate Easter Bunny (2.5 ounces): 370 calories (average)

Dove Solid Chocolate Easter Bunny, whole bunny (4.5 ounces): 675 calories

Cadbury Solid Milk Chocolate Easter Bunny: 890 calories

Lindt Dark/Milk Chocolate Bunny (1.4 ounces): 225 calories

Sees Whole Bunny (4.5 ounces): 650 calories

Reese’s Peanut Butter/Reester, whole bunny (5 ounces): 720 calories

Russell Stover, whole bunny (4 ounces): 630 calories

Kosher Chocolate Candy

According to the Hershey Company website, Hershey’s candy coated milk chocolate eggs, chocolate crème eggs, peanut butter eggs, and all hershey’s kisses arel OUD.

How Much Easter Candy You Can Eat for 180 Calories or Less?

Most of us don’t need a reason to indulge on a holiday – it is a celebration, after all. But, just in case you want to “carefully” indulge on Easter candy, here’s how much of your favorite candy you can gobble down to the tune of 100 calories:

• 17 Brach’s jellybeans = 102 calories (6 calories each)

• 5 Peeps = 98 calories (28 calories for one Peep)

• 6 Cadbury mini eggs = 96 calories (16 calories for one mini egg)

• 2/3 of a Cadbury Crème egg = 100 calories (one egg is 150 calories)

• 5 Cadbury mini crème eggs = 100 calories (one Cadbury mini crème egg has 40 calories)

• 2/3 of a Cadbury caramel egg = 113 calories (one Cadbury caramel egg has 170 calories)

• 2 Cadbury mini caramel eggs = 90 calories (one Cadbury mini caramel egg has 45 calories)

• 2/3 Reese’s peanut butter egg = 113 calories (one Reese’s peanut butter egg has 170 calories)

• 5 Hershey’s milk chocolate eggs = 102 calories (one Hershey’s milk chocolate egg has 29 calories)

• 4 Reese’s Peanut Butter Mini eggs: 160 calories

The post Bunny Ears, Bunny Tails, and Lots of Eggs: Which Do You Head for First? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Peeps, jellybeans, and Cadbury eggs are extremely popular types of Easter candy, but on Easter kids head for chocolate Easter bunnies first.

No matter how old we are, we all have our preferred way of attacking the chocolate rabbit. Just so you know where you rank, 76% of us eat the ears first, 13% bite off the feet, and 10% go for the tail. Sixty-five percent of adults prefer milk chocolate, 27% prefer dark chocolate.

Bunnies aren’t the only chocolate treat of the season. Chocolate eggs — solid, hollow, decorated, candy-coated, and filled with sweetness – give the bunnies a race through the grass.

Easter Eggs – the Confectionary Type

Easter is the second ranked holiday for candy purchases in the United States (just behind Halloween) and solid, hollow, and filled chocolate Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies are extremely popular choices of Easter candy.

Chocolate Easter eggs, along with chocolate bunnies, first made their appearance in the 1800’s. They can be found everywhere and at every price point, some piped with flowers and others wrapped in foil.  You can find them in chain stores, discount stores, high-end chocolatiers, and sitting in a bowl on just about every receptionist’s desk.

Hollow and Solid Chocolate Easter Eggs

Today’s Easter eggs are mostly sweet chocolate made from cocoa solids, fat, sugar, and some form of milk. The first chocolate eggs were solid, made of a ground roasted cacao bean paste. Hollow eggs didn’t come on the scene until a type of “eating chocolate” was developed.  By the turn of the 19^th century the improved process of making chocolate, along with newer manufacturing methods, made chocolate Easter eggs an Easter gift of choice.

Decorated with Flowers and Wrapped in Shiny Foil

John Cadbury make the first French eating chocolate in 1842, but the first Cadbury Easter eggs didn’t arrive until 1875 and were a far cry from today’s Cadbury Crème egg. Early Cadbury eggs were smooth surfaced dark chocolate filled with small silver candy balls called dragees.

Early decorated eggs were plain shells piped with chocolate and marzipan flowers. Today’s chocolate Easter eggs are predominantly milk chocolate and include solid, hollow, decorated, and filled eggs.

