Easter is almost upon us, so I thought I’d share a fun Easter themed cupcake with ya’ll in honor of the holiday!  I made everything from scratch, but you can still get the same cute result by using boxed vanilla cake mix and store-bought cream cheese frosting if you’re short on time (or energy).  Enjoy!


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Things Needed to Assemble one Chick & Egg Cupcake:

A vanilla cupcake (recipe below)
Cream cheese frosting (recipe below)
Green coconut grass (recipe below)
Colored candied malt balls, M&Ms, or jelly beans
A chick peep
White airhead candy

Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup white sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake tin with paper liners.  Using a mixer or food processor, mix sugar and butter until light and fluffy (sometimes I like to just use my hands).  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, then add milk.  In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Slowly pour the flour mixture into the wet mixture.  Evenly fill the cupcake tins to about 3/4 of the paper liner and bake for 18-25 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: Mix the cream cheese and butter until creamy.  Add in vanilla, then slowly stir in confectioners sugar.

Coconut Grass

Ingredients
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1-2 teaspoons green food coloring
1 teaspoon yellow food coloring

Directions: Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put coconut in a shallow bowl and add food coloring until the right color is reached.  If color is too dark, dilute it by adding a few tablespoons of water.  Drain the coconut of the water and coloring, then spread it on a lined baking sheet.  Place coconut in the oven until its dry (about 10 minutes).

ASSEMBLY OF THE EASTER CUPCAKES:

1. Frost cupcake with the frosting.
2. Press coconut grass on top of the frosting.
3. Press the peep onto the center of the grass (to help the peep stay put, I actually cut off the bottoms of the peeps so that the sticky layer is exposed).
4. Cut a white airhead into a half oval shape.  Trim one side so that it has the cracked egg jagged edge.  Stick that in front of the chick peep.
5. Nestle the egg candies (M&Ms, jellybeans, or malt balls) on the grass in front of the cracked egg.

Adapted from: Chicken and Egg Easter Cupcakes from The Food Network, and Vanilla Cupcakes from The Joy of Baking.