Pictorial: Easter 2012

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For kids: the easiest (and cutest) Easter cupcakes you will make this year.

In most aspects of my life, I am not a perfectionist. My car is a mess, my house is passive-agressively referred to as “lived-in” by relatives, and I am frequently disheveled in my own manner of dress. Where I exhibit my inner control freak is through my attention to detail in cooking and baking. I can recount many nights staying up to get the mini roses for the top of a carrot cake–made from peeled carrot strips boiled in a sugar mixture and hand sculpted–juuuust right. I am reminded of my compulsion by my husband when he sees my work “the day after.” I can gauge the defcon-level of over-the-top by how many “coo coos” he says to me when he looks at my creations.

This morning, when he saw the Easter bunny basket cupcakes, I got one coo coo, but really, it should only have been 1/2 coo coo–a “coo,” if you will. First off, the kids can assemble these with little to no support, they look good even if they are not perfect, and they are fun to make. When I make desserts for kids, with kids, it’s very difficult for me to not try to but in to make the end product neat and well, perfect. But these cupcakes turn out perfectly put together by kids–in fact probably better–and you can let go of any of that control you might have over these sorts of things (read: you = I).

You and the kids should try them!

Easter Basket Cupcakes

You will need:

1 can of prepared icing

Green food coloring

One batch of baked cupcakes

1 bag of licorice strips (I used Twizzlers brand “Rainbow” veriety)

Candy eggs or jelly beans

Because these are so easy, I’m just going to post a series of pictures to help you assemble the finished product.

No bake Easter egg nest treats!

Easter is my absolute favorite holiday. There are so many reasons why: it takes place in the springtime when there is new hope in everyone’s heart, the consumerism is manageable, the kids are into it, the food rules, and let’s be honest, everything about it is just so damn cute.

Every year, I fully embrace the holiday and kind of go a little nuts. Sugar cookies, chick cupcakes, chocolate treats, sugar Easter egg panoramas, sugar crafting edible decorations, bread baking, etc. You name it, I have made it. I’m totally manic.

I eased into the Easter activities this year with a no bake take on an old classic: birds nest cookies. There are a lot of variations out there, but I used this wonderful recipe as my guide since I liked the way that the butterscotch mixture made the nests look more realistic than using chocolate. Also, this is a great recipe to make with kids since it is very hard to mess up. If you do end up ruining a nest or two during the assembly, put them into a medium oven to soften the butterscotch binder, and then reshape!

Even if you don’t bake, this is a great little treat to add to your Easter table this year.

No Bake Easter Egg Nests

What you’ll need:

1 12-oz bag of chow mein noodles

1 12-oz bag of butterscotch chips 

1 cup of additional type of baking chip (Butterscotch, white chocolate, semi-sweet, etc. Used to dab on eggs to keep in place in nests. You can also use royal icing or even peanut butter.)

1 bag of mini candy eggs (I used Whoppers brand Mini Robin Eggs, but egg-shaped M&M’s, Cadbury minis, or even jelly beans would work fine)

Melt the butterscotch chips in the microwave. Put them in a bowl and cook them for 1 minute on high. Stir, and then continue cooking at 30 second intervals until melted (stirring in between).

Add the chow mein noodles to the melted butterscotch mixture. Start with 1/2 the mixture, stir. Then add the next 1/2 and stir.

Use a 1/4 measuring cup as a guide for how big to make your nests. Work the noodles to get a little divit in the center for where you will place the eggs.

Place the nests onto a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

If your nests are falling apart, after they are assembled, place into a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. This will melt the butterscotch binder and allow you to reform the nests to cool into the proper shape.

Lastly, put your eggs into the nests. I prepared a little royal icing to dab on the eggs to keep them adhered to the nest centers, but you can also just use some melted butterscotch for the same purpose. The melted butterscotch would probably make the finished product look nicer as the white royal icing sticks out if you don’t hide it properly.

More Easter baking posts to come…