How are you preparing for Easter? I think that any holiday, especially on a Sunday, is a great excuse to set up a brunch table. So I prepared a roundup of fabulous sweet and savory baking recipes and drinks to inspire you. Some are easy and perfect for adding at the last minute to your menu. These are our favorites.
This recipe roundup is updated every year with new content.
Every year I gather with family, sometimes old friends, and celebrate around a nice brunch table for Easter.
It's always special and there's always too much food, as pertains to those of us brought up with any type of Italian heritage.
Setting the table: take the time to think about what color palette you want that goes with your food. Easter and Spring are all about light and sunshine (hopefully) so make sure your plates and linens match the spirit you want for the brunch.
The recipes
The great thing about baking is that most recipes are good to eat year-round. We are not as eager to bake in the scorching summer, but spring and fall are perfect occasions. And a holiday is the perfect excuse.
These are, hands down, my favorites for Easter.
Drinks
Rosé Wine Sangria
A wonderful strawberry sangria recipe with rosé wine. It's the perfect light drink that takes 10 minutes to prepare and lasts several hours.
Pink Lemonade
A twist on a favorite classic, our pink lemonade has just the right amount of sweetness and a burst of berry flavor. A quick, fun and colorful drink made with fresh ingredients.
White Wine Sangria
Making white sangria takes 10 minutes and lasts for hours, making it a perfect drink for brunch. It's a great pitcher cocktail.
Savory
I have to confess that savory baking is one of my favorite things. And eating the results is a big part of why I love it.
Avocado Deviled Eggs
These appetizer eggs are incredibly creamy, tasty and super simple to whip up! The avocado adds flavor and unctuousness, and they're so pretty.
Maple Bourbon Ham
Glazing a ham is quite effortless, and it is a wonderful centerpiece for an Easter brunch or lunch table.
Italian Spinach Pie
This pie is a classic, with a unique crust made with oil that is flaky and fabulous! I grew up eating it and have made it countless times.
Ham Cheese Strata
A creamy bread pudding. This old-fashioned brunch or breakfast casserole recipe has few ingredients and is very adaptable.
Salmon Quiche
Quiche is a fancy tart with a buttery crust and a rich, creamy filling. This variation is easy to make and flavorful, with fresh, smoked or cured salmon.
Slow-Roasted Leg of Lamb
It's much easier to make than you might think. Flavorful, moist, and served with gravy from its juices and roasted veggies, it can be made ahead.
BLT Deviled Eggs
Creamy deviled eggs with crispy bacon, lettuce and tomato. These are as cute as they're delicious!
Homemade Gravlax
Gravlax is so easy to make! It's cured fresh salmon. Wonderfully tasty, salty sweet, and a great appetizer.
Easy Baked Ricotta
This simple recipe is quick and easy to make. It can be mixed by hand or in the food processor if you want a smoother texture.
Crustless Quiche Recipe
A simple, flavorful dish great for brunch or a light lunch. It's egg-based and very versatile with fillings. Ready in less than an hour, it keeps well for several days.
Pizza Rustica Pie
This is a classic Italian savory pie made with ricotta, cheese, and cold meats. It's a traditional dish for Easter and a great recipe for leftovers.
Tomato Galette
Galette is the French word for a free-form pie recipe. It's the easiest way to make a pie without a pie dish, and it's so delicious!
Mushroom Quiche
Quiche is a short, fancy tart with a buttery crust and a rich, creamy filling. Mushrooms and leeks make this recipe extraordinary and full of flavor.
Bread, Scones & Muffins
There are some traditional recipes below that I love to include on a holiday table. All brunches should have bread and cookies, of course!
Italian Easter Bread
What better way to celebrate Easter than making these cute little braids with dyed eggs in the center? Serve each guest their own or use them as table decorations.
Hot Cross Buns
These are traditional little sweet Easter buns. They are super soft, tender, with a hint of cinnamon, and studded with raisins. They can be made ahead and frozen.
Coconut Muffins
Very easy, bakery-style toasted coconut muffins with a soft, moist crumb that will rise wonderfully. They're plain, flavorful and perfect for Easter brunch.
Easter Bread Ring with Pastry Cream
This is a take on the classic Italian bread with a hint of citrus and crowned with pastry cream. We call it Easter Ring, and it's a must for this holiday.
Glazed Easter Braid
A favorite sweet dough with simple flavors that is braided, baked until golden, and glazed.
Raspberry Muffins
This delicious raspberry muffin recipe will rise, crack, and bake to a golden brown. They're moist and soft, with a subtle lemon flavor and bursting raspberries.
Best Strawberry Scones
A fabulous tender scone with strawberry bits that bakes to a golden brown and has the most eye-catching pink drizzle of strawberry glaze.
Pineapple Coconut Bread
This is a simple quick bread with a complex flavor. The coconut gives it texture, and the pineapple adds a hint of fruity flavor.
Blueberry Scones
Scones that are bursting with blueberries, this recipe makes tender, buttery, flaky ones that are ready in an hour and can be frozen.
Crunchy Almond Bread
A gorgeous holiday braid, with a crunchy almond crust and a soft, fluffy crumb. It can be made ahead and frozen.
Cookies and Candy
Easter is not complete without cookies and easy candy recipes. Here are our favorites.
Easter Bunny Bait
Also known as Easter muddy buddies, this sweet snack combines cereal with chocolate, candies and nuts. It's no-bake and easy to make.
Coconut Shortbread
This buttery coconut shortbread is quite simple to make. A different type of shortbread that can be dipped in chocolate or eaten plain.
