Easter cookie

[KimKelly]

Does anyone have a good idea for what to take to my sons class for his Easter party? We are supposed to bring some sort of cookie. Anyone have an idea for somthing fun that preshcoolers would like?

Thanks,
Kim

[Beth]

I'm sure there are a million ideas, but one of my favorites was to make cutout cookies painted like Easter eggs. I have a recipe for a soft honey cookie that we used, but any sugar cookie recipe would work as well. We used a tuna can with the top and bottom cut out and then the remaining ring squeezed to make an egg shape. Paint the unbaked cookies with egg yolk paints and bake as usual.

[Jen]

I saw an idea on one of the little recipe books they sell at the supermarket checkout...maybe Pillsbury? They had made swirled egg cookies by using three coloured doughs (I think sugar cookie dough would work fine) - yellow, pink, and green I think. They rolled them all into ropes, then sort of squished them together into one big roll. When cut and baked, they looked a lot like those "tie-dye" Easter egg kits in pastels. They had made sandwich cookies out of them - I'm sure you could even just use jarred frosting and stick them together.

I hope this is sort of clear - it's kind of hard to explain!

I just checked out the Pillsbury site to see if I could find a picture - no luck, but there are some other cute ideas http://www.pillsbury.com/holidays/planner/familybaking.asp.

Good luck!

[AD]

The honey cutout cookies are relatively low in fat, an added plus. I have a kids cookie book with that recipe in it. (That book is great for anyone with kids who like cookies!) Also, I have another good lowfat Easter sugar cookie recipe from a book by Beatrice Ojakangas. They have an optional lemon icing.

[schuh]

AD, by any chance could you post your recipes? They sound great.

I was going to try something I saw in a magazine. It was called bird's nest snacks. It's on the order of rice krispie treats but you add some peanut butter and use chow mein noodles instead of rice krispies. You form those into nests and fill the nests with jelly beans. I can post it if anyone would like.

One thing I did last year was "Carrot" cookies. It's rice krispie treats pressed into a round pan. You cut the treats into narrow wedges. Then you take each one out of the pan and round the wide edges. You frost each wedge with orange icing (pouring heated canned frosting worked better than my homemade glaze). Then you squash spearmint leaves candies, and cut them in half to make the green parts of the carrots. These were easy and cute and the preschoolers loved them -- very sweet. Again, I can post more specific directions if anyone is interested.

And cutouts always work...

[This message has been edited by schuh (edited 04-01-2001).]

[Beth]

Here's the one I was talking about. It's from Better Homes & Gardens Cookies for Kids, and I think it's the same one AD is talking about too.

1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup honey
3/4 tsp vanilla or lemon extract
2 3/4 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp water
food coloring

Beat butter with mixer until softened and add sugar. Beat until fluffy.

Add egg, honey and extract. Beat well. Combine flour, soda and salt and add to butter mixture. Cover and chill for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease cookie sheets. Divide dough in half and keep half refrigerated until ready for use. On lightly floured surface, roll out first half of dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with egg shaped cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheets. Repeat with remaining dough.

In small bowl, combine egg yolk and water. Divide into several small dishes (small yogurt cups, single serving applesauce cups from lunchboxes work well) and tint to desired color with food coloring (2-3 drops each)and mix well. Use a small paint brush to paint cookies to look like Easter eggs. If yolk mixture gets too thick, add a drop or two of water.

Bake at 350 about 6-8 minutes or until light golden brown. Lift cookies off sheets with pancake turner and cool on wire racks. Makes 36 2-1/2 inch cookies or 48 1-1/2 inch cookies.

[Beth]

Here's another one that was on the page before the painted egg cookies.

Easter Nests

1/2 c butter or margarine
1 3-oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 c sugar
1/4 tsp almond or lemon extract
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp water
4-5 drops green food coloring
1 3-1/2 oz can flaked coconut (1 1/3 cups)
about 40 jelly beans (maybe more if you use the smaller ones)

Beat butter and cream cheese until softened, add sugar and extract. Beat until fluffy.

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt and gradually add to butter mixture. Beat until well mixed, then cover and chill 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. In a large screw-top jar, combine water and food coloring. Add the coconut, cover and shake until all the coconut is tinted.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and shape into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball into the coconut to coat. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 12-15 minutes or until edges are firm. While cookies are still hot, press a jelly bean into center of each cookie. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 40.

[Beth]

oops

[This message has been edited by Beth (edited 04-01-2001).]

[AD]

Beth did get the right recipe. That is also the same book I was referring to.

[lindrusso]

I saw someone go one little step further with the bird nests filled with jelly bean "eggs" - they perched a little marshmallow birdie on the side. Too cute!

If the request is for cookies, however, I vote for sugar cookies using Easter cut outs of some sort. You can use royal icing to decorate them beautifully. If you do decide to go for these, visit marthastewart.com for decorating ideas. Hers, no big surprise here, tend to be quite elaborate, but you can take the ideas and simplify.

[Alky]

A favorite when my kids were in preschool was to make jello cut outs. Or not necessarily jello brand but that type of recipe. I have several recipes like pudding, yogurt and even peanut butter that use knox. I would use letter cookie cutters also to make the theme of the party. Like Happy Easter or Happy Valentines Day. Arrange the saying on a platter and surround with the appropriate cutouts. It was always very popular and disappeared in a flash. I think it was just a little different than all the cookies, etc. Oh, I wish we were in preschool again!! That was such a fun time, Enjoy!!

[Beth]

AD, glad I got that right and was able to post it for you. Only fair since I brought it up and would have posted the recipe if I'd had it at hand earlier. That cookbook was in another room and I didn't have it when I first posted about it.

Here's the egg cookie recipe from Sunset:


* Exported from MasterCook *

Easter Egg Cookies, Frosted

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 20 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar -- divided
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons water
food coloring
candy sprinkles

Beat together in large bowl, butter and 3/4 cup of the powdered sugar. Add eggs and lemon peel and beat until well blended.

Blend together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture, then add milk and beat until well blended. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill until dough is firm (about 2 hours).

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease or spray cookie sheets. Put plastic wrap or waxed paper under wire cooling racks and set aside.

Roll dough into 2-inch balls (you should have about 20). Flatten each ball slightly and narrow one end to form an egg shape. Place balls on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Let cookies cool on baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

Place lemon juice and remaining powdered sugar in a bowl and add enough water to make a pourable icing, adding food coloring to tint as desired. Pour about 1 T of icing over each cookie, beginning in center and continuing around sides to coat evenly. Top with decorations while icing is wet. Let cookies stand on racks until icing is dry, about 30 min. From Sunset's Best Kids Cookie Book


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Per serving: 120 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (6% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 26g Carbohydrate; 20mg Cholesterol; 72mg Sodium
Food Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0