Skip the store-bought and make homemade Easter candy this year! These Easter egg buttercream candies combine a thick and creamy buttercream filling with rich dark chocolate. Choose from a variety of flavors or stick with vanilla listed below.
Most foods are improved with a simple dip in chocolate. Pretzels, strawberries, and even biscotti cookies. And buttercream is another we’ll add to the list! Yes, this is a buttercream-like filling covered in chocolate. Do your teeth hurt at the thought of all this sugar? If it makes you feel any better, we’re good friends with our dentist and she loved these. Ha!!
But that’s what candy is all about. It’s sugary, it’s sweet, and it’s perfect around holidays, including Easter. Instead of purchasing store-bought chocolate eggs filled with who-the-heck-knows-what, give these Easter egg buttercream candies a try. You can jazz up the buttercream filling with a variety of flavors or even add shredded coconut. Give them a dunk in chocolate and let each bite completely melt in your mouth.
Trust me, you’re going to be very happy about these.
What Are Buttercream Candies?
Let’s chat a little more about this buttercream filling business. Do you know the vanilla buttercreams found in chocolate boxes? They’re absolutely delicious, remarkably creamy, and typically filled with fondant. I prefer a shortcut approach using butter and confectioners’ sugar. As a bonus, this shortcut method retains the same delightfully creamy consistency. I published a strawberry version in my cookbook Sally’s Candy Addiction. Today’s buttercream eggs are plain, but I definitely wouldn’t consider them boring! They’re flavored with a little vanilla and almond extracts and taste remarkable enrobed in dark chocolate.
This buttercream filling is not ideal for frosting a cake. It’s very thick and ideal for molding into shapes such as balls or Easter egg shaped candies.
How to Make Buttercream Filling
Pretend like you’re making regular vanilla buttercream. We’re using the same exact ingredients, but different ratios to produce a mega thick filling. Start with room temperature butter and make sure it’s the proper room temperature. Not overly soft, not melted in the slightest, and still cool to touch. Good rule of thumb: let the butter sit out on the counter for 1 hour before beginning the recipe. You also need confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream or half-and-half, and flavorings.
Chilling: The most important part of this homemade Easter candy recipe is chilling. Chill the buttercream filling before shaping into Easter eggs. Otherwise it’s way too soft to mold into shapes. After molding the cold buttercream filling into Easter egg shapes, refrigerate again for at least 1 hour. The colder the buttercream, the easier it is to cover in chocolate.
Buttercream Candy Flavors
Keep the 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract in the recipe.
- Coconut Buttercreams: Replace almond extract with coconut extract and add 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut. If desired, pulse the coconut in a food processor so the shreds are smaller.
- Lemon Buttercreams: Replace almond extract with lemon extract.
- Chocolate Filled Buttercreams: Replace 2 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar with unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Orange Buttercreams: Replace almond extract with orange extract.
- Strawberry Buttercreams: Pulse 1 cup of freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor to yield about 1/2 cup strawberry “dust.” Replace 1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar with 1/2 cup strawberry dust.
- Coffee Buttercreams: Add 1 teaspoon espresso powder. Taste, then add more as desired.
- Peanut Butter Eggs: Use the recipe for these homemade peanut butter eggs.
Have fun with different extracts and flavors. You can even divide the buttercream filling up to make different varieties from 1 batch.
How to Shape Filling into Easter Eggs
Each Easter egg candy is 1 Tablespoon (about 1 ounce) of buttercream filling. When the filling is nice and cold, it’s much easier to shape. The filling gets a little crumbly, but the warmth of your hands brings it back together. First, roll the buttercream filling into a ball. Flatten it between your palms so it’s about 1/2 – 3/4 inch thick, then use your fingers to thin out one end for the top. It’s really easy and they certainly don’t need to be perfect.
This recipe yields about 20 Easter egg buttercream candies.
How to Dip Candies in Chocolate
- Use real chocolate. This is the most important step and the one that many people overlook. For the BEST looking and tasting candies, start with real chocolate. Use the 4 ounce “baking chocolate” bars found in the baking aisle. I prefer Bakers or Ghirardelli brands. You need about 4 four ounce bars for this recipe, 16 ounces total. You can use semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate. A sweeter chocolate, such as milk chocolate or white chocolate will produce VERY sweet candies. Candy melts work too, but they don’t taste like real chocolate. Do not use chocolate chips. They contain stabilizers which prevent them from melting properly. Great for chocolate chip cookies, but not so great when we need smooth, melted chocolate like in this recipe.
