Easter Recipe Roundup

When all of this Coronavirus began, I think we can all agree we’d be in the clear by Easter. I already had a couple of dresses hearted on Rent the Runway I planned to wear to church, and was starting to brainstorm what dessert I’d make for Easter brunch. The past few years, my family and my sister’s in-laws (our friends too!!) have gotten together and had brunch at my parent’s house. Ham, cheese grits, deviled eggs, Sue’s strawberry salad, Ingrid’s butterfly rolls and a rotating dessert have always been on the menu. It’s a nice little tradition we had going on.

This year we are putting traditions aside for obvious reasons. I’m still quarantining at my parents, so we ordered an Easter meal for the three of us from a local restaurant, will watch church online and plan to drive by to watch my nieces hunt eggs in their front yard…we’ll be watching from inside our car. It’s going to be weird, no other way to say it, but I think it’s important to still focus on why we celebrate Easter and still treat it like a holiday.

I know I’m very lucky to be with my parents right now, especially over a holiday. However, I know it’s going to be extra tough for those who can’t be with loved ones this weekend. But, like I said I think it’s still important to treat it like a holiday. Make a festive breakfast, put on a dress or just something nicer than leggings and a t-shirt, find an Easter service to watch online, and maybe schedule a Facetime date with family or friends to cook or bake a recipe together! I rounded up 25 Easter recipes from Take A Bite and some trusted sites. Baking has been therapeutic for so many during quarantine, and this weekend is the perfect time to try a new recipe!

Banana Bread
Banana Sheet Cake
Best Breakfast Casserole
Blueberry Banana Streusel Muffins
Creamy Lemon Vegan Bars

Four Layer Coconut Cake

Funfetti Cake
Homemade Oreos (with pastel-colored cream)
Key Lime Pie
Lavender Cupcakes
Lemon Loaf
Orange and Olive Oil Coffee Cake
Signature Sugar Cookies (cut into bunny and egg and cross shapes)

And now a few recipes I’ve made or recommend from sites I trust!

NYT Cooking Almond Cake (this came highly recommended by my sister Claire, only 5 ingredients!)
Cook’s Illustrated Banana Cream Pie
Half Baked Harvest’s Bunny Cookies
Bon Appetit’s Cardamon-Pistachio Carrot Cake
The Pioneer Woman’s Carrot Cake

Half Baked Harvest’s Coconut Carrot Cake Cheesecake (need us not forget the year when two of these cheesecakes showed up at Easter brunch)

The Baker Mama’s Easter Snack Mix
NYTCooking’s Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
Fiveandspice’s Orange Scented Olive Oil Sticky Buns (this video will make you want to make them!)
Bon Appetit’s Sour Cream and Onion Biscuits
Elisabeth & Butter’s Strawberry Cream Scones
Hummingbird High’s Small Batch Easter Egg Cookies (perfect if it’s just you and a roommate or a small family)

Though it may be different this year, it can still be special. Happy Easter!

Annie

Bites of My Life

As we enter week 4 of social distancing, it’s feeing more and more normal. However I think this upcoming weekend is going to be hard and one of the hardest for a lot of people. With Easter this coming Sunday, but everyone still having to shelter in place, it’s going to look different. Some traditions will have to be set to the side. This is something I hate to see, but have grown to adapt to and accept change better as I’ve gotten older. There is so much change happening right now, and I hope and pray you are all hanging in there!

I’m working on an Easter baking blog post that I hope to get up tomorrow. If you can’t be with loved ones, maybe you plan a facetime baking date? Lemon loaf baked with your family or friends with the help of technology? That’s a new tradition I can get behind!

-Finally made #thestew. I loved it, but this recipe already had my name written all over it before I even cooked it. Turmeric, coconut milk, chickpeas, sold.
-The worst part of quarantining in OKC is that my little nieces are down the street and I can’t play with them. Got to say hi from 6 feet away though!
-Finally tried my hand at Dalgona/Whipped coffee! Have you seen this social media sensation? I’m still tweaking my recipe but shared my tips on IG highlights.
-Best friend zoom turned murder mystery. Oh and I was the one who got murdered….
-Did you see my April Fool’s post?
-Not that we are snobs, but we are kind of food snobs. We felt out of character eating frozen pizza, but not for one second did we think it wasn’t delicious. Props to my dad for stocking the freezer with TJ’s finest.
-Experimenting with a little something that involves these butterfly prints!
-Since everyone is breaking bread during quarantine, I couldn’t be left out! Used this recipe and it turned out great!
-Started my Friday baking bread, ended my Friday baking Perfect CCCs on Facebook Live!
-And then really topped off the day with this broccoli bolognese which I highly recommend.
-Just me, Gabe and my ankle weights for a Saturday stroll.
-Week 3 of quarantine IG Live’s, this week making my Creamy Vegan Lemon Bars! Full video is saved on instagram.

