Spring/Easter baking recipes
A flavorful carrot cake with a delicious cream cheese frosting. (Photo: Christian Bon, The Puma Prensa)
By Christian Bon, web editor
With spring beginning, and Easter breakfast fast approaching, many are probably beginning to think about what to serve. The smart people among us might choose something simple, easy, something that doesn’t take a whole day. However, the foolish, passionate, or simply bored might decide to take a different approach, a more hands-on one. It is for those people that this article is written. In the coming pages, I will run you through five of my favorite spring/Easter baking recipes to wow your guests.
Light pancakes fresh from the pan. (Photo: Christian Bon, The Puma Prensa)
1. Yogurt-Base Light Pancakes
For Easter breakfast, my family always likes to go a bit extra. We make giant plates of eggs, meats, and other pastries. So no one dish can ever be too heavy. Pancakes are one of those dishes that a big breakfast doesn’t feel complete without, but they are also usually too heavy. This delicious recipe should produce fluffy pancakes easily and quickly, which won’t make you feel full.
Ingredients:
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 and ½ tbsp. sugar (granulated)
One medium large spoonful of yogurt (I use either vanilla or unflavored greek yogurt but any thick yogurt should do)
3 tbsp. flour
Method:
In a medium sized bowl add one egg, 1 tsp. Vanilla, and 1 ½ tbsp. Sugar.
Beat with egg beaters starting at low speed, moving to medium a minute later, for a solid five minutes. The mixture should barely pour when the bowl is tilted and be a very light yellow, almost white.
Add the spoonful of greek yogurt and mix into batter on low speed for 5 seconds. Only go until the yogurt disappears; you want to move very quickly. This is the step where your batter might deflate if you mix too long. (If batter deflates, it will still taste good, you just won’t have as many pancakes)
Sift in 3 tbsp. flour and mix slowly and gently with a spatula until flour disappears.
Pour into a pan on medium low heat and let cook for three minutes. Flip and let cook for another minute or two and serve.
This recipe makes about four medium sized pancakes.
A cracked in half chocolate chunk cookie. (Photo: Christian Bon, The Puma Prensa)
2. Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Of course, when talking about baking, there’s always the classic chocolate chip cookie. But, that’s so boring. If you want to upgrade your chocolate chip cookies, then this recipe will do the trick. It takes the normal thin cookie and upgrades into a denser and more satisfying bite. It’s a little heavier, but well worth it.
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar (granulated)
2 sticks of butter
2 large eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ cups chocolate chips or Hershey’s chocolate bars cut into squares.
Method:
Preheat the oven to 410 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the butter (cut into the squares indicated on the packaging) and both sugars. Mix the ingredients on a medium speed for 4 minutes or until creamy.
Slowly add in the eggs. Add each egg on low speed and be sure to mix until full incorporation before adding your next one.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir until homogenous.
Add to egg, butter, and sugar mixture.
Mix until just combined, careful not to overdo it.
Finally, add your chocolate chips to the cookie dough and mix on low for about 20 seconds.
Divide dough into 10 equal pieces and ball each one. Place 5 balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the top is golden brown. If you like your cookies doughy, like I do, feel free to go for about 8 to 9 minutes. This WILL result in your cookies being underdone, but that’s kind of the point.
Let cool for thirty minutes, or thirty seconds if you want them warm and fresh, and serve.
A sliced and crumbly carrot cake. (Photo: Christian Bon, The Puma Prensa)
3. Carrot Cake
One of Easter’s most recognizable traits is the bunny, and a bunny’s favorite food is a carrot. So, naturally, carrot cake is a must have on Easter. This recipe will result in the carrot being pretty obvious in each bite (Some recipes cut carrots smaller so it feels just like eating normal cake), but I prefer to really taste the carrot in my carrot cakes.
Ingredients:
For the cake:
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar (granulated)
2 large eggs
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. kosher salt
1 cup grated carrots
For the frosting:
1 stick butter, room temperature
8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted
Method:
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease one 8-inch round cake pan. Line with parchment and grease (for easy removal). Dust the pans with flour.
Whisk the granulated sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl.
In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir to combine.
Add the carrots and mix well.
Pour into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan on a rack or unlit stovetop.
