Tag Archives: Easter

The Weekender: Easter Recap, Mini Potatoes, & Animals Amuck

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Have you noticed the little facelift I underwent this week? No, not me; my face is untouched.  I am talking about the website, of course. I was beginning to think we would never get the new look implemented, but at last, here it is in all its bright, fresh, and appetizing glory. Now, there are still a few things that we are in the process of tweaking, so bear with me.

How do you guys like the new look?

I posted a trifecta of recipes this week, three truly sublime dishes to knock you taste buds into next Tuesday.

Let’s review, shall we? Continue reading →

The Weekender: Happy Easter, Cat Beds, & Sweet Potatoes

 

Winter 20126Happy Easter to all you little bunnies and chicks! Did the Easter Bunny pay you a visit? I sure hope he brought a plethora of Cadbury Crème Eggs, jelly beans, or whatever Easter confection tickles your fancy. But if you’re still hungry even after all the treats the Bunny bestowed upon you, then get a gander at this week’s mouth-watering Smart Cookie recipes. Perhaps these will satisfy your hunger.

Let’s review, shall we? Continue reading →

20 Easter Bunny-Approved Recipes

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In less than a week, the world’s most beloved bunny will be hopping down that bunny trail to your home and mine, baring whimsical eggs and glorious tooth-rotting confections. Side note: does anybody else find it odd that the Easter Bunny gives out chocolate versions of himself for us to merciless decapitate with our bare teeth?

Easter definitely crept up on us this year, and it falls earlier than usual, so don’t feel bad if you aren’t quite prepared. In fact, I’ve got you covered with a round-up of my 20 best Easter recipes, all Easter Bunny-approved of course. Would I cook you something that the Head Bunny himself didn’t love? Of course not.

From fresh lemon mousse shaped like little spring chicks to a cake shaped like a chocolate bunny to the perfect Easter dinner mac and cheese, there’s a little bit of everything in this line-up. You’ll want to shake your cottontail straight to the kitchen to get cooking after you chick it out. Continue reading →

The Weekender: Easter Week, Furry Friends, & Peanut Butter

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It’s Sunday, which means Easter Week at Smart Cookie has drawn to a close. I hope you all had as much fun as I did! We had enough delicious and festive recipes to make the ol’ Easter Bunny proud. Next week, he’ll be hopping to our homes bearing baskets of Easter sweets. Are you ready for his arrival? If you’re not, never fear. My Easter Week recipes are a great jumpstart, plus I’ll be bringing you an Easter recipe round-up next week, as is customary here at Smart Cookie. But until then…

Let’s review, shall we? Continue reading →

Easter Week: Coconut Macaroon Easter Egg Nests

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Welcome to Day 4 of Easter Week at Smart Cookie! Did you miss a hop somewhere along the week? Then be sure to check out Day 1’s Baby Chick Lemon Mousse Cookie Cups, Day 2’s Peter Cottontail’s Carrot Cake Bars, and Day 3’s Bunny Rabbit Cauliflower Pancakes.

Would you believe I never tried Cadbury Mini Eggs before this Easter? Forgive me; I live under a rock called College. However, Easter after Easter, I heard people harping about those little eggs, and I was beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. Mini Eggs have a cult following; people don’t just like them; they love them and can consume an entire bag in one sitting. I myself have a passionate, all-consuming love for Cadbury Crème Eggs, so I figured the Mini Eggs couldn’t be bad if they’re made by the same UK chocolatiers.

Sign me up for the Cadbury Mini Egg Cult because I love these chocolate cuties. I don’t know if it’s against Cadbury Code for me to love Mini Eggs and Crème Eggs, because typically people are only diehards for one or the other, but I’ve got love for both. And of course, as is the case with every edible item I adore, I had to bake with the Mini Eggs. So I crafted these Coconut Macaroon Easter Egg Nests for the occasion. Continue reading →

Easter Week: Bunny Rabbit Cauliflower Pancakes

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Welcome to Day 3 of Easter Week at Smart Cookie! Did you miss Day 1 or Day 2? Never fear; check them out right here: Day 1 – Baby Chick Lemon Mousse Cookie Cups / Day 2 – Peter Cottontail’s Carrot Cake Bars.

