Resurrection Cookies

This Easter I wanted to do things a little different. Easter Egg Hunts are fun and the Easter Bunny brings great baskets, but how do you teach your kids the real meaning of Easter? I went online in search of ideas. Sugardoodle.net had the answer. I found a lot of wonderful ideas. The first idea was an Article of Faith Egg Hunt. We split the family into two teams. The yard was filled with plastic eggs full of candy. There were four different colored eggs. One team worked together and collected blue and pink eggs. The other team collected green and orange eggs. Some of the eggs also had slips of paper. Each paper had one article of faith (not numbered). The teams collected all their eggs, emptied them out into a big bowl and took out all the slips of paper. Then they had to put the A of F in the correct order. The first team finished wins. Then the teams can split up the candy between all the members. It was a lot of fun, but harder than I thought to put them in order!

You're probably wondering what these are. They are Resurrection Cookies, another idea from Sugardoodle. The recipe has a story and scriptures that go along with it. It follows the story of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. The best part is that the cookies taste great! Here is how to make them:

Resurrection Story Cookies - to make the night before Easter to celebrate the glories of the Resurrection. Making these cookies with your children or grand-children is a wonderful way to teach that our Savior was resurrected and that He still lives and loves us.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees - VERY important to do this right away.

Read the scriptures as you go along.

3 egg whites

1cup whole pecans

1tsp vinegar

a pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

a zipper bag

a wooden spoon

tape

Bible

Place pecans in zipper bag and let 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.

(John 19: 1-3)

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1tsp vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink.

(John 19: 28-30)

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.

(John 10: 10-11)

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.

(Luke 23: 27)

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.

(Psalm 34: 8, and John 3:16)

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.

(Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3)

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.

(Matt 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.

(Matt 27: 65-66)

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.

(John 16:20 and 22)

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Resurrection, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb empty.

We did this last night. I had never made cookies like this before, but it worked and they were really good too. This is definitely a tradition to keep.