Chocolate Easter Bunny Calories

Dec 20, 2011 | By Melanie Greenwood

Rabbits are traditional symbols of fertility and renewal, and chocolate Easter bunnies are classic springtime treats. However, Easter can be a tough time if you're counting your calories. With a little information, however, you can enjoy a chocolate Easter bunny without compromising your goals.

Types

Like other forms of chocolate, chocolate Easter bunnies come in three basic varieties. Milk chocolate is, as the name implies, a mixture of chocolate and milk. Dark chocolate, which has a stronger, slightly more bitter taste than milk chocolate, may or may not contain dairy. White chocolate contains only the cocoa butter portion of chocolate, and not the cocoa solids that give standard chocolate its dark color.

Calorie Counts and Other Nutrition Facts

Calorie counts and other nutrition information vary based on what kind of chocolate your Easter bunny is made of. According to the FatSecret website, milk chocolate contains 152 calories, 8.41 grams of fat and 14.6 g of sugar per ounce. The CalorieKing website calculates that an ounce of 60 percent cacao dark chocolate has 123 calories, 9.9 g of fat and 10.6 g of sugar. White chocolate, by contrast, contains 153 calories, 9.1 g of fat and 16.7 g of sugar per ounce. If your bunny is missing its nutrition label, you can weigh it and do the math.

Selection and Benefits

If you're buying your chocolate bunnies yourself, look for dark chocolate bunnies. Dark chocolate contains flavonoids, powerful antioxidants that help ward off heart disease, cancer and stroke, according to Selene Yeager's “The Doctors Book of Food Remedies.” However, chocolate is high in calories and fat, so Yeager recommends eating a small portion — perhaps you could eat your bunny's ears one day and his head the next — and taking the time to savor your chocolate.