I knew I wanted to bring you a savory, healthy recipe during Easter week, which presented quite a challenge because all of my Easter inspiration involved decadent sweets. As I was trying to brainstorm, my mind kept drifting to pancakes, fluffy ones shaped like bunny rabbits. I remembered an Easter long ago, way before Smart Cookie time, when I whipped some up using good ol’ Bisquick and marshmallows for noses. I think they even had bacon bow ties. I was quite the little chef, even at the age. The Smart Cookie has always been in me. Continue reading →

Easter Week: Peter Cottontail’s Carrot Cake Bars

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It’s Easter Week here at Smart Cookie, and we’re diving down the rabbit hole of Day 2 (check out Day 1 if you missed it: Baby Chick Lemon Mousse Cookie Cups).

It’s no secret that bunnies love carrots. In fact, the only thing bunnies love more than carrots is carrot cake. What, you didn’t know that? It’s common sense. I mean, what’s better than taking something you love and baking it into a cake? Nothing. Therefore, carrot cake is like crack for bunnies, and for people like me who just love them some carrot cake.

How do I know all this for certain? Because I happen to be good friends with a very prominent bunny: Peter Cottontail; perhaps you’ve heard of him. Lucky for you and me, Mr. Cottontail generously shared one of his favorite carrot cake-themed recipes with us today: Peter Cottontail’s Carrot Cake Bars.

Ol’ Cottontail loves these bars because he gets all the deliciousness of carrot cake and then some without spending hours and hours in his itty bitty bunny kitchen baking and frosting an elaborate cake. In fact, these Carrot Cake Bars are a one-bowl treat that bakes up fast with no fuss or muss. No wonder the head honcho bunny approves; they’re delectable AND simple.DSC_3568

I’m thrilled Cottontail passed this recipe my way to whip up because these Carrot Cake Bars are chewy, moist, and irresistible. Their texture is a cross between cookie and cake, almost delving into blondie-like territory. The spiced and subtly carroty flavor of the bars is perfectly complimented by a combination of White Chocolate M&Ms and Carrot Cake M&Ms. Yes, they make both of those (you can buy the white chocolate ones at Target and the carrot cake ones at Wal-Mart). They give an extra kiss of sweetness, like frosting would on cake, and also adds a pretty pastel punch of color. And of course, some springy sprinkles brighten the palette as well.

These bars have everything good going for them: they’re delicious, easy, and quick. I highly recommend giving Peter Cottontail’s Carrot Cake Bars a try this Easter and seeing what all the fuss is about. That bunny knows how to bake!DSC_3536

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

  1. Like any sweet, it you overbake these, they’ll dry out. Just keep an eye on them, and you’ll be fine.
  2. As I mention in the recipe below, if you can’t get your hands on the special flavors of M&Ms, just replace them with white chocolate chips. It’ll still be completely delicious.
  3. Kids will go crazy for these between the fun colors, the M&Ms, and the fact that they’re approved by their favorite furry bunny.
  4. These would also be delicious if you skipped the M&Ms and added a vanilla glaze instead.
  5. Do not bake these in an 8×8. They will not cook evenly because they’ll be too thick.DSC_3426

Peter Cottontail’s Carrot Cake Bars
By The Smart Cookie Cook

Ingredients:

  • 1 box carrot cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Super Moist)
  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • ½ cup White Chocolate M&Ms,* plus more for topping
  • ½ cup Carrot Cake M&Ms*
  • ½ cup Easter sprinkles, divided

*The White Chocolate M&Ms are available at Target, and the Carrot Cake M&Ms are at Wal-Mart. If you can’t find them, replace with equal parts white chocolate chips.

