It’s hard enough to pass by the candy aisle without picking up a bag of gummy worms, but with Easter just around the corner, the shelves are stocked with pastel colored packaging and special edition egg shaped classics. I mean, who would've thought an egg shaped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup would make them that much better! Trying to understand what’s actually in these Easter treats can lead you down a dark rabbit hole of Googling weird ingredients. So, we’re explaining what’s actually in some Easter treats and providing some all-natural recipes so you can make your own, with ingredients you actually understand! Peeps Those sweet marshmallow fluff balls are an Easter classic, but what’s in them exactly? As the label reads, peeps contain sugar, corn syrup (A.K.A cheap sugar), gelatin (not the grass-fed type), yellow #5 (tartrazine), potassium sorbate, “natural” flavors, and carnauba wax. Besides the fact that carnauba wax is also a main ingredient in car wax and is an issue in itself, we are going to dive right into the sugar! A single serving of peeps has 28 calories and 7.2 grams of carbs. Of those 7.2 grams of carbs consists 6.8 grams of sugar, which is a lot!. We know Easter isn’t the same without peeps, so we made a paleo friendly version, that’s free of processed sugars! Hop down to the recibee here. Cadbury Creme Egg Known for it’s somewhat egg like resemblance and ooey-gooey filling, another Easter fav are Cadbury Creme Eggs. Let’s take a crack at the ingredients shall we! Cadbury Crème Eggs are made up of milk chocolate (sugar; milk; chocolate; cocoa butter; milk fat; nonfat milk; soy lecithin; natural and artificial flavors), sugar, corn syrup (so sugar?), high fructose corn syrup (sugar…), artificial color (yellow 6); artificial flavor (aka chemicals), calcium chloride; egg whites. Of the four main ingredients, three are types of sugar. Oh wait… the milk chocolate layer’s first ingredient is sugar… so four of the four main ingredients are made up primarily of sugar. One Cadbury Creme Egg has what the American Heart Association recommends for an entire day’s worth of sugar and let’s be honest, many of us don’t stop at just one. Can’t image your Easter without a creme filled chocolate egg? No worries, jump down for a healthy, but Easter bunny approved beegan creme filled chocolate egg! Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup egg As much as we hate crushing dreams, everyone should have an idea of what’s inside those legendary Reese's Eggs. The ingredients contain sugar; partially defatted peanuts; partially hydrogenated vegetable oil; corn syrup; dextrose; artificial color (Yellow 5 Lake; Blue 2 Lake; Red 40 Lake; Blue 1 Lake); salt; soy lecithin; resinous glaze; gum acacia; carnauba Wax; vanillin, artificial flavor; milk. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know what half of these ingredients are… like what the heck is resinous glaze? And vanillin? Is that vanilla’s evil cousin? As for the amount of sugar, one serving has 190 calories and 50% come from carbs. Of those 24 grams of carbs, 21 are from sugar. That is A LOT of sugar (around 4 teaspoons to be exact and around the daily recommended dose of sugar too!). But we know how important they are to any celebration, so we have you covered with our beelicious almond butter cup recibee. Scroll down for more!
