Easter Baking & Recipes

It's traditional to bake a simnel cake or hot cross buns for Easter.

Easter recipes for hot cross buns, cakes and biscuits are full of exotic spices and tastes, wafting delicious tasting smells through your kitchen.

With food at this time full of sugar and carbohydrates, a little creativity will allow you to eat healthy food whilst enjoying traditional Easter fare.

Easter Cooking for Kids

Kids enjoy baking at Easter time, decorating eggs and dreaming of the Easter bunny delivering delicious chocolate eggs.

Why not cook up some of your favorite low-sugar cakes, adding drops of pretty yellow coloring and a few sprinkles to get into the Easter spirit?

Baking for Easter

Traditional cooking is full of white flour and carbs, and will need some adapting for a diabetic diet.

If you already have your favorite baking recipes, adapting your recipe by changing from white to ½ whole wheat (wholemeal), ½ white flour is a good move.

As a diabetic you'll still need to limit their intake, but this adaptation should help manage your blood sugar levels better.

For an easier method, rather than attempting baking, buy wholemeal hot cross buns, halved and toasted, with a thin layer of real butter, for a special holiday treat. Easy & delicious !

If you're very keen to make your own spiced buns, here's the recipe that's full of flavour that we've used for years:-

Hot Cross Buns Recipe

This is a trusted favorite - take time to enjoy making these tasty buns, which make store-bought ones look like pale imitations of the real thing

Ingredients

• 250g strong white bread flour
• 250g wholemeal bread flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• 50g sugar
• 1 sachet yeast
• 100ml milk
• 100ml water
• 75g softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• ½tsp mace
• 50g raisins
• 50g candied mixed peel

1. Beat the egg
2. Boil the water
3. Add flours, yeast, spices and salt to a bowl
4. Mix the water and sugar, until sugar dissolves
5. Add milk
6. Cut up butter and mix in to flour mix
7. Make a well in the centre of the flour mix, break in one egg and stir in
8. Knead with hands or dough hook
9. Cover and set aside dough until well risen (this will take an hour or more, depending on the room temperature)
10. Preheat oven to 230C, 450F
11. Knead in the raisins and peel
12. Cut dough into 15-18 pieces
13. Shape into round buns and place on greased baking tray
14. Take one egg, beat well and use to baste the buns
15. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise for 20-30 minutes
16. Cut a cross in the top, to make the hot "cross"
17. Bake in hot oven for 10-15 minutes

Whilst the buns are baking, make a bun wash using 50g sugar and 75ml water.  Boil until it looks thick and syrupy.  Brush over freshly baked buns.

Serve warm or halved and toasted with butter.

Easter Dinner Recipes for the Family

For a traditional dinner menu, serve roast lamb or baked ham, roast sweet potatoes & parsnips and heaps of fresh seasonal vegetables.

For dessert, serve a seasonal crumble pudding, or gently poach plums in red wine.

Easter Egg Hunt for Kids

For kids with diabetes - jazz it up by asking family to give them a small non-chocolate gift to unwrap.

You can buy plain chocolate Easter eggs, if you want them to have a proper egg, but use small hollow eggs mixed with mini gifts for their Easter egg hunt.

Or use food coloring to paint boiled eggs in pretty shades or patterns and hide around the house and garden.

You may even find they prefer this kind of fun hunting!