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat together cake mix, butter, eggs, and vanilla on low speed just until well-combined. Fold in the M&Ms and half of the sprinkles (1/4 cup).
  3. Transfer batter to prepared pan (it will be thick like cookie dough). Spray your hands or a spatula with nonstick spray and press the batter down into an even layer (push batter to the edges, but it doesn’t need to shape to the pan perfectly). Sprinkle with a generous ¼ cup more White Chocolate M&Ms and the remaining sprinkles. Press down lightly.
  4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until puffed and set and a knife inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs (it shouldn’t be too gooey anymore). Let cool completely then cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.DSC_3521

Easter Week: Baby Chick Lemon Mousse Cookie Cups + How-To Video

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Welcome to Day 1 of Easter Week at Smart Cookie! I’m bringing you a new delicious Easter recipe every day this week, so make sure you come back so you don’t miss a hop. Today, we’re giving love to an underrated Easter mascot: the chick. Often times, the chick is lost in the bunny’s shadow. Sure, everyone knows Easter is the bunny’s big day, but fluffy, puffy chicks are an unmistakable spring mascot too.

My Baby Chick Lemon Mousse Cookie Cups are the cutest yet easiest edible representation of the lovable little chick. A mountain of swirling, luscious Lemon Mousse is perched upon a sugar cookie crust just like a newborn chick would sit in its cracked eggshell. Three simple, easy-to-execute facial features bring the chick to life: 2 black eyes and one orange beak. Who knew something so basic could be so darn cute?

Continue reading →

Nutter Butter Truffle Eggs

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Every Easter, Reese’s rolls out its Peanut Butter Eggs, and in my head, I envision a chubby chocolate bunny bouncing from store to store across the country and dropping off the eggs for selling. That’s one bunny I’d like to meet. The Easter Bunny is cool and all, but a chocolate bunny that hands out PB Eggs? That’s my kind of rabbit!

Last year, I beat that chocolate bunny at his own game when I made some stellar Homemade Peanut Butter Eggs, complete with a how-to video. But this year, I wanted to step it up another level. You’re wondering, “How does one take a step up from Peanut Butter Eggs, the crème de la crème of Easter treats?”

Well, I might have something to change your mind and take over the throne for supreme Easter confection: Nutter Butter Truffle Eggs.

I took a beloved American cookie, which is also one of the most versatile (See: Nutter Butter Penguins), and turned it into a sweet & salty creamy filling. You get the peanut butter flavor, plus the sweetness and substantiality of the cookie. Then, the Nutter Butterific filling is enveloped in a silky coat of creamy and smooth chocolate.DSC_2454

What you wind up with is the Peanut Butter Egg’s cooler, smarter, all around-awesome sibling. I’m sorry, but plain peanut butter filling can’t hold a candle to rich Nutter Butter filling. That’s like saying apples are as good as apple pie. Don’t be silly.

Don’t be intimidated by the pretty appearance of these divine little eggs; their cute egg shape is easy to make, and all you need to dress ‘em up are some festive, Springy sprinkles. This is a no-bake treat that’s easy to execute, and even easier to eat. The only problem is, you might eat half of the Nutter Butter filling before you ever get to shape it into an egg. You’ve been warned.

Now get your bunny butt up and shake your cotton tail into the kitchen to whip up these must-try chocolate-covered PB cuties.

