Hop to it: Test your cooking skills with these delicious Easter desserts

As the spring season rolls in, more flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and the sun is peeking through the clouds, beckoning us to enjoy the idyllic scene outdoors. And with spring also comes one of the most delightful holidays of the bunch: Easter! Whether you celebrate for religious reasons or if you just really like bunnies 🐰 & eggs 🥚, Easter can be a total blast for young & old ones alike. 

If you’re planning to prepare a yummy Easter brunch filled with colorful eggs and breakfast casseroles, you’re likely looking for a sweet treat to add to the mix. The easy option would be to wander down the candy aisle, but you can only eat so many chocolate bunnies, peeps, and Cadbury eggs before you start craving more inventive Easter desserts. 

We’ve got the perfect Easter recipes that will fill your Easter basket with adorable & irresistible goodies. Get your fix of festive Easter food with these divine desserts perfect for a spring picnic. 

Carrot cake 🥕

What says Easter more than a carrot cake? To appreciate the Easter bunny’s favorite food – the carrot – we’ve concocted the best carrot cake recipe of them all. After you try a bite of this dessert you’ll be hopping around in glee. 

Ingredients

Cake

4 large eggs, 3 cups grated carrots, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup canola oil, 2-1/2 cups flour, 1 cup chopped walnuts, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened, 1/2 cup butter, softened, 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, orange & green food coloring (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and ready a 10 inch pan, greased & floured.
2. Mix together eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla until well-blended. Then whisk in flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Finally, add the carrots & walnuts. 
3. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and bake for around 50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely. 

Frosting

1. Mix together softened butter & cream cheese. Beat in the vanilla and gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth. 
2. Decorate the cake with the frosting in whatever way you choose! If desired make two plastic bags and split the frosting between them, coloring one green & one orange with the food coloring. Pop a hole in the bags to pipe on designs of carrots or other decor. 

Strawberry pie 🍓

When we hear Easter we think of sunny green pastures, enjoying the fresh sweet treats the earth has to offer. This scrumptious strawberry pie is a refreshing taste of spring, and the homemade recipe comes from yours truly. 

Ingredients

Crust

1 pre-made / purchased pie crust, softened according to directions on the box.

Filling

3 pints (6 cups) fresh strawberries (about one & a half big containers), 1 cup sugar, 1 tbsp strawberry Jello, 3 tbsp strawberry preserves, 3 tbsp cornstarch 

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F and bake pie crust in a 9-inch glass pie plate according to directions on the box.
2. Crush enough strawberries to fill one cup and add to a saucepan. Mix in sugar, strawberry Jello, strawberry preserves, and cornstarch. Cook over the stove, stirring constantly until it boils & thickens. Add cornstarch to get the desired consistency. Let cool. 
3. Slice remaining strawberries in half and arrange in the cooled baked pie crust. Pour cooked strawberry filling evenly over top. Refrigerate until set for a couple hours before serving. 

Bird nest cookies 🐥

Isn’t it lovely to see all the baby birds being born in spring? Celebrate Easter by putting these cute little bird-egg nests on the table. The chocolatey cookie recipe is one of the quickest & easiest Easter desserts you can find. 

Ingredients

12 ounces milk chocolate chips, 12 ounces butterscotch chips, 12 ounces chow mein noodles*, 36 candy eggs

*Alternate method:

Instead of chow mein noodles, you can use 2 cups of shredded coconut. Or if you’re feeling crazy you can go for a mix of both!

Directions

1. Prepare a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 
2. Melt chocolate & butterscotch chips in the microwave in thirty-second increments. Stir until smooth.
3. Mix the chocolate with the chow mein noodles or coconut until fully coated. 
4. Scoop small amounts of the mixture onto the parchment sheet and shape into indented cookies to resemble a nest. Top each with three candy eggs. 
5. Let cookies sit until firm and serve! 

Easter sugar cookies 🍪

If you’re looking for a dessert that screams Easter you’ll have to cook up a batch of these classic festive sugar cookies. This recipe gives you the power to decorate each cookie with all of the pastel sprinkles & adorable bunny cookie cutouts you have. Also, if you’re tired of decorating & dying Easter eggs you’ll never actually eat, you can make these cookies egg-shaped and decorate a treat bound to be eaten up right away.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, 3 ounces cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, 1 large egg yolk, room temperature, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, colored frosting, or sugar

Directions

1. Cream together softened butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla & almond extracts. Gradually add the flour, salt, and baking soda. 
2. Cover & refrigerate batter for about three hours.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 
4. Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut with cookie cutters dipped in flour. Place evenly distributed cookies on ungreased baking sheets. 
5. Bake for eight to ten minutes, until edges begin to brown. Cool for two minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. 
6. Decorate shaped & baked cookies however you want to!