Easter Bunnies Recipes

Steps:

• Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Pulse the cookies in a food processor to fine crumbs. Add the cream cheese and pulse together until the mixture begins to ball up. Transfer to a large bowl and knead together a few times until completely combined.
• Roll about 1/3 of the mixture into 18 truffles (about 1 level tablespoon each) and place on one of the prepared baking sheets. Roll the remaining mixture into 18 larger truffles, (about 1 heaping tablespoon each), and place on the second prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm and chilled through, about 1 hour.
• While the truffles chill, prepare the decorations.
• For the royal icing, combine the confectioner's sugar and meringue powder in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on low speed just to combine. Add 2 1/2 teaspoons water and increase the speed to medium. Beat the mixture until the icing is stiff enough to hold a peak but soft enough to pipe, about 2 minutes. If the icing gets too stiff, add up to 1/2 teaspoon more water.
• Divide the icing evenly between 2 bowls. Tint one bowl of icing bright pink using the pink food coloring. Tint the remaining bowl of icing with the black food coloring. Transfer the pink and black icings to separate piping bags (with no cut openings) or to resealable plastic bags and set aside.
• For the white coating, combine the candy melting wafers and coconut oil in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the mixture in 20-second intervals, stirring between each, until the wafers are melted and the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute 20 seconds. Set aside.
• Put some white sanding sugar and pink sanding sugar in separate bowls.
• For the bunny tails: Cut 9 of the marshmallows crosswise to create 18 halves. Carefully dip one flat side of each marshmallow piece in the white candy coating, let the excess drip off and then dip in the white sanding sugar. Place each marshmallow piece sugar-side up on a plate to set. These will be the bunny tails.
• For the bunny ears: Cut 18 of the marshmallows in half on the diagonal to create 18 pairs of bunny ears. Dip the cut side of each marshmallow piece in the pink sanding sugar. Place sugar-side up on the plate with the tails to set.
• For the bunny feet: Cut the remaining 18 marshmallows in half lengthwise to create 18 pairs of feet. Set aside on the plate with the tails and ears.
• Put a truffle in the white coating and use 2 forks to evenly coat. Lift out the truffle, letting any excess drip off, then return to the baking sheet. Continue with the remaining truffles (both sizes) until all are all coated. If the coating cools to room temperature during the dipping process, microwave it in 20-second intervals to reheat. Reserve the leftover white coating to use as glue for the tails, ears and feet.
• For the heads: Dip the bottoms of 2 bunny ears in the leftover white coating, place on top of a small truffle and hold in place until the coating sets, about 15 seconds. Snip a very small tip off the corner of each bag of icing. Pipe a small pink heart for a nose on the front (face) of the truffle. Pipe a pair of eyes and mouth using the black royal icing. Repeat with the remaining small truffles.
• For the bottoms: Dip the cut side of a marshmallow tail in the leftover white coating. Place the tail on top of one of the large truffles and hold in place until the coating sets, about 15 seconds. Dip the cut sides of two marshmallow feet in the leftover white coating. Position them on the truffle below the tail and hold until set in place. Use the pink royal icing to pipe a large oval on the top each foot and 3 small circles underneath for toes. Repeat with the remaining large truffles.
• Return all the truffles to the refrigerator to set, about 10 minutes. Serve chilled.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F.
• Combine wafer crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
• Beat cream cheese, sugar, honey, lemon zest and lemon juice in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add 4 eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.
• Bake 55 min. or until center of cheesecake is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool completely before removing rim.
• Refrigerate cheesecake 4 hrs.
• Beat whipping cream in medium bowl with mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Add marshmallow creme; beat until stiff peaks form.
• Spoon marshmallow creme mixture over cheesecake to within 1/2 inch of edge, then use back of spoon to make 3-inch-diameter indentation in center to resemble a bird's nest.
• Sprinkle marshmallow creme mixture with coconut; fill center with chocolate eggs just before serving.

Steps:

• Lay a sheet of wax paper on the counter top. Mix together the pink food coloring and the granulated sugar (or use pre-colored sugar).
• Cut each marshmallow in half to form two circles. Then cut each circle in half. Press the sticky part of the marshmallow into the pink sugar. Shake off the excess, and set aside.
• Melt the white candy melts as instructed on the package. I use the microwave. Dip the Nutter Butter cookies into the melted chocolate, shake off the excess and lay on the wax paper. Before the chocolate sets, position the ears at the top of the bunny head and press into the candy coating.
• Allow to coating to harden for 20-30 minutes. If the ears don't adhere to the bunny head, you can use a bit of white frosting or additional melted candy to re-attach the ears later.
• Face: Using a tube of black decorating gel, pipe two eyes on each cookie. Next pipe on the nose, using the pink/red decorating icing. At this point I allow the nose icing to harden for 10-15 minutes so I don't smear it when applying the whiskers.
• Mouth/Whiskers: You can pipe these on, but I found it was easier to squirt a small amount of black decorating gel onto the wax paper, then use a fine-tipped paint brush to dray on the mouth and whiskers.