Easter Monday is a great time to make use of all those easter eggs and chocolate your kids have received and use your time in lockdown to use up what you have in your store cupboards. Here are 4 of my favourite recipes to make at Easter time that are easy enough to get your kids involved/keep them occupied for an hour or two.
[Read more: Preparing for Easter When We're Stuck at Home]
Hot Cross Buns
One of my favourite afternoon snacks, lightly toasted and smothered in butter... the thought is actually making me hungry! They are very simple to make and open you up to a world of possibilities with fillings. You can pretty much use anything you've got in your cupboards, currants, chocolate, caramel chunks, berries, bananas, apricots, there are so many flavour combinations to have fun with. Here's a very basic, easy recipe to make with your children where you can substitute the filling for anything of your choice. What's more, there's no yeast needed!
Ingredients
- 300ml full-fat milk, plus 2 tbsp more
- 50g butter
- 500g strong bread flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 75g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 7g sachet fast-action or easy-blend yeast
- 1 egg, beaten
- 75g sultanas
- 50g mixed peel
- zest 1 orange
- 1 apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 75g plain flour, plus extra for dusting for the cross
Method
Bring 300ml full-fat milk to the boil, then remove from the heat and add 50g butter. Leave to cool until it reaches hand temperature. Get your children to combine 500g strong bread flour, 1 tsp salt, 75g caster sugar and 7g sachet fast-action or easy-blend yeast into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in the warm milk and butter mixture, then add 1 beaten egg. Using a wooden spoon, mix well. Pass the bowl back to your children and get them to bring everything together with their hands until there's a sticky dough. Kids will love this bit!
Tip the dough on to a lightly floured surface and get them to knead by holding the dough with one hand and stretching it with the heal of the other hand, then folding it back on itself. to activate the yeast. Repeat for 5 mins until smooth and elastic. Once they've done with the kneading, put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hr or until doubled in size and a finger pressed into it leaves a dent. This can be a great teaching moment about yeast and they might find it interesting to watch it rise.
With the dough still in the bowl, tip in 75g sultanas (or chocolate chips, caramel chunks, dried berries, fresh, cubed banana etc), 50g mixed peel, zest of 1 orange, 1 finely chopped apple and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. They can then knead into the dough again, making sure everything is well distributed. Leave to rise for 1 hr more, or until doubled in size, again covered by some well-oiled cling film to stop the dough getting a crust.
Divide the dough into 15 even pieces (about 75g per piece), they can even count them out, or make 30 mini buns for a lighter snack. Roll each piece into a smooth ball on a lightly floured work surface. Arrange the buns on one or two baking trays lined with parchment, leaving enough space for the dough to expand. Cover (but don’t wrap) with more oiled cling film, or a clean tea towel, then set aside to prove for 1 hr more. By this point, they should be like puffy domes.
Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and mix 75g plain flour with about 5 tbsp water to make the paste for the cross – add the water 1 tbsp at a time, so you add just enough for a thick paste. Spoon into a piping bag with a small nozzle. Pipe a line along each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses. Your kids can also use this to put their initials on or draw a little picture of their choice. Bake for 20 mins on the middle shelf of the oven, until golden brown.
Cut in half sideways and serve with melted butter and enjoy!
Easter Chocolate Rice Crispy Squares
This is one where you can go a bit crazy with decoration and use up all the easter eggs and chocolate your children got. These are sickly sweet so remember to cut into small squares or you'll be having Tasmanian devil children terrorising the house for the rest of the day.
I made these on Good Friday and still have so many left. They'll keep for a while in the fridge so don't feel rushed to eat them all in one go, as tempting as it may be!
Ingredients:
For the Base:
- 9x Snack-size Mars Bars
- 5 Cups of Rice Crispies
- 3/4 cup of butter
- 1 cup Mini Marshmallows
For the Topping:
- 200g white chocolate
- 600g milk chocolate (easter eggs would be great for this)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 bag Mini Eggs (or any chocolate eggs you can find)
- 2 bags Mini Malteaster Bunnies
- Honeycomb pieces (I made my own - recipe here)
- Sprinkles
- any other chocolate you want to throw on top
- Mini Marshmallows
Method:
Chop your mars bars into pieces and add to a pan on low heat with your butter. This creates delicious fudge-like chocolate for the base. Gently whisk until glossy and all lumps have melted. Get your kids to measure out 5 cups of rice crispies into a big bowl, then pour over the mars fudge and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Have them add in the marshmallows and mix to evenly distribute them throughout the mix. Tip out into a large dish and squash down into the sides so that it creates an even layer. This is your chocolate rice crispy base.
