A new Easter Tradition (a little late)

I know that Easter was several weeks ago, but I really wanted to get this down so I would remember it next year.

This year the week surrounding Easter seemed incredibly busy. We had so much fun, but it was hard to get in our Easter traditions. We didn't get all our resurrection eggs finished, but Ethan enjoyed the 7 we did, so maybe next week we will get through more. But, one that I really wanted to do was make Resurrection Cookies with Ethan. So, that night while we were cleaning up after dinner (we only had about 30 minutes before we needed to leave for a baseball game), Ethan and I worked quickly on our cookies. They were so very easy and came out delicious!

These are our cookies in the "tomb."

Our empty tombs.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup whole pecans (or mini chocolate chips. . . that's what we used)

1 tsp. vinegar

3 egg whites

pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

ziplock bag

wooden spoon

tape

Directions:

Make the night before Easter.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. . . Don't forget to do this at the beginning or they won't turn out.

Put pecans (or mini chocolate chips) in a ziplock bag. Have kids beat them with a wooden spoon. Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the soldiers.

Let the kids smell the vinegar. Pour vinegar into bottom of the bowl. Explain that Jesus was thirsty when he was on the cross and the soldiers gave him vinegar to drink.

Add egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave his life so that he could give us life.

Sprinkle a little bit of salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and then put a very small pinch into the bowl. This represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers and the bitterness of or own sin.

Add the cup of sugar. The sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because he loved us. He wants us to know Him and belong to Him.

Beat with an electric mixer for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks form. The color white represents our sins being cleansed by Jesus.

Fold in nuts (or chocolate chips). Drop by spoonful onto your baking sheet covered with parchment paper or silpat. These represent the tomb where Jesus' body was laid after he died.

Put cookies in the oven and turn the oven OFF. Seal with tape (Jesus' tomb was sealed shut). Keep cookies in the oven until Easter morning. The cookies will be cooked and hollow in the middle. . . so awesome and so delicious! They ended up being a big hit at Easter dinner. We will definitely be making these again next year!