I know a really fun lady who asked me to make some Easter cookies for her grandkids so when I saw these Wilton icing decorations in the stores last week I knew I had to use them somehow. I’m pretty sure she’s going to love these funny bunnies and I hope her grandkids do too!
I had a ton of fun making this year’s batch of Easter cookies!
I found the little PEEPS candy toppers at Michael’s craft store. Aren’t they adorable?!
Hope everyone who celebrates has a lovely Easter!
You didn’t think I’d let Easter come and go without giving you at least one holiday-appropriate cocktail, did you? Despite the fact that Mother Nature has obviously lost her flipping mind it is in the 80s today here in Jersey (after being cold enough for winter jackets last week) I am trying to stay in the Spring/Easter spirit. This cocktail definitely put me in the right frame of mind!!
Cocont, lemon, white chocolate…. Hmmmmm. Kind of sounds like a liquid version of my Lemon Coconut Magic Bars, doesn’t it?! They were a hit, and I am sure this will be too!
Easter Cake Cocktail
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Malibu Coconut Rum
1 oz Drillaud White Cocoa Creme de Cacao (or any white chocolate liqueur)
.5 oz Limoncello
2 oz half & half/milk/coconut milk
2 tsp white cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
ice
Whipped cream and sprinkles for garnish (optional)
Directions:
In a cocktail shaker, combine rum, creme de cacao, limoncello, half & half and cake mix. Stir to incorporate cake mix into the liquid before adding ice and shaking till cold. Pour into glass and top with whipped cream and sprinkles. You could also use coconut flakes as a garnish instead of sprinkles.
* Please note that for these photos I doubled the recipe to fill the mason jar.
Even though I have named this drink after the upcoming holiday, it would make a lovely summer drink as well. You could even blend in some vanilla or coconut ice cream to make a Lemon Coconut Cake Shake!
Do you have a favorite Easter cocktail? Leave a comment letting me know what it is! I am always looking for holiday themed drink recipes! Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!
Hi all! Is it finally starting at act like spring where you are? I think the temperature here in NJ actually got above 60 degrees today! Of course, it’s supposed to be all crappy and rainy today but that’s okay because I just baked a batch of sunshine last night. 🙂 Lemon cake, coconut flakes, Lemon Creme Oreos, pretty pastel White Chocolate M&M’s. These Lemon Coconut Magic Bars look like spring and taste like summer!
Lemon Coconut Magic Bars
Adapted from Samoa Magic Bars by The Domestic Rebel
Ingredients
1 box of lemon cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup Easter White Chocolate M&M’s
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup coconut flakes
10 Lemon Creme Oreos
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13×9 inch pan with foil, spray the foil lightly with cooking spray and set aside. (I used a metal, nonstick pan. The baking times may vary if you use glass.)
2. In a large bowl combine the cake mix, egg and butter until a soft dough forms. Press the dough evenly in the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
3. While the dough is baking, roughly chop the Oreos into small pieces and measure out the M&M’s, white chocolate chips and coconut flakes.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and pour about 3/4 of the sweetened condensed milk on top of the cake. Next, evenly cover the cake with the chopped Oreos, white chocolate chips, coconut flakes and White Chocolate M&M’s. Drizzle the remaining sweetened condensed milk on top.
5. Return to the oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven. Allow the bars to set at room temperature until cool before cutting into bars. I stored mine overnight in a covered container in the refrigerator before taking them in to work the next day, but according to the original recipe these will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for several days.
I’ll be honest – this might be the best (non-alcoholic) thing I’ve made to date. The house smelled wonderful while it was baking, the lightness of the lemon and the coconut flavors keep it from being TOO sweet and I just love the colors of the M&M’s. This would be an easy treat to make for Easter, or for the weekend, or for Monday… You really don’t need any reason to make these bars other than the fact that they are absolutely delicious!
Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have a great weekend!
I don’t care what Mother Nature says. So what if there is MORE snow in the forecast this week?! It is SPRING and I have the cookies to prove it!!
If you know me, you know that I am a PEEPS freak and I am loving all the new flavors I have been finding in the stores lately. Valentine’s Day brought cherry dipped in chocolate and strawberry creme, and now for Easter I have discovered orange creme PEEPS. I also found Pillsbury Creamsicle cookie mix, and I thought what would could more fun than an Orange Peepsicle Cookie?
These are so easy to make! All you need is a box of the Pillsbury Creamsicle cookie mix, one stick of butter, one egg, a tub of Pillsbury Whipped Supreme Vanilla Frosting, Orange Creme PEEPS and sprinkles in lovely spring colors.