The Cadbury Crème Egg that’s so popular now, has a chocolate shell and a filling of white and yellow fondant made of sugar and water beaten into a crème. Since the first egg was made in the 1920s, new varieties include fillings of caramel, chocolate, mint, and peanut butter.

The average calories in popular types of chocolate Easter eggs:

Hershey’s

• Cadbury Chocolate Crème Easter Egg, 1 egg (39g): 180 calories, 8g fat, 25g carbs
• Cadbury Crème Egg, original milk chocolate with soft fondant crème center, 1 egg (39g): 170 calories, 6g fat), 28g carbs
• Cadbury Mini Eggs, 1 package (1.4 ounces): 190 calories, 9g fat, 27g carbs
• Cadbury Mini Caramel Eggs, 4 pieces (1.3 ounces): 180 calories, 9g fat, 23g carbs
• Cadbury Mini Egg, 12 eggs (40g): 200 calories, 9g fat, 28g carbs
• Milk Chocolate (foil) Eggs, 7 pieces (1.4 ounces): 200 calories, 12g fat, 24g carbs
• Candy Coated Eggs, 8 pieces (1.3 ounces): 180 calories, 8g fat, 27g carbs

Dove

• Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate Eggs, 6 eggs: 240 calories, 14g fat, 26g carbs
• Foil Dark/Milk Chocolate Eggs, 6 eggs (1.5 ounces): 230 calories, 14g fat, 26g carbs

Reese’s

• Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter Eggs, 5 pieces (38g): 190 calories, 12g fat, 21g carbs
• Reese’s Pastel Eggs, 12 pieces (1.4 ounces): 190 calories, 8g fat, 25g carbs
• Reese’s Giant Peanut Butter Egg (whole egg, 6 ounces): 880 calories, 52g fat, 100g carbs

M&M’s

• Milk Chocolate Speck-Tacular Eggs: 1/4 Cup (12 pieces): 210 calories, 10g fat, 29g carbs
• M&M’s Peanut Butter Eggs, ¼ cup: 220 calories, 13g fat, 23g carbs
• M&M’s Pretzel Eggs, ¼ cup: 180 calories, 6g fat, 28g carbs

Snickers

• Original Peanut Butter Egg (1.1 ounce): 160 calories, 10g fat, 18g carbs
• Snickers Mini Filled Egg (0.9 ounce): 130 calories, 6g fat, 17g carbs

Russell Stover

• Caramel Egg (1 ounce): 130 calories, 6g fat, 19g carbs
• Truffle Egg (1 ounce): 140 calories, 8g fat, 15g carbs

Whoppers

• Robin Eggs, 8 pieces (1.4 ounces): 180 calories, 5g fat, 3g carbs
• Mini Robin Eggs, 24 pieces (1.4 ounces): 190 calories, 5g fat, 35g carbs

Nestle

• Butterfinger Eggs, 5 pieces (1.5 ounces): 210 calories, 11g fat, 29g carbs
• Crunch Eggs, 5 pieces (1.3 ounces): 190 calories, 10g fat, 25g carbs

The average calories in popular types of chocolate Easter bunnies:

• Solid Milk Chocolate Easter Bunny (2.5 ounces): 370 calories (average)
• Dove Solid Chocolate Easter Bunny, whole bunny (4.5 ounces): 675 calories
• Cadbury Solid Milk Chocolate Easter Bunny: 890 calories
• Lindt Dark/Milk Chocolate Bunny (1.4 ounces): 225 caloriesSees Whole Bunny (4.5 ounces): 650 calories
• Reese’s Peanut Butter/Reester, whole bunny (5 ounces): 720 calories
• Russell Stover, whole bunny (4 ounces): 630 calories

Kosher Chocolate Candy

According to the Hershey Company website, Hershey’s candy coated milk chocolate eggs, chocolate crème eggs, peanut butter eggs, and all Hershey’s kisses are OUD.

If you want more sweet stuff, for 99 cents you can get the lowdown on Easter Candy.  Check out my ebook, Easter Candy Facts and Fun on Amazon.  You’ll spend less than you would on jelly beans.  It’s also way fewer calories than a chocolate bunny!