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

  1. Make sure you give the filling enough time to freeze and firm up rock hard before dunking in the chocolate or it won’t hold up.
  2. Use whatever sprinkles or decorations you like. Be creative!
  3. Skip the egg shape and just make these truffle-shaped, and you can enjoy these any time of year.
  4. Go for white chocolate if that’s more your thing.
  5. Coating these in chocolate is not a technical process. Use whatever method you like. The easiest way is to stick it on a fork, or you can be like me and just use your hands!
  6. You must melt chocolate in intervals when melting in the microwave or it will burn.DSC_2436

Nutter Butter Truffle Eggs
By The Smart Cookie Cook

Yield – about 2 dozen eggs

Ingredients:

  • 1 box Nutter Butters, reserving ½ of last sleeve for your own snacking or whatever you please
  • ½ cup peanut butter chips
  • 1 tbsp. canola oil
  • 6 oz. milk chocolate, chopped
  • 4 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • Easter sprinkles, for decorating

Directions:

  1. Place the Nutter Butters and peanut butter chips in a food processor and process until they start to come together, about 5 minutes, stopping to scrape down halfway through. Give it time to let the chips melt and the cookies break down.
  2. Stream in the canola oil and process until smooth and creamy, another 2 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container and place in fridge to chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
  3. Form Nutter Butter mixture into scant tablespoon-sized balls. Press down lightly and pull at the edges gently to create an oval, about ¼-inch in thickness. Pinch the top to make it look like an egg. Place on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper so it doesn’t stick. Repeat with remaining mixture.
  4. Transfer shaped eggs to the freezer until completely firm, about an hour.
  5. Place all the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 20 second intervals, stirring very well in between to help it melt faster. This should only take about 3 intervals.
  6. Dunk frozen eggs into the chocolate and coat completely (you can use a fork to do this or just your fingers). Flip to coat both sides and let excess drip off. Return to lined waxed paper lined baking sheet. Immediately top each coated egg with sprinkles because they set up quickly, and the sprinkles won’t stick then.
  7. Stick coated eggs in fridge to set completely, about 15 minutes, then enjoy. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Let come to room temperature before eating.DSC_2415

The Weekender: My 1st Giveaway, Wegmans, & Cat Antics

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This week, we had a Smart Cookie first: a giveaway! In honor of Extra Gum’s Simple Swaps campaign, they provided me with a tote bag full of their assorted gum flavors, a notebook for keeping track of your simple swaps, and a $40 giftcard to Whole Foods. If you missed that boat, never fear. The giveaway is still going on. You have until Friday, March 15 to enter, so get on it! The winner will be announced in next week’s Weekender.

Along with my first ever giveaway, there was also a slew of mouthwatering recipes on Smart Cookie this week. You might have missed a bite or two, but that’s okay; I’ve got you covered.

Let’s review, shall we?

  1. Bunny Butt Peanut Butter Pretzel BitesDSC_2323
  2. Spinach-Artichoke CalzoneDSC_1155-2
  3. Super-Sized Sausage & Pepper CalzoneDSC_1224
  4. Stuffed Mediterranean Eggplant + a GIVEAWAYDSC_2751
  5. Fluffernutter Oatmeal BallsDSC_2650

Which recipe of the week was your favorite? I think I have to go with those Bunny Butt Pretzel Bites. They’re just too cute! Not to mention, they’re super easy to make. You can catch a step-by-step tutorial in this week’s brand new video!

Now, what’s on the plate for next week? I’ve got some special treats for you! Monday will bring the most delicious twist on a mozzarella stick you’ve ever seen. And on Tuesday, we’re taking a trip to Wegmans to see all the goodies I found this month. Spoiler alert: there’s brownie pops, chocolate, yoga socks, and more!DSC_2545

You guys might recall a few Weekenders ago I exposed the cat conspiracy going on behind the scenes while I’m trying to photograph. This week, while I was trying to take pictures of my smorgasbord of Wegmans finds, Mr. Poe was an especially annoying pain in the butt.DSC_2977DSC_2981

But he’s just so darn cute!

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And in other news, I got my hair dyed: subtle red & violet lowlights. Do you ever experiment with hair color?DSC_2853

The Weekender is great for catching up, but you don’t have to ever miss a bite during the week. Just like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter to stay up-to-date! You can also follow me on Pinterest and subscribe to my Youtube channel. That should be enough to satisfy your Smart Cookie craving!

Tell me about the good stuff you ate this week. What was your favorite meal?

See you on Monday!