# Easter Basket Cupcakes
> Bake rainbow-swirl cupcakes from a boxed cake mix, then frost them and top with green-tinted coconut 'grass', jelly bean 'eggs' and a licorice handle to turn each one into a little Easter basket. Kids can do most of the coloring and decorating.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/easter-treats-for-kids-basket-cupcakes/
- Ages: 3–8 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 1 hr 10 min, activity 20 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class
- Skills: colors, color-mixing, fine-motor, cooking-skills
- Cautions: food-dye, wheat-gluten, egg, dairy, corn, nuts

## Materials (one batch)
- 1 box Boxed cake mix (plus the ingredients listed on the box)
- Food coloring (assorted colors, including green)
- Frosting (white or light)
- Shredded coconut (coconut flakes)
- 1 piece Black or red licorice twists
- 3 piece Jelly beans
- Cupcake liners (household)
- 1 piece Muffin/cupcake tin (household)
- Small cups or bowls for coloring batter portions (household)
- Water (household)
- Spoons and butter knives or spreaders (household)

## Substitutions
- Instead of licorice: Red licorice (The post lists black or red licorice.)

## Safety
- Adult handles the oven and hot cupcake pan.
- Jelly beans and licorice can be choking hazards for young children. Supervise closely and use your judgment for toddlers and preschoolers.
- This is real food to eat. Before serving to a group, check every child's allergies and your school's food policy. Coconut, wheat in licorice and cake mix, egg and dairy in batter and frosting, corn syrup in candy, and food dyes are all possible.
- Everyone washes hands before baking and decorating.
- Food coloring can stain hands, clothes and counters.

## Before you start
- Check allergies and food rules for every child before planning to serve.
- For a class or big group, an adult can bake and cool the cupcakes ahead, so kids only frost and decorate.
- Tint the coconut green ahead if time at the table is short.

## Steps
1. Make the cake batter following the directions on the box.
2. Split the batter into small cups and stir a different food color into each cup.
3. Gently mix the colored portions back together into one batter and spoon it into the cupcake liners.
4. Adult: bake the cupcakes following the box directions, then let them cool completely.
5. Spread frosting on top of each cooled cupcake.
6. Mix shredded coconut with a few drops of green food coloring and a little water to make Easter grass.
7. Press the green grass onto the frosting. The frosting works like glue.
8. Add jelly beans on top for the eggs.
9. Bend a licorice twist into an arch and push both ends into the cupcake for the basket handle.

## Tips
- Easy is my motto when it comes to baking with kids. These need only a handful of ingredients.
- You can stick to typical Easter colors, but my kid wanted rainbow colors and that's what we did.
- The frosting acts as glue to hold the coconut grass and jelly beans in place.
- It's tricky having a 4 year old in the kitchen, but it's worth it just to see how much she enjoys baking.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

Making Easter treats for kids is such a joyous experience. With so many possibilities, we chose a simple recipe that appeared to be doable. While it is tricky having a 4 year old in my kitchen, I still love baking with her every now and then simply to see how much SHE enjoys baking and cooking in general. With Easter coming up pretty fast, we made a batch of yummy Easter treats for the kids. Just like all our creations, this one is very simple to whip up. Easy is my motto when it comes to baking with kids. These Easter treats need only a handful of ingredients. ***Easter Treats for kids : Basket Cupcakes***

- Cake Mix
- Food Colors
- Frosting
- Shredded coconut
- Black/red licorice

I used my trusty cake mix to create a basic batter. We split the batter into smaller portions in cups and added different food colors to each cup. You can stick to typical Easter colors for this Easter treat. But my kid wanted to do rainbow colors and that's what we did. Once we had our colored batter portions, we gently mixed them up into a single batter and baked our cupcakes according to the directions.  Once the cooled cupcakes were frosted, we needed "grass" for our Easter Basket cupcakes. I used shredded coconut/**coconut flakes mixed with a few drops of green food coloring** and a little bit of water. We mixed them all up and got our Easter grass for this Easter treat. We added the grass onto the frosting which acts as glue to hold them up together. **Jelly beans for eggs** and our Easter treats for kids are ready to go. 

Our basket cupcakes 

Thanks for reading Please take a moment to comment Visit our [**Easter Category**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/holidays/easter/) for more ideas we have shared recently. For more ideas for a great Easter craft, visit our **Easter Craft Board** . We also have a **Spring Activities Board.** [](https://www.funlittles.com/spring-art-egg-carton-sheep/) [](https://www.funlittles.com/spring-craft-color-matching-garden/) [](https://www.funlittles.com/spring-craft-abc-garden/) [](https://www.funlittles.com/easter-activities-for-intentional-learning/)

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