Easter Basket Cupcakes

These edible Easter Baskets are a great treat for kids and adult alike. They look adorable, but the best part is – they’re relatively easy to make.  A simple cupcake acts as the “basket” base (I chose coconut cupcakes), green-colored coconut is strikingly realistic Easter grass, tuck in a cookie handle, and mini chocolate eggs finish off the look.  Just a couple of do-ahead steps, and you’ll be ready to assemble your own baskets!

To make these Easter Basket Cupcakes you will need the following:

• Baked Cupcakes, of your choosing
• Small amount of white frosting
• Sweetened Flaked Coconut
• Green Food Coloring
• Sugar or Short Cookie Dough
• Mini Chocolate Easter Egg Candy or Jelly Beans for decoration

You will need about 1 1/2 cups of coconut for every dozen cupcakes. Place the coconut in a medium bowl and add 2-3 drops of green food coloring. Using your hands (you can wear gloves for this portion if you are worried about staining your hands) work the color into the coconut. Don’t worry if some parts seem darker than others at first, the more you move the coconut around in the bowl, the more the color will distribute and even out.

Coconut Cupcakes with Cookie Handle and Chocolate Candy Eggs

The most difficult step to these cupcakes is making the cookie handles. And while “most difficult,” they are not that hard and only take a couple of minutes. The more typical versions of Easter Basket Cupcakes use twizlers or other candy as the handle, but I like the look of something more “natural” or realistic (also, in my opinion, better tasting).  I also chose to make a white-based cupcakes, so that the color of the handle would match the color of the cupcakes. This way the cupcake looks like a cohesive basket, as opposed to sticking a red twizler in there.  (Yet, in the candy’s defense, you can find all different kinds of colors, shapes, and sizes these days if you are willing to look.)  I used short dough for my handles, which does not spread as much as store-bought sugar cookie dough, but either will work. To make the handles, first measure the diameter of your cupcake – you want to make sure that your handle width is less than this measurement (learn from my mistakes!) Once you know what measurement to stay under, roll out a thin “snake” or tube of dough. Cut 7″ segments and then shape into an elongated “U” onto a cookie sheet, making the shape of a basket handle. Bake for 6-8 minute, or until just beginning to brown. Cool on cookie sheet. (Because these are small and fragile, there is no reason to remove them from the cookie sheet until you are ready to use them.)

To assemble the cupcakes, pipe a small amount of frosting on top of each cupcake, making sure not to mound too high. Using your fingers, press the coconut into the frosting, covering the top of the cupcake entirely. Carefully insert one cookie handle into each cupcake, pressing down gently to make sure the cookie is embedded in the cupcake, as well as frosting. To finish, “glue” candy eggs or jelly beans onto the grass with a small dot of frosting to hold in place.  Enjoy!