Break up the milk chocolate or easter eggs into a glass bowl on top of a pan of simmering water. Add the 1/4 cup of butter and stir until melted. Once a glossy fudge, remove from heat. It should be thick like chocolate spread. Pour over the rice crispy base and spread evenly with a silicone spatula.
Break up your white chocolate and melt in a jug in the microwave for 1min 30seconds or until completely melted and stir until there's no lumps left. Grab a spoon each and drizzle over the top of your chocolate fudge layer.
It's time to add your toppings! Get your favourite chocolate together including the ones suggested above and go crazy with it! Throw on the sprinkles, add bunnies, eggs, buttons, marshmallows and honeycombs until it's an Eastery chocolate mess!
Put in the fridge for 2 hours until set, then section into small squares with a sharp knife - not a part to get the kids involved in, obviously - and then serve!
No-Bake Mini Egg Cheesecake
One of my favourite recipes to make, regardless of the time of year. You can substitute the Mini Eggs in this recipe for pretty much any chocolate or filling of your choice.. so whatever your kids have laying around, it'll still be delicious!
Ingredients:
- 630g Mini Eggs (8 bags)
- 280g chocolate digestives (ginger nut also works well here)
- 140g unsalted butter
- 1 pint (600ml) double cream
- 140g icing sugar
- 560g full fat cream cheese
- 1/2 lemon
Method:
In a zip-seal bag, add the biscuits and get the kiddies to crush with a rolling bin until a sand-like crumble. Add the butter to a bowl and melt in the microwave. Add both to a large mixing bowl and fold together with a wooden spoon. Once cooled, you can also get your hands involved until completely combined.
Press into a springform cake tin with your fingers (or the back of a spoon) and pop in the fridge 30 mins.
Chop half of the mini eggs with a sharp knife - no kids to be used here, please! And try not to eat any, as tempting as it is!
Pour the double cream into a mixing bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Be very careful not to over whisk. Add the cream cheese and sift in the icing sugar, before squeezing in the juice of half a lemon. (You can also add in a bar of melted white chocolate at this point if you want it extra delicious!). Save about 100g of cream for later.
Add in the chopped mini eggs and fold to combine. Add the cheesecake mix to the baking tin and smooth over. Chill in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours. Add the rest of the cream and mini eggs to create the topping. I usually pile them all in the middle, using the cream to stick them down! Chill for a further 6 hours until firm.
Slide a knife around the edge of the tin to separate from the cream and unclip the sides. Serve in thin slices (too sickly otherwise) and enjoy!
Creme Egg Brownies
Ingredients:
- 4 large eggs
- 5-6 creme eggs
- 2 packs mini creme eggs
- 100g milk chocolate
- 200g 70% dark chocolate
- 250g salted butter
- 300g soft light brown sugar
- 175g plain flour
Method:
Preheat over to 180c/160c fan and grease and line a square baking tin.
Melt your butter and both chocolates together in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water over low heat. Once fully melted, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Add to a mixing bowl and leave to cool to 5-10 minutes.
Once cool, add in and beat in the eggs, one by one until combined and fold in the sifted flour. Pour half of the mix into the baking tin and level. Get your little one to add the mini creme eggs either whole or halved across the mixture and pour over the rest of the brownie mixture and smooth out.
Half the big creme eggs and place then on top, gooey size up and pop in the oven for 30 minutes (hard at the edges, wobble in the middle). Leave to cool.
Pull the brownies out the tin using the paper liner, cut into squares and enjoy!
[Read more: Egg-cellent Easter Activities at Home for Young Children]
Make sure to tag us in all of your creations @yourbabyclubuk. Happy Easter!
