Here are Easter recipes and ideas to brighten up your Easter brunch from super simple with a cookie cutter to more involved bread making. The good news is you can go as simple or as elaborate as suits your time and budget.
Here are a few ways to increase the bunny quotient!
You will need a bit of an array of Easter cookie cutters. I got mine at Bulk Barn. For as little as 79 cents you can create an Easter cheese or sandwich tray.
Easy
Easter Butter Pats - Slice cool butter into ½ " slabs. Cut out Easter figures and arrange them on a small butter plate. Reserve odd bits for daily use. Keep Easter shapes chilled till ready to serve.
Easter Cheese Bites - Slice a block of cheese into ½" slabs. Cut out Easter figures and arrange on a cheese plate. Reserve odd bits of cheese for another purpose.
Open Face Easter Sandwich - Using same Easter cookie cutters, cut figures out of centers of slices of bread. This works best if bread is frozen so you don't tear the bread extracting the cookie cutter. You can make little open face bread and cheese bites by topping the bread figure with the same cheese figure. Add a speck of black olive, or green or red pepper for an eye.
Open Face Easter Sandwich- Using a fairly large bunny cookie cutter, cut out center of the bread. (Easiest if bread is frozen). Slather the Easter bunny bread cut out with egg salad. Make an eye with a bit of black olive. Add a thin carrot strip to highlight the ears. Lump some of the larger egg white pieces to make a tail.
Easter Toast - Press the center of the bread with a patterned cookie cutter. When you toast the bread the shape will be outlined.
Medium
Hatching Chicks - Make hard-boiled eggs. See my How to Make Perfect Hardboiled Eggs. Allow to cool completely. Tip: older eggs peel more easily and smoothly than fresh eggs. Try to use eggs at least one week old. Peel the eggs under cold running water for smoothest whites. Carefully cut a zig zag pattern around top 1-2" of the pointed end. Gently nudge the white cap off. You will need a small spoon- like a small coffee spoon. Scoop out a bit of yellow yolk. You will not be able to get the whole yolk out without risking tearing the white on the bottom. Repeat for all eggs, keeping track of which cap goes with which bottom. Add a bit of mayonnaise to the scooped out yolk. Pile the egg salad mix back on top of the egg bottoms. Add the cap back in. Use tiny bits of black olive and carrot to make eyes and noses.
Pashka (Russian Easter Cheese) - This sweet fruited cheese spread is a real treat slathered on rolls or the traditional Pashka bread. It is no bake. You mix the cheese with dried fruit pieces, vanilla, icing sugar and almond grounds. The only thing is you have to allow it to drain overnight wrapped in cheese cloth. Believe me - it is worth the wait! Get the recipe here.
MORE INVOLVED
Bunny Buns - Use this soft roll recipe, omitting the garlic butter brushed topping. After the first rise, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll 10 of them into an egg-shaped ball. The larger end will be the bunny's behind. From the remaining pieces shape 10 sets of ears and ten small balls for tails. Pinch the ears in place on the smaller end and place the tail high on the larger end. Allow the second rise, brush with egg whites to help affix the ears an tails and bake according to instructions.
Serve with the Easter Pashka Cheese or as you would any dinner roll.
Pashka Easter Bread - This is a traditional Russian/Ukranian recipe. The bread is sweet, soft and dotted with dried fruits. It is perfect with the Pashka cheese. You can use your bread maker for the dough cycle. It is traditionally baked in a columnar shape using somthing like a tomato juice can or special mold. I didn't have either so I used a bundt pan... not traditional but it was delicious. Get the recipe here.
Roast Lamb with White Wine and Major Grey's - Easter Menu -menu Check out this beautiful roast leg of lamb, Potatoes Anna and Roasted Asparagus for you Easter dinner.
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