Easter Chicks!

 

Last year I decided that I wanted to start making a fun breakfast for holidays. Ron actually does most of the cooking for our holiday dinners. He really enjoys that and is really good at it. I usually end up putting together the side dishes and desserts. Which I don't mind. I love to bake! It makes me happy! We love banana bread for breakfast and since it's rather easy to make I thought it would be the perfect addition to our holiday traditions.  Being me, however, I couldn't just make it plain bread. The artist in me wanted to have some fun. I also wanted to surprise the kids. I waited until they had all gone to bed and then I started baking. I had seen a picture of the chicks before and wanted to make my own version of them. I thought it would be fun to place the chicks in a nest instead of just on a plate or stand. So I baked the banana bread in a round cake pan instead of a loaf pan. I doubled the recipe so I would have enough batter left over to make the chicks. The nest is made from a no bake cookie recipe that I formed over a bowl and then I weaved pretzel sticks into it to make it look more like a nest. I made a cream cheese topping and then colored coconut to give the chicks their fluffy look. I actually found the little eyes at a craft store in their cake decorating section. But you could easily make your own eyes using white chocolate chips or gum paste and dabbing some black food coloring with a tooth pick in the center. To make the beaks I used some orange jelly beans and cut one end off so it looked more like a pointy beak. I have to say I think they turned out so cute!!! It was so much fun to see this all come together. And it was so easy to do! Honestly the hardest part was waiting for the bread to bake and cool down. That was also the longest part. Once the bread was done it didn't take long at all to put everything together. You can color the coconut and cream cheese and cut the beaks all while the bread is baking. You can also make the nest then too. That will give it time to cool and set before you place it on top of the bread. Once the bread is ready all you have to do is spread your topping, place your nest, sprinkle the coconut, set the eyes and beaks and Wallah! You are finished with a cute and adorable Easter morning breakfast. The kids absolutely loved it! It made for a fun and festive morning. After we finished up with all our morning egg hunts(the kids like to make their own hunts around the house) we all sat around the table and enjoyed the morning together. I think I'm going to keep up with this new banana bread tradition. It may not look the same each year, but it sure will be tasty! 

Here are the recipes I used. The banana bread is a recipe I got from a friend as a gift. I'm not sure where they got it from but it sure is yummy! 

• 1/2 cup shortening. I rarely have shortening in my house. I don't use it very often and so I just use butter. It works just as well. I'm sure other substitutes will also work I just haven't tried them.
• 1 cup sugar
• 3-4 very ripe bananas(I always try to go for 4. You can't go wrong!)
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon( I always add in some cloves and nutmeg as well)
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2 cup cold water

Cream shortening(or softened butter) and sugar together. Add beaten eggs, mashed bananas and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together separately and add alternately with water to banana mixture, mixing thoroughly after each addition. You can always add in some chopped nuts or chocolate chips if you want. Another good addition I've added before were some diced strawberries. Mmmmmm.......yummy!

Pour into greased and floured loaf pans(or what ever pan you choose) and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until it's done. It is so so good! It's totally worth it to let bananas get extra ripe for this one!

I don't really have a recipe for the cream cheese topping. I just kind of throw things together. I usually whip some softened cream cheese and add a little bit of softened butter and some milk to make it more like a glaze than frosting. I also add some powdered sugar to sweeten it a bit. I don't really measure it. I just sort of eyeball it and add it all together little bits at a time till I like the taste.

The no bake cookie recipe I use is also simple and fun to make. My kids love it. You will need:

• 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1/2 Butter
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup Peanut Butter
• 3 cups Quick Oats

I melt the butter in a large sauce pan and add the sugar and cocoa and mix them together. Then I add everything else one at a time making sure to add the oats last. Once they are all mixed together you can drop them by the spoonful onto wax paper to cool and set. Once you can pick them up without them falling a part they are ready to eat! They make a yummy and tasty treat!

Enjoy and have fun!