Holidays are all about getting together with family and friends, making memories and eating good food. The oven is jam packed with roasting hams and tasty casseroles. It’s nice to get a few things done before the big day as well as give the oven a much needed break.
Make sure to keep your meals simple so you can truly enjoy this Easter holiday. Nothing is more disappointing then working so hard that you’re not able to enjoy the holiday itself.
These recipes will help to make your lives a little easier and keep the kids busy while you make some last minute preparations in the kitchen. They are simple, quick and best of all, tasty. Freeing you up to do more important tasks and having one less thing to make the day stressful.
I made these Chocolate Dipped Rice Krispie Eggs for the first time last year when I went back to spend Easter with my family. It was my Mom’s brilliant idea and they were such a big hit (especially with the kiddos) that I knew I had to share them with you. They can be packaged into colorful egg cartons to give away as gifts or serve them in egg cups for an extra special breakfast treat (I won’t tell).
These ones were made with the leftover Strawberry Marshmallows I had stored away in the freezer. That brought them to a whole other delectable level. Chocolate dipped strawberry anything is a winner in my book!
Kids can: Dip the eggs in chocolate and sprinkles.
Chocolate Dipped Rice Krispie Eggs
- 1/4 cup butter
- 40 large marshmallows (5 cups mini or 250g)
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 6 cups rice krispies
- 6 oz. baking chocolate
- sprinkles
- Melt butter and marshmallows over low heat. Stir in vanilla. Remove from heat and add rice krispies. Stir until equally incorporated.
- Using a greased 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop out some of the mixture and form into an egg. Set aside and repeat until all of the mixture has been used up.
- Melt chocolate. Dip the tops into chocolate, then into sprinkles.
- Store covered at room temperature for up to two days. Freeze for longer storage.
Makes: 24
* If you don’t want to go through the work of making the eggs. You could put the mixture into a greased 9×13 pan. Once it has set up, cut into bars and dip away. Still festive, less work.
* Dampen your hands with water before forming to stop the mixture from sticking to them.
My mom made these Un-Baked Cookies often when I was growing up, so they hold a certain youthful charm that puts me in the Easter mood. The idea to make them into nests came from an entry in a Taste of Home competition last year. I thought it was such a cute idea that I just had to adapt it with my mothers recipe.
Kids can: Fill the nests with coconut and eggs.
Un-Baked Cookie Nests
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
- pinch salt
- 1 cup coconut
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- mini chocolate eggs and coconut, for decorating.
- Bring sugar, milk and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Simmer 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients until well incorporated.
- Spoon into lightly greased muffin cups (or use un-greased silicone muffin cups for easier removal). Using the back of a spoon press the mixture down in the middle and up along the sides, forming a nest. Allow to harden.
- Using a knife, loosen the edges and gently pop out the nests.
- Store covered at room temperature for up to two days. Freeze for longer storage.
- To decorate: sprinkle with coconut and fill with mini eggs.
Makes: 12 large
* For a super cute alternative you could form these in mini muffin cups.
* If you would like to tint the coconut a certain color simply place it in a resealable plastic bag along with a few drops of food coloring. Massage and shake until evening distributed.
* You could use jelly beans or chocolate covered almonds for a different variety of eggs.
* To make the regular cookies simply drop the mixture by spoonfuls onto wax paper and allow to firm up.
Lemon sings of spring and sunshine, reminding me of the new life around the corner and making it the perfect Easter accompaniment. These lemony truffles are a cinch to make and have such a wonderful velvety texture. Packaging them into pretty boxes turns them into the perfect hostess gift.
Kids can: roll into balls and coat in icing sugar.
White Chocolate Lemon Truffles
- 1 cup white chocolate
- 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp. heavy cream
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp. lemon extract
- icing sugar, for dusting
- Melt chocolate, butter and cream over a double boiler or in a microwave. Stir until smooth.
- Stir in salt and extract. Allow to cool slightly before covering with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm enough to handle.
- With a melon baller or small spoon scoop out mixture and form into 1 inch balls. Toss with icing sugar to coat.
- Store covered in the fridge for up to one week. Freeze for longer storage.
Makes: 24
* Using unsalted butter allows you to control the salty flavour of these truffles. The pinch of salt helps to cut through the sweetness of the white chocolate. If you decide to use salted butter make sure to omit the pinch of salt called for in the recipe or they will be far too salty.
* If you want to amp up the yellow color, stir in some yellow food coloring along with the extract and salt.
What simple recipes do you include in your Easter menu to help de-stress the day?
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They all look incredible and so perfect for Easter! The little coloured egg trays are just precious!
All your treats look adorably delicious. I made a lemon fudge a while back, similar to your truffles, but your recipe and presentation are more appealing. With a houseful of guests coming for the hols, these bonbons will go a long way to keep them happy, and me, less of a slave to the kitchen.
Totally doing the last two recipes! No-bake chocolate cookies are a family fave (usually at xmas) and I can’t wait to do them as Easter treats this way! I was just about to buy some mini egg jelly beans at the store today because I wanted to make cute little nest treats so this is perfect!