Ingredients To Be Boiled 1/2 cup water 1 cup raw sweet clover honey (feel free to use any kind of honey , but the more floral the honey, the more floral the marshmallows will taste) Mixing bowl Ingredients 1/2 cup cold water 3 tablespoons grass fed gelatin 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or lemon, almond, chocolate extract, or any other flavors you love) 2 pinches of sea salt Coating Options: Mix some pollen and honey together for a yellow topping, just like you see in our photo. Or, try some freeze dried pineapple cherries, strawberries, blueberries, or other fruit for a healthy sprinkle like option! Want more of an icing coating? Try coconut cream mixed with raw honey and beet juice. Or, a drizzle of cacao honey will add a nice chocolate accent without overpowering the marshmallow flavor! The equipment needed: Hand mixer Two 8" by 8" pans lined with parchment paper or foil Cookie cutter shapes (we used a bee cookie cutter) Candy Thermometer Instructions Marshmallow Directions: In a bowl add 1/2 cup cold water. Then sprinkle around 3 tablespoons of gelatin on top. Let it sit without mixing for a few minutes. In the meantime, using a big pot, boil ½ cup of water with 1 cup of honey on high heat. You will boil it for around 7 minutes, or until the mixtures is at around 242 degrees F. Be careful as boiling honey and water is quite dangerous if not handled with care. Once the mix is at 242 F, slowly add it to the water gelatin mixture. Next, on slow speed, mix everything together. Once combined, turn the mixture on high for around 7 - 11 minutes or until you get stiff marshmallow fluff! When honey and water mixture reaches 242 F, remove from heat and very slowly pour it into the water/gelatin mixture. Once it's all added, turn on the mixer to a slower speed and once it is all mixed together, turn mixer up to high for about 7 to 10 minutes, until you have "marshmallow fluff". Coat your tins with oil (we love avocado oil as it doesn’t have a taste and is easy to coat!) and then spoon the fluff so it evenly lines both tins. Let the fluff cool on the counter and firm up for around 3 hours before you cut out your shapes. Once they are firm, take them from the pan and place them on a flat surface. Coat your cookie cutter with oil, and then just as you would cutout cookies, cut out your shapes. Coating Once the fluff has set, its time to coat. We mixed 3 tablespoons of honey with 1 tablespoon of pollen to create a yellow topper that we then decorated the shapes to look like a bee. We even used our raw cacao honey to draw even more details. If you want more color options, grind up freeze dried fruit in a coffee grinder or food processor. Coat a surface of your marshmallows with honey and then dust with the powdered freeze dried fruit! If you’re a fan of the chocolate coated peeps, try dipping your marshmallows in a mixture of two tablespoons of our cacao honey with 1 tablespoon of melted coconut oil. Place the marshmallows in the fridge and the chocolate will harden into a shell. Regardless of how you choose to decorate or not decorate, store the leftover marshmallow in the fridge to preserve them! Oh, and tag us in your creations bee-cause we’d love to see them! Paleo and Beegan Cream Eggs Shoutout to Thrive Market for inspiring our take on the infamous Cadbury egg! Ingredients Filling 1 1/2 cup coconut butter 1/3 cup cashew butter 2/3 cup raw sweet clover honey 7 sprays of propolis 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 teaspoons of lucama powder ½ teaspoon of turmeric (for coloring!) 1 teaspoon of maca powder Pinch of mountain salt 1/2 teaspoon of water Chocolate Coating 2 oz of cacao butter 1 oz coconut oil ¼ cup of cacao powder 2 tablespoons of raw cacao honey Instructions In a bowl combine the coconut butter, cashew butter, raw sweet clover honey, salt and vanilla extract. Once completely combined, remove about ⅓ of the mix and place into another bowl. Add in the propolis, maca, turmeric and lucama. Mix well and then place both bowls in the freezer for 20 minutes so they are easier to mold. After 20 Min, take out the mixes and roll the maca turmeric mix into small dime sized balls. Coat the balls in the white mixture so that each yellowish ball is completely covered and it resembles an egg. Place your egg like creations in the fridge while you move on to the chocolate coating. Chocolate Coating In a pan over low heat, melt the chocolate coating ingredients together until completely combined. Remove from heat and let sit for 2 minutes, but continue to stir. Take out your egg like creations and using a toothpick, dip each ball into the chocolate coating. Place each on a baking rack (make sure you have a tray of sorts under to catch excess chocolate. Continue until all eggs are covered. Place the chocolate coated eggs in the fridge to harden, and then enjoy! You can even wrap in colorful foil and hide them around the house like the good ole’ days! Easter Almond Butter Superfood Cups Meet: BKN almond butter superfood cups. Unlike the real ones, these babies are paleo, gluten free, dairy free and of course beegan! Afternoon pick me up or midnight snackin, these babies will fuel your body, and curb your cravings. 
