Resurrection Rolls

The kids and I did a fun (and yummy) little project for Easter, helping them understand what we believe about Easter.  The kids loved making these rolls and they are so simple that they could do almost everything themselves.

Here's what you'll need:

Large marshmallows

Grands! biscuits, any variety

3-4 Tbsp. melted butter or margarine

Cinnamon sugar

This is the cinnamon sugar that I used.  It's from Alison's Pantry and it was WAY good!  I loved the added flavor of the vanilla.  I can't wait to try it in more of my cooking and baking!

If you don't have this kind of cinnamon sugar, you can just make your own by mixing 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

(Luke chapters 23 & 24)

The biscuit will represent the tomb.

Flatten out a biscuit.

After Jesus died on the cross, he was taken to a tomb and his disciples covered his body (the marshmallow) with special oils (the butter) and spices (the cinnamon sugar).

Place a marshmallow into the melted butter, then cover with the cinnamon sugar.

Then they laid his body in the tomb and enclosed him in it.

Put the covered marshmallow on the flattened biscuit and completely cover the marshmallow with the biscuit, sealing off any holes.

Place on a baking sheet.

*Some of my kids wanted to dip their rolls into the butter and cinnamon sugar too.  That made for even tastier rolls!*

Bake at 350 degrees for about 14 minutes, or until golden brown.

Place on a cooling rack to cool enough to be handled.

After 3 days, Jesus' disciples discovered that the tomb was empty and that Jesus had been resurrected. 

When they've cooled enough, break open the rolls to see their empty, hollow interiors.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Crunchy Krispie Treats

I love to use today's recipe for seasonal occasions.  I've made them for Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas.  You can made these glorified rice krispie treats fun for anytime using the special holiday themed M&M's.  Or just use the regular colored M&M's to make them any other time of the year.

These treats are so easy to make, but are extra special with Frosted Flakes (or Corn Flakes), peanuts, and M&M's.

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 cubes (3/4 C.) margarine

1 (16 oz.) package of mini marshmallows

6 C. Rice Krispies

4 C. Frosted Flakes (or Corn Flakes)

1 (12 oz.) bottle roasted peanuts (1 1/2 C.)

1 (8 oz.) package M&M's

Melt the margarine in a large pot over Medium-Low heat.  Add the marshmallows and keep stirring until smooth and melted.

 

Remove from the heat and add the Rice Krispies, Frosted Flakes, and peanuts, stirring until evenly coated.  

Lightly grease a large rimmed cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.  Gently fold in the M&M's.  

Spread onto the cookie sheet.  Lightly grease your hands and press the treats evenly throughout the pan.  

Allow to cool.  Cover to keep moist.

Breakfast Strudel

Easter's coming and my kids and I are starting to get excited!  We have lots of company coming and I can't wait to get started on all of the good food we'll be serving.

Today's recipe is a perfect brunch dish for Easter morning.  I made these for our Christmas morning breakfast and quickly fell in love with them.  I've adapted this recipe from Cuisine At Home.  

This strudel is easy to make and I LOVE that you can make it the night before, put it in the fridge, and bake it in the morning.  It's perfect for Christmas or Easter when you have other things to do in the morning.

I also love that you use puff pastry for the dough.  This was my first time using it and now I'm hooked!  It's so delicious, all buttery and flaky.  

And, hello!  Are these not so beautiful?!  They make a gorgeous main dish for breakfast or a brunch.  I just love, love, love these.  So easy and so good!!

Here's what you'll need:

1 (1.1 lb) box puff pastry dough (you'll find this in the frozen foods isle)

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 C. frozen cubed hash brown potatoes (next time I'll try the O'Brien variety for more color)

1/2 C. diced onion OR 1 Tbsp. dried chopped onion (if you use O'Brien hash browns, you can omit these)

1 C. diced ham

11 eggs

2 Tbsp. minced fresh chives, optional

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp. orange juice

1 egg

1 Tbsp. water

2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, shredded

Thaw pastry according to package directions, about 30 minutes.  While it's thawing, melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add potatoes and saute for 5 minutes.  Add the ham.

Whisk the eggs and chives (if using) together.  Add them to the pan and scramble just until set.  (They should still be a bit soft and wet since they'll continue to cook in the oven.)  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Take off the heat and add the cream cheese and orange juice until blended.

Refrigerate the eggs while working with the pastry.

Unfold the pastry sheet on parchment paper that's been lightly dusted with flour.  Trim the pastry as shown.  

Fill with half of the egg mixture.  Fold up the flaps at each end and braid as shown.  Repeat with the remaining pastry and egg filling.  

Lift the strudels and parchment onto a baking sheet.

Combine the remaining egg and water.  

Brush over the top of the strudels.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

At this point, you can either cover the strudels and keep them in the fridge overnight or you can go right ahead and bake them.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden.  Let cool 5 minutes before slicing.

When ready to serve, cut the strudels at an angle.

These are so wonderful!  Hopefully these will help make your Easter brunch a beautiful breeze.

Rainbow Dipped Marshmallows

My last post on my daughter's birthday party is to explain how to make Rainbow Dipped Marshmallows.

As with everything else about the birthday party, these are so simple to make.

Here's what you'll need:

Large marshmallows

White chocolate

Rainbow sprinkles

Popsicle sticks

Melt the white chocolate in a glass or ceramic bowl.  Push the Popsicle sticks into the marshmallows.  Dip them however far you'd like into the white chocolate, then immediately sprinkle with sprinkles.

Place them in a Styrofoam board with holes approximately 2-3 inches apart to allow the chocolate to cool and set.

Display them on a platter when you're ready to use them.

Or stick them into little plastic bags to use as thank you gifts.

A Rainbow Cake

This cake was so simple to make!  I love that it looks so amazing and is so easy to do.

I just started with three boxes of white cake mix.  I mixed them up according to the package directions and separated the batter into six bowls.

Add the food coloring or food gel (as in this case) to each of the bowls.

I absolutely love these AmeriColor food gels.  And these were the colors I used for this cake.

Mix the coloring into the batter and pour the batter into greased and floured 9-inch cake pans.

Bake according to the package instructions.

Allow to cool on racks.

When you're ready to assemble the cake, cut the tops off of each cake so you have a nice even cake.

I like to use this Whipped frosting.  It's easier to work with and it's stickier for longer, great for when you want to decorate with candy.

 Layer each of the cakes in the order that you'd like.  I did purple, blue, green, red, orange, and yellow, slathering frosting in between each layer.  

If you're worried that the cake will tilt and topple, you can use a few wooden skewers in the middle to hold it in place.

Then frost the entire outside of the cake with more frosting.

You don't have to worry about it looking perfect.  It'll be covered with Skittles shortly.

Arrange Skittles in any rainbow pattern that you'd like.  You can totally be creative here.

Top with candles and Rainbow Dash (for our Rainbow Dash Rainbow Party).

So, so easy, yet so, so impressive.