The post Bunnies and Eggs Come In All Shades of Chocolate appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Peeps, Jelly Beans, Chocolate Bunnies and Candy Easter Eggs

Easter candy nesting in baskets on beds of paper straw.  Brightly wrapped candy stuffed in plastic eggs for Easter egg hunts.  Chocolate smeared over little kids’ faces and indestructible peeps molded into weird shapes before being popped in the mouth.

It’s Easter candy time.  Face it – admit it – Easter candy is seductive.  I dare you to eat one jelly bean or unwrap and savor just one brightly colored mini-chocolate Easter egg.

If you are going to indulge — and sometimes a celebratory treat is worth it — you might as well know a little about your Easter candy sweet treats so you can factor their caloric punch into your eating plan.

Jelly Beans

Oh, those little nuggests of sweetness that come in multitudes of colors and flavors.  Primarily made of sugar, jelly beans also usually contain gelatin, corn syrup, modified food starch, and less than 0.5% of citric acid, sodium citrate, artificial flavors, confectioners glaze, pectin, carnauba wax, white mineral oil, magnesium hydroxide, and artificial colors (takes some of the fun out of them, doesn’t it).

The gummy inside of the jelly bean may have originated centuries ago from the treat, Turkish Delight.  The outside of the jelly bean is basically the same as the colored hard candy coating, developed in the late 17^th century, for the Jordan almond.  The modern jelly bean appeared during the American Civil War when Boston’s William Schraft encouraged sending candy to Union soldiers.  Around 1930, jelly beans, with a shape resembling Easter eggs, became popular as an Easter candy.

Although standard jelly beans come in fruit flavors, there are also spiced, mint, gourmet, tropical, and novelty flavors (popcorn, bubble gum, pepper, cola, etc,) available.  They also now come in a sugar free version (seems weird, but true – wonder how many chemicals are in those).

Jelly beans may give you Technicolor insides, but they are fat free.  On average, 10 small jelly beans (11g) have 41 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no protein, and 10.3 grams of carbs.  Ten large jelly beans (1 oz or 28g) have 105 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no protein, and 26.2g carbs.

Marshmallow PEEPS

These vividly colored marshmallow bunnies and chicks were hatched over 50 years ago. They are called PEEPS because the original candy was the yellow chick.  Now produced for many holidays – in seasonal colors and shapes, of course —  they continue to be the subject of numerous design contests (you’d be amazed what you can make out of peeps) and scientific experiments (some claim them to be indestructible). Just Born, the parent company of PEEPS, claims, on their website, to produce enough PEEPS in one year to circle the Earth twice.

For more than a decade, PEEPS have been the number one non-chocolate Easter candy in the U.S. Although yellow is America’s favorite color for PEEPS chicks and bunnies, they also come in pink, lavender, blue, orange and green.  Made of sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, and less than 0.5% of potassium sorbate, natural flavors, dye, and carnauba wax, they are gluten and nut free.  You can even get sugar free PEEPS made with Splenda.  Five little chicks (42g, listed as one serving size) has 140 calories, 0g fat, 1g protein, and 36g carbs.

People have definite PEEPS preferences. Some like them nice and soft, others leave them out in the air to age to perfection so they get a little crunchy on the outside.  They’ve been microwaved (careful, they expand and can make quite a mess), frozen, roasted, used to top hot chocolate, and added to recipes. They don’t toast well on sticks like regular marshmallows – the sugar coating tends to burn. Newspapers have been known to run contests for best PEEP recipes and best PEEP pictures.

SocialDieter Tip:

Many of us have emotional and traditional ties to certain foods – especially ones connected to holidays.  If Easter candy means a lot to you, have some, in moderation.  Just add it into your caloric consumption for the day – or balanced out over the course of several days. The trouble lies with eating handfuls of jelly beans, whole Easter bunnies, crates of chocolate eggs, and barnyards of marshmallow peeps – and then continuing to eat them until the supply runs out.  Make up your mind that you’ll eat a certain amount, commit to only that amount, enjoy it, savor it, and then stop.  Give the extras away, get them out of sight and out of mind.  Dispatch them to where they are not calling your name and they are not within easy reach (the kitchen cabinet is too easily accessible).

My next post will give you the low down on chocolate Easter eggs.

The post What’s In Your Easter Basket? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.