Slice around the edges of the cake and carefully remove, setting on rack or countertop.
Once cooled completely, remove the parchment and serve.
For the frosting:
Using an egg beater, beat the cream cheese and butter together until completely smooth, about 3 minutes on medium speed.
Beat in the vanilla extract.
Add in the powdered sugar SLOWLY and CAREFULLY. MAKE SURE you add in SMALL amounts and evenly mix after EACH time. If you add all at once, this mixture will explode onto you and your entire workspace. Powdered sugar is not to be trifled with.
Once combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium, beating just until well-combined and creamy.
Scoop frosting onto the top of the cake and, using a spatula, evenly coat (or at least your best crack at evenly coating) the outside of the cake.
A crumble apple muffin wrapped in wax paper and butcher’s twine. (Photo: Christian Bon, The Puma Prensa)
4. Apple Crumble Muffin
Muffins are a staple of a big Easter breakfast, and apple crumble is my personal favorite kind. Plus, apples are kind of Spring related, I think. Either way, these delicious, slightly crispy on top muffins will be delicious, especially if they’re served fresh.
Ingredients:
For the muffins:
2 ¼ cups apples, cored, peeled and chopped
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 cups flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
pinch of salt (optional)
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
2 large eggs, room temperature
¾ cup sugar (granulated)
¾ cup milk, room temperature
½ cup butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
For the crumbles:
6 tbsp. flour
¼ cup and 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
3 tbsp. butter, melted
Method:
For the crumbles:
Mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
Pour in the melted butter and slowly mix. Set aside. (these will be put on top of the cupcakes)
If you are working in a hot environment, keep the crumble mixture in the fridge to keep the butter cold.
If the mixture forms into a solid dough, just pull pieces off, you can still work with it.
For the muffins:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Line a 12 cup-cupcake/muffin sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Place the chopped apples in a small bowl and coat with lemon juice, set aside.
Mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Place the eggs and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk for a minute until well combined.
Mix in the melted butter, milk, and vanilla extract.
Combine your two bowls and mix until just combined.
Gently fold in the apples. Be careful not to overmix. The longer you go, the denser your muffins (which some may like, in which case, go crazy).
Pour batter into the cupcake sheets.
Sprinkle the crumbles on top.
Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the muffins stay in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring on a wire rack to cool completely. Grab by the edges of the parchment.
If you’d like to serve them with a wrapping, like a normal cupcake would, you can take a piece of butcher’s string and tie around the outside of the parchment paper so it will stay.
A baked apple pie with a nice top crust. (Photo: Christian Bon, The Puma Prensa)
5. Apple Pie
Finally, a classic pie. There’s nothing better than a warm (or cold) slice of pie in the morning. So, naturally, what better way to finish off an Easter breakfast? This recipe is great served cold or warm. It contains chunks of apple and has a crispy top as well. I’m kind of running out of ways to describe really good baked sweets, so I’ll just tell you again that it’s very tasty.
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1-1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup cold water
For the filling:
5 large apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2/3 cup sugar (granulated)
5 tsp. flour
1-1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
For the topping:
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar (granulated)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cold butter
Method:
For the crust:
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt.
Add in shortening until crumbly.
Gradually add water, mix with spatula until dough forms a ball.
Shape into a disk, wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight. There’s no real flavor difference, it’s just about timing.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough until it can cover a 9-inch pie plate.
Trim crust to 1/2 inch beyond the rim of the plate and press around the edge with a fork.
For filling:
Place apples, sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl.
Mix until apples are covered and dump into the pie crust.
For topping:
in a small bowl, combine flour and sugars.
Mix in butter until crumbly.
Sprinkle over filling.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Reduce oven setting to 350°;
Bake until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, 50-60 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
Well, that’s it. These are my top five recipes for Spring/Easter breakfast. To fellow bakers reading this, I hope you give these a shot. To non-bakers, I encourage you to at least try one of these. The pancakes are probably the easiest to make, with the pie or muffins being the hardest. That being said, don’t let that discourage you from trying these out. They are all super fun, and baking itself is just something that I encourage everyone to try their hand at. To all reading, however, you celebrate Easter, have a fun holiday and a great Spring.