Ingredients:
1 cup whole nuts...walnuts, pecans, or almonds
zip lock bag
wooden spoon
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
salt
Almond or vanilla extract (optional)
1 cup confectioners sugar
mini marshmallows (optional)
tape (scotch, masking, painter's, duck!)
Children's Bible
Directions:
These are best made the evening before Easter.
Preheat oven to 300*
*Because this is essentially a meringue cookie, you MUST have your oven preheated before baking
1. Put nuts in the zip lock bag and have the kids beat them with the wooden spoon until they are in very small pieces. This symbolizes how Jesus was arrested and beaten by the Roman soldiers. You may also read John 19:1-3 from a Children's Bible or paraphrase the story.
2. Have the kids smell the vinegar. Add 1 teaspoon vinegar into mixing bowl. This symbolizes how Jesus was given vinegar to drink when he was very thirsty on the cross. You may also read John 19:28-30 from a Children's Bible or paraphrase.
3. Add the egg whites to the vinegar in the mixing bowl. You may start whipping the eggs at this point. Share with the kids that the reason we have eggs at Easter is because they are the symbol of life and Jesus died to give us life. You may also read John 10:10&11 from a Children's Bible or paraphrase.
4. Sprinkle a bit of salt onto the child's hand. Have them taste a bit of it and then brush the rest into the bowl with the other ingredients. (the salt acts as a stabilizer so that the eggs can reach their maximum volume when whipped.) The salt symbolizes Jesus' followers tears and our sins You may also read Read: Luke 23:27 from a Children's Bible or paraphrase.
5. Finally! Add the 1 cup of sugar, one spoonful at a time. The sugar represents the sweetest part of the story: that Jesus died for us because he loves us and wants us to know that from now on we are HIS. You may read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16 or paraphrase.
6. Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until very stiff peaks form. (at this point I usually add 1 teaspoon of almond extract because it adds a nice flavor to the cookie...you could say that it symbolizes the special oils that were used on Jesus' body. The white peaks symbolize the purity of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus' death. You may read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.
7. When mixture reaches stiff peaks, stop and carefully fold in the broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. (the parchment can represent the white linen cloth Jesus' body was wrapped in. (At this point, you can push a mini marshmallow into each mound to assure that it will be empty, but I find that the cookie usually hollows out on its own. Make sure you cover the top of the marshmallow with the cookie mixture). Each cookie mound symbolizes the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. You may read Matthew 27:57-60 or paraphrase.
8. Put the cookies in the oven and set your timer for 20 minutes. Have each child put a piece of tape to seal the door. The tape symbolizes how Jesus' tomb was sealed. You may read Matthew 27:65-66 or paraphrase.
9. Have the kids go to bed! The sadness they feel about leaving the cookies in the oven alone overnight represents the feelings that Jesus' followers had when they left his tomb after it was sealed. You may read John 16:20&22.
MAKE SURE YOU TURN YOUR OVEN OFF AFTER 20 MINUTES!
LEAVE THE COOKIES IN THE OVEN OVERNIGHT AND DON'T OPEN THE DOOR! Meringue cookies need to slowly dry out to be tasty and crunchy on the outside.
10. On Easter Morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. The surface should be cracked and when you take a bite, the cookies should be hollow! The cracks symbolize how the rock was moved and the hollow cookie symbolizes the empty tomb! You may read Matthew 28:1-9
For those of you who bring cookies to your Easter Celebrations at your Churches, this is the perfect cookie. It should make about 2 dozen.
