Easter without chocolate bunnies, marshmallow peeps and colorful eggs can seem a little bleek, especially if you have little ones. Obviously Easter isn’t really about any of those things, but it can be tough to be surrounded by traditions that you can’t partake in. Lots of paleo/AIP and allergy aware parents fill up easter baskets with non food items like small toys, puzzles, card games, a gift card, and maybe their favorite store-bought paleo treat or convenience foods. These are great ideas and there are a million more ideas out there on the internet I’m sure. However, it can still be fun to have a little treat or go through the process of making a fun treat with your little ones around the holiday which is why I came up with this recipe. I’ve seen lots of recipes on Pinterest for bird’s nest cookies and I thought, why not make this into a fun Easter recipe?! I made them for the little ones in my life and when they came home from school and saw them they were super excited! Honestly, these are a bit time consuming but they are well worth it for a once a year treat tradition! I hope that you and your family enjoy them during this Easter season!

Easter Basket Cookies (AIP/Paleo)

Ingredients: 

Crust:

1/2 Cup of Coconut Flour

2 TBS. Arrowroot Flour

2/3 Cup of Melted Coconut Oil

2 TBS Honey

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract (optional)

4 TBS Water

Filling:

½ cup of coconut oil, melted

2 TBS coconut butter, melted

2 TBS coconut cream

2 TBS Honey

1/2 cup of shredded coconut

homemade green food coloring

Mini Easter Eggs: 

1/4 cup of coconut butter

1/4 cup of coconut oil, melted

1 tsp honey

1/4 tsp beet root powder

Directions: 

To make the crust, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Then, in a medium bowl, combine your coconut flour and arrowroot flour. Add in your honey, melted coconut oil and vanilla extract (optional) and combine. Next, add in your water and stir until the batter begins to thicken. Take a mini muffin tin and grease with coconut oil. Take small chunks of the dough and form them into balls, place the balls into the muffin cups and press to form a cup with an indentation in the middle. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lighting browned. Cool them completely before removing from the tin (I put the whole tray in the refrigerator for about an hour). To remove the crusts from the tin, turn the muffin tray upside down and tap on the bottom of the cups with a spoon or a knife and they will fall out. Once the shortcakes are ready, create your cream by combining all of your ingredients and mixing with a standing or electric mixer. Then mix your coconut with your homemade green food coloring until it reaches your desired color. Place a small dollop of cream in each cup and cover with coconut. To make your eggs combine your coconut butter, coconut oil and honey. divide the mixture into two parts and add the beetroot powder to one part. Allow it to cool until it has thickened and is stiff and somewhat close to the consistency of play dough. Form the cream into small ovals and decorate the top of the baskets. Enjoy!