- Melt the chocolate. You can use a double boiler or the microwave. Microwave in 20 second increments, stirring after each. Chocolate is temperamental, so always melt with care. I do not recommend tempering the chocolate for this recipe. Tempered chocolate should not be refrigerated and due to the fresh ingredients in the filling, these candies must be refrigerated.
- Let the chocolate cool down for a few minutes. Otherwise it will melt the buttercream.
- Dip the Easter eggs. While I prefer special dipping tools for round truffles, a fork works perfectly for these flatter candies. Submerge the buttercream into the chocolate. Carefully lift out with a fork. Tap the fork on the edge of the bowl to rid excess chocolate.
- Allow the chocolate to set. Place chocolate covered eggs on a lined baking sheet. If you have leftover chocolate, drizzle on top of each—just like you see in the photo above. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator to set the chocolate.
I repeat: Do not use chocolate chips. They’re great for cookies, but since they contain stabilizers, they do not melt into the correct coating consistency.
Coating in Chocolate – Troubleshooting
Your Easter egg buttercream candy is perfectly shaped and cold, but dipping them into chocolate is giving you some problems. Let’s work through them together.
- Chocolate is too thick: 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil thins out the chocolate so it’s the best consistency for dipping. If you find your chocolate is still too thick, add a little more vegetable oil. Coconut oil works too, but I prefer vegetable oil.
- Chocolate isn’t smooth on the candies: It was likely too thick. You want a very thin chocolate. See above.
- Chocolate is hardening before I’m finished: This is an easy fix! First, make sure you are working quickly. Second, keep the chocolate fluid by reheating in the microwave for 10 seconds or use a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, spoon the chocolate into a glass bowl set over a pot of simmering water. This keeps the chocolate slightly warm. Don’t let the water touch the bottom of the glass bowl.
- Buttercream filling is melting: The chocolate is too hot. Let it sit for a few minutes to slightly cool down and then try again.
Have fun with these! We have some leftover in the freezer and, admittedly, I love gnawing on them frozen. The filling tastes like ice cream!
Looking for more Easter inspiration? See all 18+ of our favorite Easter brunch recipes. And here are 18+ Easter dessert ideas, including these adorable (and super easy!) jelly bean sugar cookies.
More Homemade Candy Recipes
- Chocolate Truffles
- Homemade Cake Pops
- Peanut Butter Balls
- Caramel Corn
- Peanut Butter Eggs
- No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
- 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Fudge
Easter Egg Buttercream Candies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 20 candies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Dipping
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Easter egg buttercream candies combine a thick and creamy buttercream filling with rich dark chocolate. Choose from a variety of flavors listed in the blog post above or stick with vanilla listed below. See blog post for extra tips on coating the buttercream candies with chocolate.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) heavy cream or half-and-half
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- pinch salt, to taste
- four 4-ounce semi-sweet chocolate bars (450g), coarsely chopped*
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat on low for 1 minute. Add the cream, vanilla and almond extracts, then beat on high for 3 minutes or until completely smooth and creamy. Taste, then beat in a pinch of salt if needed. (It’s supposed to be very sweet!) The mixture will be very sticky. Cover the bowl tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. Chilling makes shaping the buttercream filling a little easier.
- Line 1-2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Once chilled, remove the mixture from the refrigerator. Scoop 1 Tablespoon of the buttercream mixture and roll into a ball. Flatten the ball between your palms and use your fingers to thin out one end into an egg shape. The egg should be roughly 1/2 – 3/4 inch thick. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining buttercream mixture. The buttercream mixture may be a little crumbly, but the warmth of your hands will bring it together. If you find the buttercream mixture becoming too soft to handle, chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can powder your hands with confectioners’ sugar, which helps prevent the buttercream from sticking to your hands.
- Chill the shaped buttercream eggs in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. During the last few minutes of the chilling time, begin melting the chocolate and oil together. You can melt it in a double boiler or the microwave. If using the microwave: place the chocolate and oil in a medium heat-proof bowl. I recommend using a liquid measuring cup because its depth makes dipping really easy. Melt in 20 second increments in the microwave, stirring after each increment until completely melted and smooth. Let the warm chocolate sit for 6-8 minutes to slightly cool before dipping, otherwise it will melt the buttercream filling.