To make: Prepare the cookie mix and bake according to the directions on the box. Once the cookies have cooled, spread on the frosting, sprinkle on the sprinkles and top with an Orange Creme PEEP! The only problem is that I haven’t been able to find the Orange Creme PEEPS in a package larger than the three pack pictured above. Since the cookie mix makes about 2 dozen cookies and you might not want to buy 8 packs of PEEPS, you can make cookie sandwiches with any of the leftover cookies!
These are so delicious! The chewy creamsicle cookie, the fluffy vanilla frosting and the even fluffier PEEP on top – it is the perfect combination of textures and flavors. Perfect for stuffing into your face during the 16th, (17th? I’m losing track!) winter storm of the year!
These will also be a perfect treat to make for the kids (or grownups like me!) when Easter rolls around! Hopefully we won’t be doing egg hunts in snow drifts!
I am hoping to get a giant gummy bunny for Easter, and maybe some sunshine and a little warmth? We did have the first day of Spring last week, right?
I also wouldn’t mind getting some of these cookies in my Easter basket. They are pretty cute, if I do say so myself.
Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin’ down the bunny trail… One of my favorite things at Easter (aside from candy out the wazoo) was this old tin egg we had. It looked exactly like this (I love the internet!!) –
When you turned the hand crank, it played Peter Cottontail. I loved turning the crank really fast; here comes Peter Cottontail flying down the bunny trail! I can still hear the tinny tune in my mind.
My absolute favorite Easter memory is of dyeing eggs with my brother, mom and dad. I remember the smell of the vinegar, the fizzing sound of the dye tablets after you dropped them in the cups. My dad always got really into things – making crazy designs with rubber bands and bits of paper towel dipped in various colors. His eggs were always works of art.
These days my dad’s art takes the form of wooden carvings in the style of Easter Island Moai and (in case this is your first visit to my blog) my art is of the cookie variety!
This is my first Easter making decorated sugar cookies, and I’ll admit, I went a little nuts. I had a bunch of coworkers and friends to make cookies for – about 200 cookies all together! So last week I took a half a day off of work on Thursday and a full day on Friday. I baked Thursday, ran out of dough, made more, then baked again Friday morning. After lunch I spent a few hours mixing up all the icing colors I would need and then I decorated well into the night AND all the next day! By the time Sunday rolled around I think I was partially crippled. Apparently my cookie decorating stance is very bad for my back. It still hurts!
However, despite the long hours and the concern that someday I will become a hunchback because of Easter 2012 , I am SO HAPPY with the way my cookies turned out! I absolutely love them, and I hope you will too!
Check out my snazzy slideshow, and have a Happy Easter!!
A few weeks ago I did a sneak peek post on one of my favorite holiday goodies – The Peep! – and my attempt at making Peeps bunny cookie. Today I am back with more sugar coated marshmallow-y goodness!
And for the finale … Last year a few days before Easter I went to the grocery store and imagine my utter delight when I saw this parked out front!!!
So, after three days of nearly nonstop Easter cookie immersion I am happy to report that I am DONE (and only slightly insane…)! I’m going to do a post on everything later in the week, but today I wanted to share a little how-to for making bunny cookies. For these particular bunnies, I went with the “as found in nature” look – very simple but extremely cute!
First (if you’re me) you start with a crap-load of bunny cookies…
Take your white royal icing and fill in the area where the bunny’s tail goes.
Next, flip your bunny over and dip his (or her – we don’t discriminate here) tail into a bowl of white Nonpareils.
You want to do this part first because you don’t want the Nonpareils to stick anywhere but the tail. After the tail is looking nice and cottony you can outline the rest of the bunny.
At this point you should add a little water to your icing so that it spreads easily and then simply flood in the outlined area with the icing. Once that is dry, outline again adding a little detail on the ears and feet and then give bunny an eye and a nose and you’re done! I used edible marker for the eye and pink royal icing for the nose.
I also had a few requests to put names on the cookies, so here is what one of those looks like!
Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend! Personally, I’m exhausted!
My SIX batches of dough for Easter Cookie Madness 2012 are chilling in the fridge. I used my good old hand-held mixer and I think I damn near overheated the thing. I think I need a better attachment for my stand mixer because it just doesn’t get all the stuff up from the bottom of the bowl. Anyone else have that problem (or a solution)?
Another kitchen related question… Does anyone else despise cleaning the lids to pots? I have noticed lately that I had no problem hand washing pots and pans, but I always stick the lids in the dishwasher. Why?
Anyway, tomorrow is baking day and then I have the whole weekend to decorate Easter egg, bunny, chick, Peep and wine bottle cookies. Yes, wine bottles. Someone needs them for a wine themed birthday party next weekend. Everyone is keeping me busy!!
Speaking of wine, I think it’s time for a little nightcap! Cheers!
Shake Bake and Party 