Easter Baskets
Most of us who celebrate Easter have fond memories of chocolate bunnies and yellow marshmallow peeps in our Easter basket, along with the dyed hard boiled eggs. My Aunt Mary made the most wonderful hand dipped, coconut cream Easter eggs. Each one of us got a big one, beautifully decorated with our names written with hard icing. We would overdose on chocolate and then feel a little sick. Modern parents are trying to scale back the sugar by offering small gifts or those plastic eggs with money inside. I think we can come up with something more creative.
There are a few sweet treats you can make yourself. My favorite is peanut butter eggs. Mix equal parts of dry, non-fat milk powder and peanut butter. Stir in just enough honey to sweeten. Form into small eggs in granola or coconut or finely grated chocolate. Flatten one side and refrigerate to firm up. It’s best if you put each one in a small cupcake paper before placing them in the Easter basket.
If you’ve never made meringues, now is the time to learn. Use any standard recipe. All you need is egg whites, powdered sugar and food coloring. You can also add flavoring. The egg whites must be at room temperature and the bowl and beaters must be very clean and free of even a trace of grease. Forming them is easy if you use a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Separate into several batches and tint each one a pastel color. Baking takes longer than a regular cookie since the meringues need to dry completely to crisp up. Your recipe will specify a low oven temperature and time. After baking, they should be left in the warm oven to cool. The finished product is a very light, crispy and delicious confection.
Don’t forget to dye your eggs – have a party! We noticed that white eggs have dropped in price this month, so it’s both inexpensive and fun. Cover the table and floor with newspaper to catch any drips, and mix the dyes according to the package instruction. Children always like decorating the egg with wax crayons before dying, when the design appears like magic. Remember that eggs are good nutrition for children. Let them line their Easter baskets with “grass” and a bow, all ready for Easter morning fun. Put the eggs right into the refrigerator to be brought out and displayed for just a little while.
Tuck in a small gift, wrapped of course. For younger children it could be as simple as a toy car or book of stickers, or a small jar of bubble soap. For tweens and teens, wrap up lotion, lip gloss, or cosmetics for the girls and sports cards or memorabilia from their favorite teams for the boys, or anything reflecting individual interests. Music or video CDs are appreciated by all ages. Just don’t do what my friend did and give them all water guns which made for a “memorable” day.
Of course we’ve done some research for other ideas. Here are some links to About.com resources. You’ll be surprised at the many things you can do to make an Easter basket that is both colorful and healthy.
Of course, we have a few nice Easter treat recipes created by Calorie Count members. Tip for the holiday - any cookie can be made to look festive with drizzle of icing in colors of the season. Enjoy.
Comments
I did water guns last year, only candy I included was some jelly beans the gross ones I hate so I wouldn't eat them when they ran off haha! I bought t-shirt for both kids and used that for liner instead of hay (hate picking THAT junk up) and a stuffed animal for each... filled the baskets and we had much more fun with the guns than with any dumb candy that last 6 months! This year we are having an easter egg hunt instead of candy in the baskets so I plan on getting a movie for each child, another t-shirt for each liner, shampoo and bugspray (we just moved to the woods) sunglasses and hats! That should fill the baskets and the kids will get all the fun!
I would really like Aunt Mary's hand dipped coconut creme egg recipe! Sounds fabulous. I think a ratio aproach might work for Easter Baskets. 1/3 toys, 1/3 candy, 1/3 (what we would call healthy, no child will look back and remember those clementines they got for Easter).
This article should of came out before I bought stuff. I bought a chocolate bunny for me and my wife. Not sure what to get my 6 month old. Any ideas? please message me.
Agree on the Cadbury Creme eggs- they are heavenly!
For the 6 month old- how about those Gerber Puffs- they are melt-in-your mouth cherrio-like pieces.
We are having wonderful weather here in the northeast- high 70's and low 80's!! Enjoy the holiday, everyone!
My mom started a tradition years ago of giving books for Easter, so we are doing that along with a few movies and hiding real eggs we are coloring tomorrow. My son got candy at his preschool easter party so that's enough for the house already.
When my kids got older and could read - I would write clues and hide presents-mostly stuff they needed for the spring and not a lot of candy- so they were running all over the house looking for their stuff- they loved it.
Ok, I'm 31 and I'm the youngest of 5 girls. We're all married and my Mom and Dad still have easter egg hunts for us. There is always one money egg that we all compete for to find. It's a chance for us to also run off some of those eggs after lunch. They also hide plastic eggs with hints on where to find the next one. It's a scavenger hunt and they include hints like, "Give Dad a hug and he'll hand you your next hint." Super fun!!! God bless and thank God for His sacrifice!!!
My one-year-old grandson got all toys in his basket from me this year. Since the kids are gone, I don't dye eggs anymore, but I used to dye brown eggs. They take longer to dye, but you get the most beautiful jewel tones. It's a lot of fun!
My family and I sell Easter baskets and buckets!!! We pride ourselves to having easter baskets better than any department store. Yep 
!!!
Anyway we had alot of people wanting baskets or buckets for their little ones mostly 3 and under. They don't want all the candy and bubble gum ya know the unhealthy stuff. So, we put animal cookies, crackers, baby crackers, gummy worms or bears, those little snack gummy things (Can't remember what they were called), some littles toys for 3 and under. They were so cute. I love easter!
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My husband and I were brainstorming about what to put into our 3 year old's Easter basket this year. We figured Grandma and Grandpa would supply more than enough sugar for the rest of the year in his basket....so we decided that instead we are going to give him a fruit Easter basket! We are pretty strict with snacks in the house as it is, so he has grown up loving most fruits and vegetables: the only ones he doesn't like are mushrooms, onions, and many cooked veggies. If it's RAW he'll eat it and love it! (Crazy, I know!) So we are going to give him clementines, grapes, apples, kiwi, and strawberries in his basket along with a Batman figurine or other toy.