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Granola bird nests with Easter eggs are a fun snack to make for the family for Easter or Spring time. Plus an easy tutorial for creating a puzzle that has to be solved in order to find a hidden Easter basket.
My mom always makes a huge brunch at her house on Easter so we can spend the whole day together. I usually ask her what she wants me to bring but this year I’m bringing these Easter egg granola bird nests! When I think of Spring, I think of baby birds, peeping chicks and fuzzy little bunnies. New life is everywhere, so why not incorporate it into a snack?
Granola bird nests are cute, poppable little snacks that are perfect for an Easter brunch.
Crunchy coconut and cinnamon granola bird nests filled with M&M’s® Easter Sundae “eggs.” Don’t they look just like a real birds nest?
How To Make Granola Bird Nests
They were very simple to make too. I made the granola just like always, except instead of cutting them into bars or chunks, I used a biscuit cutter to cut out circles. I used a 1/2 teaspoon to make an indention in the center and then I let them harden. You’re left with a tray of granola that is missing big circles but I just broke it up into chunks that we can eat as cereal with coconut milk during the week.
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If you haven’t noticed yet, holidays are a huge deal to my family! Ever since I was tiny, my parents always celebrated each holiday to the max. Now that Valentine’s day is behind us, it’s time to start thinking about Easter and Spring!
When I was little, my dad dressed up as an Easter bunny and hopped around the yard dropping eggs behind him. My brother and I were so shocked that a real bunny was visiting us that we didn’t even stop to question where our dad was– until we were older.
The bunny changed colors and outfits every year but we always had an egg hunt that ended in opening our baskets that magically appeared over night. When we got older, the bunny didn’t visit anymore but we still got baskets that were stuffed to the brim and overflowing with goodies. You’re never too old for a basket full of treats and jeweled eggs!
Easter Egg Granola Bird Nests
Ingredients
- 3½ Cups Old fashioned rolled oats
- 1/4 Cup Organic coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink sea salt
- 1/4 Cup Coconut sugar
- 1/2 Cup Maple syrup (Or coconut nectar or agave)
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 Cup Whole almonds, Roughly chopped
- 1/2 Cup Sliced almonds
- 1/2 Cup Pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 Cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup coconut flakes
- 1/4 cup M&M’s® Easter Sundae
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, coconut oil, and salt. Mix thoroughly so each oat is coated lightly in oil. Spread the oats on a lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
- While the oats are toasting, mix the maple syrup and coconut sugar in a small pan over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Add cinnamon and vanilla extract.
- Remove the oats from the oven, and pour them back into a mixing bowl, reduce the heat to 300 degrees.
- Add the nuts, coconut flakes, and seeds. Pour the maple syrup mixture over the oats and stir to combine everything. Scoop the oats out of the bowl and back on to the lined tray. Spread the oats out evenly, and use a piece of parchment paper to lay on top and press down firmly with your palm. Pressing down will help the oats stick together better and form the bars.
- Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let sit for 3-4 minutes.
- You have to work quickly here or the oats will harden before you have a chance to shape them-- get a biscuit cutter and make 12 circles, make sure you press all the way down. Use a thin spatula to slip under the base and transfer each nest to a separate tray.
- Once all nests have been moved to the new tray, put your left hand around the nest to secure it and use the back of a 1/2 tsp to press down and make a dip in the center of each nest.
- Let the nests continue cooling until completely set, about 1 hour.
- Add a few M&M’s® Easter Sundae "eggs" to each granola nest.
- Serve immediately or store granola nests in an airtight container.
Notes
- Crumble up leftover granola pieces to snack on or eat as cereal with coconut milk.
I make my mom an Easter basket every year, and some years I even hid eggs outside and made her find them. She wasn’t too happy about that because by March/April it gets pretty humid outside and it would ruin her hair for the day, but she still did it. I would show you the pictures but she’d probably kill me!
Make Your Own Easter Basket Puzzle Hunt
I didn’t want to just put her basket by the door or sitting on the table– that’s too easy, I wanted her to have to search for it.
So, along with candy filled eggs I drew a picture on a piece of paper and wrote a hint on the back that would lead her to her basket. I cut the paper up into puzzle-shaped pieces and stuffed each piece into an egg and then hid them all. Mom collected all the eggs and had to solve the puzzle and tape it together so she could flip it over to get the hint on the back so she could find her Easter basket!
If you like the image I used for the puzzle, you can use this printable too for your Easter basket puzzle hunt.
Step 1 – Write the clue to where to find the basket on the back of the puzzle.
Step 2 – Flip it over.
Step 3 – Cut up the puzzle into as many pieces as you want.
Step 4 – Fold each piece and put it into an egg.
Step 5 – Mix the puzzle eggs in with the candy-filled eggs, hide them, then let the kids find them and put the puzzle together to get the clue for their basket.
It was really fun to watch her figure it out instead of just handing it to her. This would be great for older kids too. It’s much more fun for them to get involved in the process.
We wanted to make an Easter basket for our good friend’s daughter this year, so we stopped at Walmart to get everything we needed for the basket. Along with all the girly things, we also picked up a bag of mixed brand chocolates (SNICKERS®, DOVE®, M&M’s®, TWIX®, MILKY WAY®, 3 Musketeers®) and the Easter M&M’s® Milk Chocolate to stuff eggs with.
I think she’s really going to love it! You can’t have a basket without an Easter bunny, so we got a DOVE® Solid Milk Chocolate Bunny, a little backpack, a heart-shaped purse, some hair accessories, lip gloss, some silly Easter things like clip-on bunny ears, and eggs that we filled with her favorite Starburst® Strawberry Jellybeans and Starburst® Original Jellybeans.
What are your favorite goodies to fill an Easter basket with? Let me know in the comments!
NEVER MISS A STACEY HOMEMAKER CREATION!
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