And the lemon truffles sound wonderful! So perfect for ringing in the freshness of Spring.
Great post Cheri!
What great timing Cheri…Kim has to make treats for Paige’s playschool Easter party and all 3 of these will be great..the top 2 are great twists on all time family favorites of ours and the lemon bonbons just scream spring…thanks for a great job Cheri!
beautifullemon truffles….nice color…welcome spring
stellar post, cheri–these are all things that anyone can make and appreciate for their appearance, taste, and simplicity. way to live up to your blog name. :)
Your photos make me want to weep tears of joy! They are so beautiful. I don’t like rice krispies, but I still think the rice krispie eggs are a great idea!! The lemon truffles are beautiful!! I must try them. Everything looks great.
I just found your blog a few weeks ago and have been lurking :) These treats look absolutely delicous!! I am wondering about the truffles, could you use lemon juice instead of extract?
I’m so glad you came out of hiding. :) You can substitute lemon juice for the extract but the flavour won’t be as strong. I think you could add a bit more lemon juice.. maybe an extra teaspoon? You just don’t want to add too much more liquid or it will alter the consistency. If you taste it and it doesn’t seem strong enough you could also add some lemon zest. I hope it works out for you!
oh my goodness those truffles are gorgeous!!
Wow! lemon truffles look delicious. They sing of spring. Terrific idea!
Pam
Wow~ those look so delicious and cute. Recipe looks pretty simple too. I really want to try making them before Easter. Thanks.
I love the sounds of the lemon balls – yum! I’ve made no-bake chocolate nests too, but they’re completely different so I’ll have to give your recipe a try.
Lemon truffles! They look delicious. I will be trying these.
All of these Easter treats sound gorgeous! I think my favourite are the adorable cookie and coconut nests, although those sweet and fresh lemon truffles are sure calling to me. And I have many egg boxes that would be perfect for the rice krispie treats… decisions decisions!
These are awesome Cheri. You always do such an amazing job.
I love white chocolate and lemon, and your truffles look amazing! So pretty and perfect for spring.
These are indeed kid-friendly recipes. They all look great in these photos! I love eating kiddie snacks. I don’t know but there is always something comforting in those foods. They are usually simple and easy to make, short on ingredients, but big on flavor without being complex or fancy. And of course, they do bring back wonderful childhood memories!
I will definitely try making the Lemon Truffles for Easter. Thanks!
Oh, the lemon truffles look amazing. I think that will be my new addition for Easter this year!
Very cool. I really like the White Lemon Truffles…I have so many lemons on my tree…I run out things to do with them!
hi,for the lemon truffles, did you use extract that you can purchase in the grocery store, or did you use oil such as Lorann oil? Wouldn’t lemon juice or regular extract make the chocolate seize?
I used regular lemon extract purchased at the grocery store. Because the chocolate is melted with cream and butter it will not cause it to seize.
sound amazing. will definitely be trying them, , maybe not in time for easter, but still.
your blog is wonderfull! my english no…:(((((
Love these Easter treats! Simple and fun!
Oh lovely truffles! I wanna try these myself but how much chocolate is 1 cup?
One cup of chocolate chips is equal to 6 ounces in weight.
I tried making the lemon truffles last night. After two hours it was still too runny to handle. So then I tried keeping them in the refrigerator for another 7 hours and they are still not firm enough to handle. Do you think that I could try the freezer to firm them up?
Hmm.. that is strange. You could try to freeze them for just long enough to be able to form them, but I have a feeling if it didn’t firm up after 9 hours in the fridge it may not stay firm once out of the freezer. For me, after two hours they were still quite soft and sticky but I just coated my hands with icing sugar and rolled away. After they sat in the fridge (rolled) for a couple of hours they firmed up perfectly. If they don’t seem rollable at all right now you could always melt it again and add more chocolate, to help firm it up. I hope it works out for you!
Did you use lemon juice as well as the extract? I made these for the first time a couple of days ago and they were so great I decided to make more. I tripled the batch but didn’t have enough extract so I also added some lemon juice. After trying to let them solidify in the refrigerator, I moved them to the freezer overnight and they’re still not getting workable. I am wondering – does the lemon juice cause this?
How much lemon juice did you add? Did you add more then it calls for in extract?
So glad you like the recipe. :)
I just squeezed some into it from half of a lemon… = /
Hmm.. perhaps there is too much liquid? You could try to melt it again and add more chocolate? I hope it works out!
I found your White Chocolate Lemon Truffles through foodgawker, they look so delicious. I was planning to make flavoured truffles and this just gave me a kick to actually go and do it. thanks for sharing!
The kids loved the crispy eggs last year, I never even thought about doing them this year. The nests are a great idea and I am craving lemon now the pics are amazing. I’m going to try t he truffles soon, Ill let you know how they turn out!
The lemon truffles really do look amazing I’m a big fan