Easter Treats

[ajrsmom]

Festive Flowers


No green thumb needed! This pretty garden is fun to make with young helpers.

What you'll need:
1 18-oz. roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 14-oz. bags M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies for Easter
1 12-oz. bag M&M’S® Brand Speckled Milk Chocolate Eggs (optional)
1 16-oz. can prepared vanilla frosting
Assorted food coloring
Traceable tulip pattern (click here to print)
6 large craft sticks
Wire rack
1 6-inch flowerpot .
1 Styrofoam square .
Easter grass
Green cellophane
6 12-inch strands curling ribbon
What to do:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Knead the cookie dough and flour together until smooth.
Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut 6 tulip shapes out of the dough with the knife, using the tulip pattern as your guide. Transfer them to a cookie sheet. Gather up the dough scraps and re-roll, if necessary.
Slide a craft stick underneath each tulip cookie, and press it into the dough. Bake cookies in oven until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the cookie sheet to a wire rack.
While the cookies are cooling, divide the vanilla frosting between 4 bowls. Using food coloring, tint the frosting pink, light blue, yellow and purple. Spread frosting over the cookies, and arrange M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies for Easter on the cookies' tops. Let dry, about 30 minutes.
Fill the flowerpot with Styrofoam, and cover with Easter grass.
Wrap each craft stick with green cellophane, and tie it with a curling ribbon. Press the craft sticks into the Styrofoam, making a floral-like arrangement. Sprinkle M&M’S® Brand Speckled Milk Chocolate Eggs around the Easter grass, if desired.


Tip: An apple makes a great substitute for the Styrofoam ball. Push the craft sticks into apples that have been arranged in the flowerpot, and cover with Easter grass.

Tip: For great table favors, make small versions with a 3-inch flowerpot for each guest. Fill each one with Styrofoam, cover it with Easter grass, and press a flower inside. Decorate and personalize them with the guests' names.
Makes 6 large cookies.

Project found on M&Ms website

[ajrsmom]

BYE BYE BUNNY CAKES


What you'll need:

1 14-oz. bag STARBURST® Brand Jellybeans Original Fruits
1 13-oz. bag SNICKERS® Brand Miniatures for Easter
1 18-oz. (approximate) box yellow cake mix
72 large marshmallows
2 16-oz. cans prepared classic vanilla frosting
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup white decorative sugar (optional)
2 12-cup muffin tins
24 (each) white and green paper cupcake liners
Toothpick
Wire rack


What to do:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the 2 muffin tins with the white cupcake liners. Unwrap the SNICKERS® Brand Miniatures for Easter and roughly chop, then set aside.
Prepare the yellow cake mix according to the package directions. Fold in the chopped SNICKERS® Brand Miniatures for Easter, then spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake until golden, and until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool completely.
Meanwhile, set aside 24 marshmallows. Cut the remaining marshmallows in half crosswise.
To make the bunny feet: Dab a bit of frosting onto 3 STARBURST® Brand Jellybeans Original Fruits, and press them onto the sticky sides of half the cut marshmallows. To make the bunny ears: With your fingertips, shape the remaining cut marshmallow pieces into ovals, and set aside. To make the bunny tails: Spread the 24 uncut marshmallows with vanilla frosting, roll them in the shredded coconut, and set aside.
To make the bunny bodies: Heap two rounded tablespoons of frosting on top of each cooled cupcake. Sprinkle each mound of frosting with decorative sugar.
Dab the bottoms of the bunny feet with frosting, and press them onto the bunny bodies. Then place the coconut-covered bunny tails on the cupcakes' tops, by pressing them slightly into the frosting.
Using scissors, snip the green cupcake liners' edges so that they look like grass; then place the liners flat on a serving platter. Set one bunny cupcake on top of each trimmed green cupcake liner. Dab frosting onto one end of each bunny ear; then press the ears onto the cupcake bases, right onto the paper liners.
Makes 24 cupcakes.



Project found on M&Ms website

[ajrsmom]

EASTER BONNETS


Easy to make and delicious, these beautiful Easter Bonnets will give your Sunday celebration a stylish flare.

