Easter Story Cookies

Good morning, friends! It’s been quite a while since I last posted here on the blog; so much has happened the last couple of months. I’ll catch you up on everything  soon, but for now, I’d just like to share something fun and positive towards Resurrection Sunday. It’s a wonderful hands-on story recipe called Easter Story Cookies that I used to make with my girls when they were little.

Baking and stories were always a couple of our favorite things to enjoy together, so this cookie recipe that illustrates the story of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection was the perfect opener for our Easter weekends! I forgot about this activity as the girls got older, but I recently ran across the recipe and pulled it to save for this year’s Easter week since I’d never done the Easter Story Cookies with my son.  There’s another cute part to this story that I’ll share at the end of the post.

Easter Story Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup whole pecans

1 tsp. vinegar

3 egg whites

pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

zip-top bag

wooden spoon

masking tape

Bible

-Start by preheating your oven to 300 degrees.

1.) PECANS: Place pecans in zip-top bag and let the children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.

2.) VINEGAR- Let the children smell the vinegar. Put the 1 tsp. of vinegar into the mixing bowl. Explain when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

3.) EGGS- Add the egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent LIFE! Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.

4.) SALT- Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

5.) SUGAR- So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Ps. 34:8 and John 3:16.

6.) THE COLOR WHITE-  Beat egg whites with a mixer on high for 12-15 minutes or until stiff peaks form. This takes a while but allows each child to take a turn. (If you have littler littles, maybe have some coloring sheets ready for them to work on while Mommy beats the egg whites.) Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isa. 1:18 and John 3:1-3.  

7.) PECANS- Fold the broken nuts into the egg white mixture. Drop by tablespoons onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. Read Matt. 27:57-60.

9.) OVEN & TAPE-  Place the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF! Give each child a piece of tape to help seal the door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed. Read Matt. 7:65-66.

10.) GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

11.) EMPTY TOMBS: On Easter morning (or whenever you mage then. We do them earlier in the weekend), open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Take a bite. The cookies are hollow! Explain that on the first Easter Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matt. 28:1-9.

It’s a little hard to see in this photo below, but they really are hollow. 

So, I mentioned that I’d pulled this recipe recently to use this year. I could not for the life of me remember where it came from. It’s just a typed recipe on a sheet of paper that I’ve held onto for years. Then this week, my sister, Allison, and I were texting some Easter recipes back and forth (breads, cakes, cookies) and she texted this same Easter Story Cookies recipe! I laughed and told her I’d pulled the same recipe to use this year but could not remember where it came from. So it must have come from Allison, or maybe someone else shared it with me and I passed it on to her. Either way, we both had the same recipe that we’d long ago made with our now teens and college young adults.

Here are a few other quick ideas for festive Easter snacks and goodies, some of which I posted on Instagram this week. I know that in this time of social-distancing and not being able to just run to the grocery store, we might not have some of these ingredients on hand. If that’s the case with you, just have fun looking at these ideas and tuck them away for next year!

CARROT CHEESE CRACKERS: Squirt canned Easy Cheese onto club crackers in the shape of a carrot. Add fresh dill for the stems.

MARSHMALLOW PEEP FRUIT SKEWERS: These make healthy(er) snacks! And they’re cute too!

EMPTY TOMB BISCUITS: This one’s been around for a while, so many of you have probably already made it before. If you haven’t, it’s so fun and tasty! Roll out biscuit dough (from a can), place a large marshmallow in the middle, wrap the dough around the mallow to make a ball, pinch and secure dough with a toothpick underneath. Dip in melted butter and roll in cinnamon-sugar. Bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at the temperature recommended on the canned biscuits until golden and crusty. Let cool a bit. Carefully slice into the tomb with a serrated knife. The tomb will be empty!

TWINKIE BUNNY CARS: How cute are these bunnies driving their Twinkie convertibles?! I made these with the kids several years ago as a hint before we surprised them with real bunnies! We went on a drive to a bunny farm and picked up two little baby bunnies. One died last year, but we still have Buttercup.

And Buttercup says, “HAPPY EASTER!”