- Remove buttercreams from the refrigerator. Working with 1 at a time, submerge into the chocolate, then carefully lift out using a fork. Tap the fork gently on the side of the bowl/measuring cup to rid excess chocolate. Use a toothpick or a 2nd fork to help you slide the buttercream off of the fork and onto the baking sheet.
- If you have leftover chocolate, drizzle over candies. I reheated the chocolate and used a squeeze bottle to drizzle.
- Refrigerate buttercream eggs for 30 minutes or until chocolate has completely set before serving.
- Layer buttercream eggs between sheets of parchment or wax paper and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can start this recipe 1 day ahead of time. The shaped filling can be chilled in the refrigerator for up to 1 day prior to coating. The coated buttercream candies can be frozen. Freeze the coated candies for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Double Boiler or Liquid Measuring Cup | Squeeze Bottle
- Chocolate: For the best looking and tasting candies, use 4 ounce “baking chocolate” bars found in the baking aisle. I prefer Bakers or Ghirardelli brands. You need about 4 four ounce bars for this recipe, 16 ounces total. You can use semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate. A sweeter chocolate, such as milk chocolate or white chocolate will produce VERY sweet candies. Candy melts or almond bark work too, but they don’t taste like real chocolate. Do not use chocolate chips, as they contain stabilizers preventing them from melting into the correct consistency for coating.
- Coating/Melting Chocolate: See all my troubleshooting tips in the post.
- I do not recommend tempering the chocolate for this recipe. Tempered chocolate should not be refrigerated and due to the fresh ingredients in the filling, these candies must be refrigerated.
This recipe is so great. I made them at Easter last year and they were perfect. Question though- I just tried to make these yesterday, and my buttercream just wouldn’t set up. Even after trying putting it in the freezer overnight. My only hunch is that I let the butter come to room temp but let it get too warm.
Any advice is appreciated! Thanks and I love your site. I’m in the beginning stages of starting my own blog. So thanks for the inspiration!
It was a bit hard to make because I’m a kid, and only my mommy helped. But it was SO GOOD!!! I’m definitely making these again! (I’m still gonna put 5 stars)
This recipe is so good! You can make 1 batter and make all different flavors! I made 1.5x the recipe and divided it into- lemon, coconut, malted milk, merchino cherry, and chocolate-marshmallow. These are amazing!!!!
HiSally,
I made this recipe last year and everyone loved them!. I recall using 1 tBsp of vanilla and you writing “really a tBsp”! Did the recipe change? I may have doubled it. Anyway. I bought silicone molds to make them a little prettier. Can I put the filling in the molds to chill and then dip them? I think the chocolate will be to thick if I put that in first. The molds aren’t really large. Thanks!
Val
This recipe hasn’t changed, but feel free to add a little more extract if you’d like. I have written (yes, really a Tbsp!) in other recipes though. 🙂 Just not this one. And yes, you can absolutely use a mold for this buttercream candy filling.
If I wanted to make different flavors from the same batch what measurements do I use for the different extracts?
Hi CJ, that would depend on how many flavors you make. Just divide the total amount needed by how many flavors you’re making.
I know that buttercream candy is sweet, but I was just wondering if I could cut down on the sugar a little?
Hi Chris, reducing the confectioners’ sugar will impact the texture and ability for the filling to come together properly. To cut the sweetness, you could try adding a pinch more salt to taste or even top the candies with some flaky salt like we do with these peanut butter egg candies.
I made these a couple of weeks ago and they are so easy and tasty! Everyone loved them! Thank you for the great recipe!
If you wanted to make a Dark Chocolate coconut buttercream with almonds and make the filling less sweet could you use less confectioners’ sugar and unsweetened coconut.
Hi Matt, we haven’t tested those changes but let us know what you try!
I made this last Easter and they were a hit! I’m wondering if anyone has tried to shape these into bunnies?
I made these using a mold, the eggs were much larger. Delicious the first day and got better and better the rest of the week. By day 4 they were without a doubt one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. Definitely going to make these again!
Can these be made in the larger size, so I can pipe a name on top? If so, how much would the recipe make?
I can’t see why not! The quantity would depend on how large you make them. If doubling the size, you’ll have 10.