Annie

Meals of Corona: What I've Been Eating, Making and Plan To Eat/Make

A positive of self-distancing is seeing all the fun things people are baking and cooking during the quarantine. This time has brought on a lot of anxiety and uncertainty for people. I know cooking and baking can be scary for some, but I also know I’m not alone when I say that cooking and baking is a stress release. Even if you aren’t the best cook or baker, I’ve seen so many people via social media, getting out of their comfort zone and getting into the kitchen. So if you are stress-baking or cooking like me, I thought it would be fun to share what I’ve been making and plan to make!

Perfect CCCs: This is a no brainer and maybe obnoxious by this point if you follow me on social media. On Sunday, I filmed an Instagram Live making my coveted cookies and it was the most fun I’ve had of all quarantine. You can watch the live recording on my IGTV!

The Cookies: This Alison Roman recipe went viral on the internet over a year ago, so good chance you’ve seen these before. However, I never got around to making them. I feel accomplished after checking these off my baking to-do list. I even have another Alison Roman recipe planned for #coronoacooking.

Avocado Toast: Lot’s of avocado toast. I’ve been on a big avo toast kick in 2020 and corona hasn’t stopped that. When I was packing to come home for a friend’s wedding shower before all this happened, I knew I would likely be home a few extra days. Along with my dress for the shower and some lounge clothes, my bag of Ezekiel 7 Grain Bread also got packed to come home. Avo toast for breakfast and lunch have been on rotation. I top mine with turmeric, a pinch of cayenne, salt and pepper. A drizzle of olive oil when I feel fancy.

Non-Dairy Yogurt: It’s been a little luxurious quarantining at my parents. Access to their fridge and groceries is a blessing I’m not blind too. They always have Whole Foods granola stocked, so I equally stocked up on non-dairy yogurt to enjoy with it. I love Lava and Siggi’s new coconut yogurt!

Loaded Salads: I ate this salad everyday for my WFH lunch last week. Prepped chicken, avocado and pickled red onions made for a filling and colorful lunch in the midst of scary, sad, confusing coronoa work from home reality. Grab some frozen chicken breasts and grill or cook in a skillet 2-3 of them to have in your fridge. If you can score a rotisserie chicken at the store, that would be something great to have in your fridge. Slice up a red onion to make quick pickled red onions (the key for upping any dish), I then added celery, avocado over greens and drizzled with just olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Quarantini: While virtual happy hours are becoming more frequent and a drink to end the day is becoming the norm to warm off the stress of the situation, I bring you my under 70 calorie “quarantini.” It’s essentially a Ranch Water, but using La Croix instead of Topo Chico.

1-2 oz of Casamigos Tequila
A hefty slash of lime juice (I like my drinks really limey)
1/2 of a Cherry Lime La Croix (my favorite flavor)
ice

Wannabe Bibimbap Bowls: I love bibimbap and when Alex posted these easy bowls she made from just some ground beef, I quickly made plans to make them. The store was out of kimchi so I got this pickled cauliflower from the olive bar. I did cauli rice and made jasmine rice for my parents, the full recipe is posted in her feed!

What Is on My Covid Cooking List:
No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread
The Stew
2-Ingredient Shakshuka
Lemon Loaf (so good for Easter)
Teddy Bear Snickerdoodles
Basically anything by Half Baked Harvest
A killer pasta, we have some fettuccine ready to be used, any recipe suggestions?
An epic cheese board for dinner (because there are no rules in quarantine)

I had way too much fun filming an IG Live making my Perfect CCC’s, I asked what I should make on IG Live next. Here are a few follower requested recipes I wanted to share if I don’t get to filming them live!
Zucchini Bread
Banana Bread
Blueberry and Banana Streusel Muffins
Banana Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Sugar Cookie Pizza with Strawberry Icing
Brownies
Homemade Oreos
Campfire Cookies

Happy corona cooking!
Annie

Homemade Oreos

I originally published this post in April 2013. It was my second post in the history of Take A Bite. Nostalgia! This recipe was originally not my own. I first saw them on my favorite blogger’s site back in the day and she too was sharing them from another blogger I used to love. Along with updated blog copy and photos, I also updated the recipe making them even more quintessential to the classic Oreo flavor. Enjoy!