Ingredients Chocolate coating 3 cups cacao butter or coconut oil 1 1/2 cups raw cacao powder (we like Giddy Yoyo cacao because it’s raw, heirloom (wild), and fair trade) 1/4 cup BKN raw cacao honey sea salt Filling 2 tablespoons of raw sweet clover honey 12 sprays of propolis 2 1/2 tbsp coconut flour 1/2 cup almond butter Pinch of vanilla 1/3 cup lucama Topping BKN bee pollen Shredded coconut Instructions: Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Chocolate coating: In a saucepan, combine coconut oil or cacao butter, cacao powder, cacao honey, and salt. Over heat, you are going to stir until everything is combined. Turn the heat off and spoon about 1 tablespoon into each liner. Once all are filled, gently move the chocolate in a circle, slightly moving it up the sides. Leave the rest of the chocolate in the pan and place the muffin tin in the fridge until the chocolate hardens. Filling: While the chocolate is hardening, combine the almond butter, coconut flour, teaspoon vanilla extract, pinch salt, 12 sprays bee propolis and raw honey in a bowl. Remove the pan from the fridge and fill each one with a little of the nutty mix. Pour the rest of the chocolate sauce over the filling, ensuring your have completely covered it. Top with bee pollen and coconut and put back into the freezer or fridge to harden. Enjoyyy!
Recibees
Paleo Peeps for our Beegan Peeps Ingredients To Be Boiled 1/2 cup water 1 cup raw sweet clover honey (feel free to use any kind of honey , but the more floral the honey, the more floral the marshmallows will taste) Mixing bowl Ingredients 1/2 cup cold water 3 tablespoons grass fed gelatin 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or lemon, almond, chocolate extract, or any other flavors you love) 2 pinches of sea salt Coating Options: Mix some pollen and honey together for a yellow topping, just like you see in our photo. Or, try some freeze dried pineapple cherries, strawberries, blueberries, or other fruit for a healthy sprinkle like option! Want more of an icing coating? Try coconut cream mixed with raw honey and beet juice. Or, a drizzle of cacao honey will add a nice chocolate accent without overpowering the marshmallow flavor! The equipment needed: Hand mixer Two 8" by 8" pans lined with parchment paper or foil Cookie cutter shapes (we used a bee cookie cutter) Candy Thermometer Instructions Marshmallow Directions: In a bowl add 1/2 cup cold water. Then sprinkle around 3 tablespoons of gelatin on top. Let it sit without mixing for a few minutes. In the meantime, using a big pot, boil ½ cup of water with 1 cup of honey on high heat. You will boil it for around 7 minutes, or until the mixtures is at around 242 degrees F. Be careful as boiling honey and water is quite dangerous if not handled with care. Once the mix is at 242 F, slowly add it to the water gelatin mixture. Next, on slow speed, mix everything together. Once combined, turn the mixture on high for around 7 - 11 minutes or until you get stiff marshmallow fluff! When honey and water mixture reaches 242 F, remove from heat and very slowly pour it into the water/gelatin mixture. Once it's all added, turn on the mixer to a slower speed and once it is all mixed together, turn mixer up to high for about 7 to 10 minutes, until you have "marshmallow fluff". Coat your tins with oil (we love avocado oil as it doesn’t have a taste and is easy to coat!) and then spoon the fluff so it evenly lines both tins. Let the fluff cool on the counter and firm up for around 3 hours before you cut out your shapes. Once they are firm, take them from the pan and place them on a flat surface. Coat your cookie cutter with oil, and then just as you would cutout cookies, cut out your shapes. Coating Once the fluff has set, its time to coat. We mixed 3 tablespoons of honey with 1 tablespoon of pollen to create a yellow topper that we then decorated the shapes to look like a bee. We even used our raw cacao honey to draw even more details. If