Easter Story Cookies

We've been having quite the Easter celebration weekend. :)

Thursday night was the Seder dinner for the high school senior leadership team. Friday night was Good Friday services. And tonight we made Easter Story Cookies. Tomorrow is a sunrise service at 6:30a (yep we're waking the boys up for that) at a park, making Resurrection Biscuits, then normal services and then some ham. :) It's been a great weekend.


I hope to include Easter Story Cookies and Resurrection Biscuits every year. It's a fun memory for the boys and can make the Easter story a little more real when they hear it in different ways and are able to do something tactile.

Easter Story Cookies
to be made the evening before Easter
recipe adapted from allrecipe.com

1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
zip-lock bag
wooden spoon
wax paper
tape
Bible

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Place pecans in zip-lock bag and let the children beat them with the wooden spoon into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, the Roman soldiers beat him. Read John 19:1-3.
3. Let each child smell the vinegar. Put vinegar in the mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.
4. Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.
5. 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 bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.
6. So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 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 Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16.
7. Beat the mixture on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks form. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been washed away by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.
8. Fold in the broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain how each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60. Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Rad Matthew 27:65-66.
9. 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, 22. 
10. On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9.

Enjoy!! :)

Almond Puffs

This is a yummy Dutch recipe that my mom made when we were growing up. If only it wasn't almond extract and had actual almond paste. Yumm-O!

Almond Puffs

pastries
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp almond extract

frosting
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp butter
3/4 to 1 tbsp almond extract

Boil butter and water. Remove from heat and add flour. Beat until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat after each egg. Add almond extract. Drop by teaspoonful (no larger or they won't get done in the center) on a cookie sheet or greased mini muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool completely, then frost.

These freeze well and thaw quickly. Enjoy!!

Pebbernodder

This cookie is so yummy and it makes a great snack for you your kids. Pebbernodder, pronounced "pure-a-nuh-tha" (I am not a linguist but I gave it my best try), is a recipe for Danish Peppernuts. This recipe comes from our friend's mom who is married to a true Danish immigrant. The first time we had this cookie was in 2001 during spring break. We went down to southern Missouri to go rock climbing with some college friends and Sue made these little cookies for us to take on our trip. They were delicious and we munched on them all day. They do take a little work so I always try to make a double batch because once you start munching, it's hard to stop. ;) Oh, and don't forget, the dough has to be refrigerated overnight so plan ahead.

Pebbernodder
from: Sue Olesen

1/3 cup softened butter (I use margarine)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp pumpkin spice
2 to 2 1/2 cups flour

Cream together margarine and sugar. Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add to wet. Chill dough overnight.

Flour your work surface and take pieces of dough rolling them into a pencil-shape, using more flour if dough is sticky. Cut into small pieces (less than 1/2-inch).

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the tops are golden. Enjoy!

**If you use an airbake pan, they cookies won't brown as well. And they do need to be brown because these cookies are best when they're crunchy.
**I rarely prounounce pebbernodder correctly so our family has just started calling it Pua-Nua. ;)

Check out Short Stop for more great cookie recipes!!

Vanilla Wafers

I got this recipe from Monica at Homespun Heart. They looked good and Vanilla Wafers are a favorite around here, so I decided it was time to give them a try.

Vanilla Wafers
makes about 50 cookies

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups cake flour (I used all purpose)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp water

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Cream together first five ingredients.
3. Add the flour and baking powder. Add water and continue mixing until dough forms a ball.
4. Roll dough into 3/4-inch balls and flatten slightly onto cookie sheet.
5. Bake 15-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown.


They are good little cookies, but weren't like the original Vanilla Wafers. I used margarine instead of butter, so that could be part of the problem. I also thought about using almond flavoring instead of the vanilla. That could be a yummy "twist" on this cookie. Also, it helped when I sprayed a little Pam on my hands before rolling them into balls. The dough was a little sticky. And I would recommend NOT using an airbake pan. Check out what happened when I did. Yikes!!

Peanut Blossoms

These are the cookies I made for my sister's fiance. They were really yummy which made them a little hard to give away. ;)


Peanut Blossoms
makes about 6 dozen

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
sugar
Chocolate Stars

Cream butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar together. Add egg and vanilla. Blend in flour, baking soda and salt. Shape into balls and roll in sugar (I used colored sugar) and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and place Chocolate Star on each, pressing down so cookie cracks. Return to oven and bake another 3 minutes.

No-Bake Cookies

This is another easy recipe that our family enjoys. We like to store them in the freezer; they're so good when they're cold!

No-Bake Cookies
makes 3 1/2 dozen

2 cups sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup milk
2 cups quick oats
1/2 cup peanut butter (we like chunky)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix the sugar, cocoa and milk together, and boil for 4 minutes (stir continuously so it doesn't scorch). Take mixture off heat. Quickly stir in butter, vanilla, peanut butter and oatmeal. Drop by teaspoonful onto waxed paper.

Turtles

This is a really simple recipe that I got from my friend, Jess.

Turtles
makes 3 dozen

1 pkg of pecan halves
mini twisted pretzels
1 lg bag of Rollos (chocolate-covered caramels)

1. Open bag of pecan halves and count how many you have. (I had 36 in my bag. You can join broken pieces to make a "whole.") Open same number of Rollos.
2. Put a piece of parchment paper on a large cookie sheet. Place pretzels on the cooking sheet and top with a Rollo.
3. Bake for 2 minutes at 200 degrees.
4. Take out of oven and while warm, press pecans into caramel.

That's it. Yummy!!!
Check out my complete list of Christmas Goodies here.