Can I add coconut flakes? I love coconut cream eggs!
Hi Angela, to make these eggs with coconut, replace almond extract with coconut extract and add 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut. If desired, pulse the coconut in a food processor so the shreds are smaller. Enjoy!
Perfect consistency but tastes too powdered sugary! How can I help? More butter? Heavy cream?
Recipe as is was too sweet for everyone in my family. However, adding meringue to the filling made it less sweet and lighter consistency. Had to add more sugar and butter to get to the thick consistency again. In the end perfect filling similar to the Easter eggs sold at See’s chocolate. Will make again with the modification.
I made these for Easter and they were a huge hit with my whole family! Dusting your hands with powdered sugar was a helpful tip. It was the only way I was able to get a nice egg shape without it getting too sticky.
Thank you for the tip about adding oil to the chocolate to thin it out a bit! I didn’t use the bars – I used the Ghirardelli melting wafers. The ingredients ARE different between the two, but the oil worked like a charm on the wafers. Made a double batch of the buttercream – chocolate, orange, strawberry and espresso – plus a batch of the peanut butter!
Another awesome recipe. Thanks so much!
I’d like to take these to an outdoor picnic. Do you have any tricks to keep the chocolate from melting on the go?
Hi Kirstin! Store them in a cooler (ice chest) with some cold packs if at all possible. They also make some double layer serving platters that you can put ice under to keep the top layer cool if you’re interested. Hope they’re a hit!
I don’t have any heavy cream or half-and-half. Would I be able to substitute it with whole milk, oat milk, or sweetened condensed milk? If so, which would be the better choice?
Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth, you can try whole milk or oat milk, but both are pretty thin and the filling will be pretty soft and thin as a result. Do not use sweetened condensed milk.
I tried this recipe instead of my usual one and I’m disappointed in how much they taste like almonds. Do yourself a favor and omit the almond extract. It ruined what could have been delicious butter cream eggs.
Wonderful !!!! I made several varieties and took it to a weekend gathering of female friends. To tell them apart so people knew what they were getting, on top I sprinkled; a little coconut, a bit of lemon and orange zest and a coffee bean. they were a huge hit
Approximately much filling does this recipe yield?
Hi Katie, this recipe yields about 20 oz. of filling — enough for 20, 1 oz. candies. Hope this helps!
I can’t wait to try it out! Thank you so much!
McCormick: “McCormick and Co. does not use peanuts or tree nuts in any of our facilities. The Oil of Bitter Almond used in our Pure Almond Extract is extracted from apricot kernels, not the almond itself.” … Please be assured that all of our products are safe from nut allergens.”
I did this and added chopped black walnuts and black walnut flavoring. My husband loves them!!!!
I would like to make these and mail to a friend for Easter. Could I use substitutes such as margarine and coconut cream that do not require refrigeration?
Hi Cynthia, you can certainly try it but I fear the mixture will be too soft to mold into shapes and dip.
I have cute Easter silicon molds (eggs shapes). Do you think I could put the chocolate in the molds, let it set and then add the buttercream?
I can’t see why not!
Could I use real fruit puree for flavoring instead of extracts or will it be to runny and if so could more powered sugar make it work?
Hi Michelle! We recommend using freeze dried fruit to preserve the texture. See the section of the blog post called “Buttercream Candy Flavors” – we detail instructions for strawberries, but freeze dried raspberries, mango or blueberries would work as well.
I recently bought a silicone candy mold with the hopes of doing homemade valentine candy. Would this kind of chocolate work for that?
Hi Robin, that shouldn’t be a problem.
I want to make some for a father’s day gift. Is it possible to use a raspberry liqueur or add zest for an orange taste?
Hi LS, I haven’t tried adding liqueur to the buttercream filling, but you certainly can. You may want to add more confectioners’ sugar since the liquid will thin it out. A little orange zest works!
Can I coat the buttercream eggs with nuts after coating with chocolate?
Hi Linda, you can definitely sprinkle the eggs with chopped nuts after coating with chocolate.
I’ve got my buttercream chilling I didn’t have any almond extract so I just substituted coconut I am so excited to get these finished. So far tastes good !!
I would add less almond unless putting a marshino cherry in center
I made these this Easter and everyone loved them! They are so simple!!! I added vanilla beans to the frosting and they looked gorgeous!