you want more color options, grind up freeze dried fruit in a coffee grinder or food processor. Coat a surface of your marshmallows with honey and then dust with the powdered freeze dried fruit! If you’re a fan of the chocolate coated peeps, try dipping your marshmallows in a mixture of two tablespoons of our cacao honey with 1 tablespoon of melted coconut oil. Place the marshmallows in the fridge and the chocolate will harden into a shell. Regardless of how you choose to decorate or not decorate, store the leftover marshmallow in the fridge to preserve them! Oh, and tag us in your creations bee-cause we’d love to see them! Paleo and Beegan Cream Eggs Shoutout to Thrive Market for inspiring our take on the infamous Cadbury egg! Ingredients Filling 1 1/2 cup coconut butter 1/3 cup cashew butter 2/3 cup raw sweet clover honey 7 sprays of propolis 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 teaspoons of lucama powder ½ teaspoon of turmeric (for coloring!) 1 teaspoon of maca powder Pinch of mountain salt 1/2 teaspoon of water Chocolate Coating 2 oz of cacao butter 1 oz coconut oil ¼ cup of cacao powder 2 tablespoons of raw cacao honey Instructions In a bowl combine the coconut butter, cashew butter, raw sweet clover honey, salt and vanilla extract. Once completely combined, remove about ⅓ of the mix and place into another bowl. Add in the propolis, maca, turmeric and lucama. Mix well and then place both bowls in the freezer for 20 minutes so they are easier to mold. After 20 Min, take out the mixes and roll the maca turmeric mix into small dime sized balls. Coat the balls in the white mixture so that each yellowish ball is completely covered and it resembles an egg. Place your egg like creations in the fridge while you move on to the chocolate coating. Chocolate Coating In a pan over low heat, melt the chocolate coating ingredients together until completely combined. Remove from heat and let sit for 2 minutes, but continue to stir. Take out your egg like creations and using a toothpick, dip each ball into the chocolate coating. Place each on a baking rack (make sure you have a tray of sorts under to catch excess chocolate. Continue until all eggs are covered. Place the chocolate coated eggs in the fridge to harden, and then enjoy! You can even wrap in colorful foil and hide them around the house like the good ole’ days! Easter Almond Butter Superfood Cups Meet: BKN almond butter superfood cups. Unlike the real ones, these babies are paleo, gluten free, dairy free and of course beegan! Afternoon pick me up or midnight snackin, these babies will fuel your body, and curb your cravings. Ingredients Chocolate coating 3 cups cacao butter or coconut oil 1 1/2 cups raw cacao powder (we like Giddy Yoyo cacao because it’s raw, heirloom (wild), and fair trade) 1/4 cup BKN raw cacao honey sea salt Filling 2 tablespoons of raw sweet clover honey 12 sprays of propolis 2 1/2 tbsp coconut flour 1/2 cup almond butter Pinch of vanilla 1/3 cup lucama Topping BKN bee pollen Shredded coconut Instructions: Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Chocolate coating: In a saucepan, combine coconut oil or cacao butter, cacao powder, cacao honey, and salt. Over heat, you are going to stir until everything is combined. Turn the heat off and spoon about 1 tablespoon into each liner. Once all are filled, gently move the chocolate in a circle, slightly moving it up the sides. Leave the rest of the chocolate in the pan and place the muffin tin in the fridge until the chocolate hardens. Filling: While the chocolate is hardening, combine the almond butter, coconut flour, teaspoon vanilla extract, pinch salt, 12 sprays bee propolis and raw honey in a bowl. Remove the pan from the fridge and fill each one with a little of the nutty mix. Pour the rest of the chocolate sauce over the filling, ensuring your have completely covered it. Top with bee pollen and coconut and put back into the freezer or fridge to harden. Enjoyyy!
