Baking has become one of the most popular pastimes at the moment, with Woolies reporting a rise in the sale of baking mixes over the last week.
With parents spending more time at home with their kids, baking is an easy way to keep said kids entertained and also make something delicious in the process. And, while Easter celebrations might look different this year, they don’t have to go totally out the window.
So, we’ve curated a few recipes you can bust out over the Easter long weekend.
Cookies
Whipping up a batch of cookies is pretty damn comforting, so for Easter, simply chuck a few chocolate eggs in your cookie batter and you’ve got a festive delight.
This Easter Egg Cookies recipe by BBC Good Food uses chopped up dark chocolate, white chocolate and mini chocolate eggs so it’s definitely going to be a firm fave with the kids.
Hot Cross Buns
There are a tonne of hot cross bun recipes online, but if you’re looking for something that’s gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free, then these might work for you.
The Healthy Hot Cross Buns by JSHealth use almond meal and coconut flour for the base and a chocolate cross on top, so they’ll still hit the spot for indulgence.
Cupcakes
If you’ve got a packet mix of cupcakes ready to be baked, this is how you can jazz them up so they team with the Easter theme.
These Chocolate Bunny Bottom Cupcakes by CSR Sugar for Kidspot shows you how to style marshmallows to look like bunnies. If you have the ingredients, you can also whip the cupcakes up from scratch. But, if not, just assemble a few marshmallows on your packet mix cupcakes and the kids will love it.
Anything but chocolate
If you and your family have gone early and gorged on chocolate ahead of Easter, that’s no worries! You can still join in on the baking fun sans chocolate. And, no we’re not suggesting banana bread as we know you (and the whole world) has already made this.
This Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake by Melissa Clark for NYT Cooking will fill the void of banana bread (and chocolate) but still get you in the kitchen with your little ones.
Cake
While you’re no longer required to bring the dessert to your family Easter function, you can still bake a cake for you and your immediate family to enjoy and mark the special occasion at home.
Again, if you and the little ones want to knock up a cake from packet mix and then cover it with Easter eggs, do it! But, if you want to follow a recipe, this Triple Chocolate Easter Cake from Well Plated looks pretty dreamy.
And, if you’ve baked a whole plate of cookies or loaf of pound cake and you have no one to share it with (because iso life) then you can freeze it!
Bon Appétit’s sister publication Basically has created a handy guide that tells you how to freeze a plethora of baked goods, so take a look at that to prevent food wastage.