Coconut Meringue Macaroons

These macaroons are slightly crisp on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside. Great for an after-dinner dessert or even a midnight snack. The macaroon is also an accepted dessert or snack for Passover.

What You Need

2 Egg Whites
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/8 tsp. Salt
1 2/3 Sweetened Flaked Coconut
2/3 C. Sugar
2" Ice Cream Scoop


What You Do

Beat together egg whites, vanilla, & salt until it forms soft peaks. Slowly add sugar to the mix, and then beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold coconut into the meringue.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Generously grease a baking sheet. Using a 2" ice cream scoop, drop the coconut meringue mixture onto the baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until very lightly browned.

Cinnamon Bunnies

What could be better than waking up to the smell of cinnamon buns early in the morning? These Easter Bunny cinnamon rolls are the perfect addition to your Easter breakfast or brunch table.

What You Need

2 - 8 ct cans cinnamon rolls (regular size, not jumbo)
1 can cream cheese frosting
raisins
red food coloring

(Makes 5 bunnies)


What You Do

On an un-greased cookie sheet lay down 2 cinnamon rolls, creating a head and body. Slice a 3rd roll in half vertically. These 2 halves are the bunny's ears. Trim a small piece off of the bottom end of each ear and roll together to form a ball. This ball is the bunny's tail.

Bake at 350* for 7-10 minutes or until light brown and cooked in the center of each roll. Do not over bake. Cool completely.

Frost the head, body, tail and ears with cream cheese frosting. Add 2 raisins for eyes & 1 raisin for a nose on each bunny.

Tint 1/4 c. frosting pink. Use this pink frosting to fill in the bunny's whiskers, to color in the ears and to attach buttons or bows on his/her shirt.

To save time, the cinnamon buns can be made a day ahead of time and stored in a well-sealed container. Frost and decorate right before eating.

Linking to:

Gooseberry Patch Kids Recipe Round Up

Cute Carrot Cupcakes

Bunnies love carrots so it only makes sense to serve these carrot cupcakes for dessert at your Easter dinner.

Your family will hop to the table for them!

  
What You Need

1 package carrot cake mix, prepared as directed on box
1 cup raisins
1 can cream cheese frosting
yellow, red & green food coloring
sweetened, shredded coconut

Prepare the carrot cake mix as directed on the box. Stir 1-cup raisins into the batter. Bake cupcakes and cool completely before frosting. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese frosting on each cupcake.

For Grass on Cupcakes: Mix one cup coconut and 5 drops green food coloring together until the coconut is completely tinted. Dip each cupcake into the coconut, covering the entire surface.

For Carrots: Tint 1/2 c. cream cheese frosting with yellow and red food coloring until a bright orange color is achieved. Add icing to a plastic baggie, creating an icing bag. Snip 1/8 in. off one corner of the baggie. Pipe a carrot shape onto the coconut on each cupcake. Refer to the picture for an example of how the carrots should look.

For Carrot Tops: Tint 1/4 c. cream cheese frosting with green food coloring. Add icing to a plastic baggie creating an icing bag. Snip the very tip off one corner of the baggie. Pipe icing on top of carrot.

Store cupcakes in a sealed container. Cupcakes, without frosting, can be frozen. Defrost before frosting.

Anise Easter Bread

Using your bread machine to make this Easter bread takes all of the hard work out of it! Decorated with bright colored eggs, this bread makes a beautiful table centerpiece for your Easter gatherings.

What You Do

Add all ingredients to your bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Choose sweet bread dough cycle, then Start.

Dye uncooked eggs. Make sure to use a natural, edible dye because the dye does seep into the bread. Do not use cooked eggs because the eggs will cook while the bread is baking.

Once the cycle is completed, roll the dough out into a long rope. Starting 1 inch from the left end of the rope cut the dough horizontally into 3 strips. (Bread dough is lying across from left to right.) Braid dough and shape into a circle. Place on large greased cookie sheet. Let rise 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Once dough has risen, stick the dyed eggs randomly into the bread dough. Bake about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Ice with Anise flavored powdered sugar icing below.

Anise Powdered Sugar Icing

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp. anise flavoring

Stir until smooth. Drizzle over Easter bread.

Enjoy hot out of the oven! For a different twist, toast lightly for a sweet breakfast treat. Leftovers should be wrapped up and refrigerated.

Menu Plan Monday

Short and sweet.....

Here's this week's menus:

Family Menu

M - corned beef w/fried noodles and cooked carrots (my family doesn't like cabbage)

T - grilled chicken, hashbrown casserole and corn

W - Pastees*, salad and green beans - new recipe for St. Patrick's Day

H - steak salads

F - hamburger stroganoff and salad

A - pizza


My Low Carb Menu

M - corned beef and cabbage

T - grilled chicken salad

W - roasted tomatoes w/goat cheese* and sauteed green beans - new recipe, didn't try it before

H - steak salad

F - cheeseburger, salad, grilled squash

A - deep dish pizza* - new recipe


I hope to post 3 new St. Patrick's Day desserts this week, too, so be on the lookout for those! 

If you're looking for a great dessert for St. Patrick's Day, join The Cookie Carnival right here at Tami's Kitchen Table Talk! This month's cookie is a perfect dessert for St. Patrick's Day!

Have a wonderful week! It looks like we might finally get to enjoy a week of sunshine and warmer weather. YAY!

If you aren't part of Menu Plan Monday, join us today.