5 Easter Brunch Ideas: Great Ways for Family Fun

I hope it’s sunny for our first family get-together since June. While we’ve been fully vaccinated, our children have not. So we’ll wear masks, keep distant, and eat outdoors. I’m brimming with Easter brunch ideas to make the day memorable. We’ve had too many special occasions via zoom last year.

Easter Brunch Idea #1: Setting the Table

A pretty table sets the theme and mood. I always have a little treat at each place setting. This year, it’s Easter bunnies filled with chocolate eggs. You could purchase mini baskets such as these, and fill them with Easter candy.

Tulips or daffodils say spring, and my flower napkin rings, treat-filled plastic eggs, and little chicks will add to the Easter theme. I’ll set the table with worry-free Ikea stemmed glasses. Miss T will have her own little stemmed glass because I like a child to have facility with a glass fancier than a tumbler; Master N, just four, will use a plastic cup.

Easter Brunch Idea #2: Food for the Festivity

While I’ve decided on my table setting, I’m still working on the menu. I’ll keep it simple, except for dessert.

I’ll make an apricot tart, a recipe from Bon Appétit from 1999. I’ve made this recipe many times through the years. In my experience, the tart can finish baking as early as 15 minutes before the time specified in the recipe, so watch carefully. Also, put a rimless baking sheet under the removable-bottom tart pan to catch any drips that could ruin your oven. The baking sheet also makes it easier to remove the tart without damaging the crust.

No need to be embarrassed using canned apricots for this recipe. Even Jaques Pépin turns to canned, off-season.

The apricot tart is somewhat time-consuming. If you want less of a hassle, turn plain frosted cupcakes, made from scratch, a mix, or purchased from the bakery, into Easter bunny cupcakes.

Easter Bunny Cupcakes: Tint sweetened flaked coconut with green gel color for the grass. For the bunny, use kitchen shears to snip “V” cuts on the side of the marshmallow to form ears and dip a toothpick into brown gel color to make the face. Add jelly beans for Easter eggs.

To serve, group the cupcakes together on a cake plate and use them as a table centerpiece, or set a cupcake at each place.

Even simpler, than bunny cupcakes, just decorate any store-bought dessert with Easter decorations.

Peeps Pie: Just arrange Peeps chicks around the center of a store-bought pie.

Easter Brunch Idea #3 Baby Treats

Toddler grandkids shouldn’t be eating candy, so make bunny toasts for their Easter basket.

Bunny Toasts: Cut bunny shapes with cookie cutters from white bread. Lightly brush with melted butter on one side. Poke a small hole with a skewer for the eye and insert a currant or a small bit of raisin, pressing it into the hole with the skewer to lodge it it in firmly.

Arrange the bunnies on a baking sheet, butter-side down and bake for 5 minutes in a 350-degree F oven. Turn bunnies and bake about 10 to 13 minutes more, or until they are crisp, dry, and lightly browned. Test one of the bunnies by breaking it in half, to make sure it is toasted throughout. If the center is still soft, the bunnies will not stay crisp. Cool on a wire rack and package in airtight containers.

Easter Brunch Idea #4 Craft some Cascarones

I’m making some confetti eggs, called cascarones, that we can crush over the heads of one another, in the Mexican tradition This is a good project to make ahead with kids. Here’s how to make them with the grandkids, even if you are distanced.

You could use these as part of your table centerpiece, or hide them as part of an Easter egg hunt, which is quite motivating. The child who gathers the most cascarones can do the most “damage” while others who find few will be defenseless.

Easter Brunch Idea #5 Ensure a Fun Afternoon

Plan on some fun activities with the grandkids to make this gathering more than about sitting down to a meal together.

Easter Egg Hunt: I didn’t want to use real Easter eggs on the ground and in the dirt, so I bought pre-stuffed plastic eggs. Each egg is filled with a tiny finger puppet. Although they’re all supposed to be different, of the 24, 10 of mine were repeats. No matter, because I can fill those with other treats.

Easter Egg Fight: Don’t forget to tap your hard-boiled egg against an opponent’s; winner takes on another challenger and the tapping proceeds, until all the eggs but one are cracked. The person with the intact egg is the declared the winner.

Make Giant Bubbles: You can buy a giant bubble kit or make bubble solution yourself. I try to save giant bubbles for special occasions so the kids don’t tire of it.

Egg and Spoon Race: Divide into teams, and bring out the spoons and Easter eggs. When grandkids are a few years apart, as ours are, create handicaps to keep the games competitive, such as having the older one take an extra lap around the course, or having to hold the spoon out to the side.

Bingo: For a more quiet game, consider bingo. It’s one of the games the grandkids and I played over FaceTime while distant. This is a game everyone can play together. Offer small prizes to keep the game interesting.

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