Easter Bunny balls & expert tips on sugar

4th April 2021 | Eativity editors

Happy egg day! Sweet chocolate bunnies and egg hunts are a fast track to a big sugar high, but Easter doesn’t need to be a “blow-out” day or leave you with a headache – not if you plan your Easter feasting right or opt for healthier chocolate alternatives.

Leading dietitian Susie Burrell says that because a typical chocolate Easter egg contains around 9-10g sugar, it’s very easy to exceed your recommended daily sugar intake.

“During seasonal periods like Easter it’s quite common to experience sugar rushes, headaches and mood swings as a result of indulging in more than we should,” she says.

“The daily recommended sugar intake for an adult is 30g and is only slightly less for children [24g], so you only need to eat three eggs for your body to be overloaded with sugar.”

Easter egg hunt

Smarter sweet treats

As a parent herself, Burrell knows it can be tough to monitor how much chocolate your kids are eating throughout the day. She recommends celebrating with chocolate alternatives or controlling portions instead. It won’t make you the most popular parent, it’s true. But pooling all the Easter eggs together after a hunt and redistributing them throughout the day can help to stop your kids from getting too much sugar all at once.

It may not be the preferred chocolate among kids, but dark chocolate is also a slightly healthier option than its milk and white chocolate counterparts as it contains less sugar.

“To make darker chocolate more appealing to kids, combining it with a natural peanut butter is a tasty way to balance out the intense flavour,” Burrell says. “And it provides a protein hit as a bonus. The protein from the peanut butter will help them feel fuller for longer. As a result, they may feel less inclined to reach for another treat.”

Another way to get some nutrients into Easter treats is to make these adorable Easter Bunny balls. While they still contain sugar, they also contain fibre from oats and the filling protein of PB to keep people from eating them all at once. If you use Mayver’s Probiotic Super Peanut Butter, they’ll even get the extra benefit of probiotics and prebiotics.

Easter Bunny balls

Easter Bunny balls

Recipe by Susie Burrell
Serves 12
Time 60 minutes

You’ll need:

1 cup quick oats
½ cup desiccated coconut, plus extra to coat
3 tbsp honey
¼ cup cocoa powder
¼ cup Mayver’s Probiotic Super Peanut Butter
100g white chocolate melts
12 pink mini marshmallows, cut in half diagonally
12 white mini marshmallows, cut in half lengthways
24 candy eyes
12 pink mini candies
12 patty pans

Method:

1. Place the quick oats, coconut, honey, cocoa power and peanut butter in a medium mixing bowl. Mix until evenly combined.

2. Roll mixture into 12 small balls. Place in the refrigerator to firm.

3. Prepare decorations, and melt white chocolate according to pack instructions.

4. Remove balls from refrigerator one at a time to create the bunnies. Place a skewer in the bottom of a ball and hold onto the skewer as you coat the ball in melted white chocolate. Place ball in a patty pan and remove the skewer. Press 2 pink marshmallow halves into the top of the ball for the ears, press half a white marshmallow into the back for a tail, place two candy eyes on the front and add the candy nose. Sprinkle with a small amount of coconut. Repeat with remaining 11 balls.

5. Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to set.