What you'll need:
1 package refrigerated sugar dough or ten 4-1/2-inch cookies
10 medium cupcakes (2-1/2-inch), store bought or homemade
2 16-ounce containers prepared white frosting
Food coloring
M&M'S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies for Easter, STARBURST® Jellybeans, SKITTLES® Bite Size Candies for Easter, STARBURST® FUN SIZE® Fruit Chews for Easter
What to do:

Roll the sugar dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Press out ten 4-1/2-inch cookies. Bake the cookies according to directions on the package. Set aside.
Remove the paper cupcake liners from the cupcakes. Trim the rounded top of each cupcake to square off the top.
Ice the top of each cupcake with 1 tablespoon of frosting. Turn the cupcakes upside down and place them on the cookies. Set the "cookie hats" on a wire rack.
Divide the icing into 4 bowls. Beginning with a few drops of food coloring, tint the icing in each bowl to a desired pastel shade. One at a time, place the bowls into the microwave for 15 seconds. Stir the icings to achieve a consistency that's easy to pour but not too runny—like a milkshake.
Spoon icing over the hats, completely covering them. Set aside for 10 minutes to let icing firm up. If necessary, spoon icing over the “hats” again to coat them completely.
Decorate each hat using M&M'S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies for Easter, STARBURST® Jellybeans, and SKITTLES® Bite Size Candies for Easter.
To make hat ribbons, unwrap STARBURST® FUN SIZE® Fruit Chews for Easter. Soften them in the microwave for 5 seconds. Then thinly roll them, cut them into thin ribbons and wrap them around the hats.
Makes 10 bonnets.



Project from M&Ms website

[bar_bar]

Very CUTE.... will try these for the gbabies... and let my mind run with the hats... make these for the red hat Soctiety ladies, and use red and purple...

or do a baby girl shower using pink and colors of the nursery

do a birthday party for a lady using thier favorite colors..

wow I could have afield day with those hats. LOL

thanks.

[ajrsmom]

bar_bar, Very good ideas for the hats. I think that they are so cute!!!

[bar_bar]

Festive Flowers
you could use other patterns beside the tulips...
use a strawberry basket for your pickett fence.

but I agree with you on the hats, they are so cute.... I really thank you for posting them....

[Linda Lou]

EASTER BUNNY S'MORES





DIRECTIONS:

1. Reduce 1 sleeve (1 package) graham crackers to crumbs.

2. Layer all of the crumbs in a 1 qt jar.

3. Spoon 1/3 cup brown sugar on top of the crumbs, gently pressing
with a spoon.

4. Pour 3/4 cup of M&M's on top of the crumbs.

5. Place 8 marshmallow bunny peeps standing up, facing out around
the inside of the jar.(You can push sucker sticks up into the bottoms of the
peeps and then put the other end of the sticks down into the crushed graham crackers
too) Press them up against the glass, but don't squash them.

6. Behind the peeps, pour 1/2 cup M&M's (this will help hold them up.)



Attach A gift tag to say:

EASTER BUNNY S'MORES

1. Empty the jar contents into a bowl. Snip the bunnies into bits with kitchen sheers or cut up with a knife. Return the bunny bits to the mixture.Mix well.
2. Melt 1/2 cup butter; add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour this over the dry ingredients, mixing well. Pat into a greased 9" square pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars. (Makes 9 to 12 bars.)

*Option - leave bunnies whole; combine remaining ingredients and place the bunnies on top; then bake as directed.
*This gift jar may be created to suit any holiday for which marshmallow candies are available.

Here is the link so you can see the picture. Really cute! I made one for my daughter. I may try adding some milk choc. chips next time since the M&M's are more expensive. Takes near a 14 oz. bag of the candies.
http://www.treasuresfromdj.net/smores.html

[ajrsmom]

Linda Lou, I love this idea!! Ive been looking for an idea to make to give to my nephews for Easter. My oldest nephew doesnt really like chocolate but he loves cookies. I think that their Mom (my sis) would like this too.

Thanks!!


Tami

[bar_bar]

Easter Peanut Butter Eggs
Ingredients:

2 eggs, well beaten
1/8 tsp. salt
1-1/2 to 2 cups peanut butter
4 to 5 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Hershey chocolate bar
1 pkg. (6 oz.) chocolate chips
Instructions:

Mix the eggs, salt, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla in order listed.
Form dough into egg shapes.
Melt the chocolate bar and the chocolate chips in a double boiler.
Dip egg shapes into chocolate mixture. Arrange on waxed paper until set.

[bar_bar]

Chocolate Easter Nests


Ingredients:
1 8 oz. milk chocolate candy bar
1 4 oz. package german's sweet baking chocolate
2 cups crushed cornflakes
1 1/3 cups shredded coconut
miniature jelly beans

Melt milk chocolate and sweet chocolate in double boiler. Stir in cornflakes and coconut until completely coated with chocolate. Spoon small amount of mixture on waxed paper and form into nest shapes. Decorate with 3 jelly bean "eggs" in each nest. Refrigerate until set. Keep chilled. Arrange on a small plate or in a flat box for gift giving.