My cousin Clay loves these Homemade Oreos. Like brings them up about every other time he is with our family. For good reason, they are great. We were altogether about a month ago and they came up in conversation. I hadn’t made them in forever, and I’ve been loving updating old TAB archive recipes (see here and here so far), so this was a must on the “to bake” list.

Switching gears a little, but does anyone else watch Bon Appetit’s YouTube series Gourmet Makes? Being the food freak that I am, I fall asleep to Claire Saffitz episodes remaking nostalgic junk food dishes. Her episode on Oreos was one of the first few episodes she filmed, but still one of my favorites. Long story short, but I felt like Claire Saffitz for a second while I re-made these! Maybe I should be calling them Gourmet Oreos?

Homemade Oreos
yields 40 sandwich cookies

Wafer Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened 
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp. salt*
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa (you can use Hershey’s Extra Dark cocoa to resemble the dark color of a true Oreo wafer, but regular dutch process cocoa works great)
½ tsp. baking soda

Filling Ingredients:
¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature,
¼ cup shortening, room temperature*
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Wafer Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, and baking soda and set aside.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream softened butter, sugar and salt on high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Scrape the sides down and then beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated.

With the mixer on low, slowly add in the dry ingredients. Mix until the dough is combined.

Turn the dough onto a clean surface. Divide into two and form flat discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to an hour. 

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. To roll out the dough, take one disc of the dough between two sheets of parchment paper (the dough can be rolled out on a lightly floured surface, but the parchment prevents any additional flour from altering the color/appearance of the dark cookies). Roll the dough between the two sheets of parchment to ¼-inch thickness.

Using a 1½ inch round cookie cutter, cut out each wafer. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet leaving only ½ inch between each (they don’t spread much). Repeat until all dough has been used. Bake for 15 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Remove cookies from oven and let cool on a cooling rack.

Filling Directions:
In an electric mixer, beat the room-temperature butter and shortening, powdered sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. 

Assembly:
Using a pastry bag full of filling or a dinner knife, add a dollop of filling to one cookie. Top with another cookie and lightly squeeze together. 

Serve with a glass of milk and enjoy. 

Notes:
*When it comes to salt: Oreos cookies are not that sweet when you think about them. It’s the filing that makes them sweet. Don’t be alarmed by the low amount of sugar and a high amount of salt. It’s the balance you need to make the perfect bittersweet cookie to stand up to the filling. 

*When it comes to shortening: you can easily use ½ cup unsalted butter instead of the butter/shortening combo. However, I think the shortening really gives you that nostalgic Oreo cream flavor.

My favorite part of these updated posts are sharing the original photography. Let’s all just take a moment to observe the Instagram filters being used here. I think these were maybe Amaro or Lof? What a time to be alive.

With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, I couldn’t help but make a pink cream-filled version! I cut a little heart out of a few “tops” so more pink was revealed. Xoxo!

Annie

Ginger Cookies

Ginger Cookies are one of my most favorite Tucker family recipes. They are up there with my mom’s chili and hashbrown quiche. Hashbrown quiche needs to make it’s way to the blog soon now that I think about it.

Growing up, the first batch of ginger cookies signified the start of fall or the holiday season. I have vivid memories of coming home from school to my mom making ginger cookies and being genuinely so happy. Sneaking more bites of dough than the actual cookies.

The original recipe makes almost 7 dozen cookies. I am giving you half the ingredients because having 7 dozen cookies around isn’t good for anyone. I say that because you will make them and then realize you just ate 84 cookies, they are that good. However, if you are attending a holiday cookie swap, these are your cookies!!

The recipe couldn’t be simpler. No wet and dry ingredient separation. All the ingredients go into a mixer at once and you’re done!

Ginger Cookies
yields 30-32 cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
¼ cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. ground ginger
sugar

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease with cooking spray or line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the first 9 ingredients in a stand mixer fixed with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until the dough comes together, about 1 minute. Pour about 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar in a low dish or bowl. Roll dough into tablespoon-size balls, then roll in sugar. Place on a cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a drinking glass, flatten each ball of dough lightly.

Bake for 7-9 minutes. As usual, I stress not to over-bake cookies. These are ginger cookies, not gingersnaps meaning they are to be soft and chewy, not crisp and crunchy. Mine are perfectly done at 8 minutes.

Annie