Lemon Ricotta Cookies
These glazed Italian lemon cookies are melt-in-your-mouth good, soft from the ricotta cheese and bursting with zesty lemon flavor.
Easter Bark
Super easy thin chocolate bars with chopped mini eggs and sprinkles. It takes 10 minutes plus extra time to set.
Lemon Crinkles
These cookies are a crowd-pleaser—simply sensational! They are perfectly tender, easy to make, and have a fresh lemon flavor.
Cadbury Egg Cookies
These are easy, cute, and delicious cookies. Made with chopped chocolate mini eggs and almonds, they're especially great for brunch.
Peanut Clusters
The easiest chocolate candy ever. It's a simple concept of mixing chocolate with peanuts and a little bit of salt.
Snickerdoodle Cookies
These traditional cookies are sweet and soft, with that slight tang that makes them unique. Rolled in cinnamon sugar, they're a crowd-pleaser.
Almond Macaroons
Italian macaroons are naturally gluten-free cookies made with almonds and egg whites. The chocolate drizzle will make almond and cookie lovers swoon.
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Soft and chewy peanut butter cookies with a chocolate center, these cookies are easy to make and loved by everyone.
Chocolate Nut Cookies
These intense chocolate cookies have nuts, a shiny, crackly skin, and a dark chocolate fudgy center with chocolate chips that is gooey and incredibly rich.
White Almond Cookies
Soft, chewy, and delicious, these cookies are a one-bowl recipe full of sweetness from the white chocolate chips and crunchiness from the almonds.
Lemon Cookies
A 5-ingredient recipe for a delicate, crisp cookie with a melt-in-your-mouth quality. It's topped with a zesty powdered sugar lemon glaze.
Buckeye Fudge
These peanut butter fudge squares are super easy to make and a total crowd-pleaser. Topped with a layer of semisweet chocolate, they are beyond amazing!
Bunny Sugar Cookies
The dough is vanilla-flavored and straightforward to make. The cookies and icing can be made ahead as they keep for several days or weeks.
Pies, Bars, and Desserts
Some traditional pies and some wonderful desserts that your pickiest eaters will approve of.
Easter Brownies
Adding mini chocolate eggs and a white chocolate drizzle to fudgy brownies is a quick way of making an Easter treat that'll bring raves.
Best Pavlova Recipe
A pavlova consists of a meringue base with a crisp exterior and a marshmallow-like center. It is topped with whipped cream or lemon curd and berries.
Italian Ricotta Pie
The best ricotta pie, with an easy-to-make Italian sweet pastry dough and a lemon filling full of flavor.
Pineapple Dump Cake
An easy-to-make recipe that combines the sweetness of the pineapple with the buttery, cakey texture of the cake mix.
Mini Cheesecakes
These are perfect, no-bake small desserts. They have a simple cream cheese filling, graham crust and fruit topping.
Italian Rice Pie (sweet)
This pie is unique, with cooked rice and ricotta in the filling and a classic Italian pie crust. It's citrusy with texture from the rice and smoothness from the cheese.
White Walnut Blondies
Wonderfully easy to make, these white chocolate walnut bars have a hint of coffee, and taste like the best caramel cookie.
Lemon Blondies
These are sweet, moist, and intensely lemon-flavored bars that are easy to make and glazed to perfection. A mouthwatering recipe that will bring raves!
Cherry Custard Tart
An easy cherry tart with a vanilla custard filling, fresh cherries, and a crust that doesn't require refrigeration or rolling before using!
Hazelnut Brownies
These are fudgy, easy to make, and incredibly rich, one of the best brownies I ever made. And they happen to be gluten-free.
Fig Jam Tart
This is a wonderful fig tart (or an Italian crostata alla marmellata) with a lattice top. It has step-by-step instructions for the sweet dough and homemade fig jam.
Cinnamon Rice Pudding
Creamy, sweet, and with a hint of citrus, this Spanish rice pudding recipe has been in my family for ages. It is easy to make and keeps refrigerated for several days.
Coconut Brownies
Fudgy and gooey chocolate coconut brownies, that keep well and can be frozen.
Cakes & Cupcakes
I narrowed down my favorite cake recipes for this time of year, which was difficult. I hope you find them amazing like I do.
Easter Cupcakes
These cute treats have a vanilla batter with buttercream that can be dyed in any pastel color, and mini eggs. You can make homemade cakes or use a purchased cake mix.
Carrot Bundt Cake
A simple carrot cake with a sweet glaze, walnuts and cream cheese icing. It's straightforward to make, keeps well for a few days and can be frozen.
Carrot Pineapple Cake
Add pineapple to carrot cake and you have a new favorite! It's very moist, super flavorful, and perfect to make year-round.
Lemon Blackberry Loaf
A quick bread similar to a light pound cake that bakes to a golden brown and is covered with the most eye-catching pink icing.
Ricotta Cheesecake
This fabulous cheesecake with cream cheese and ricotta to create a lighter, slightly rustic texture. It's creamy, sweet, and barely tangy filling.
Glazed Coconut Cake
A simple cake with a soft texture, sweet glaze and wonderful coconut flavor.
Hummingbird Cake
Beautiful layers flavored with banana, pineapple, cinnamon, and walnuts are combined with sweet cream cheese frosting. A fantastic vintage cake.
Lemon Curd Cupcakes
Wonderfully lemony, these gorgeous cupcakes are sweet and soft, with a lemon curd center and a lemon cream cheese frosting.
Carrot Layer Cake
This is truly a celebration carrot cake, with a very moist crumb and spiced flavor. Filled and frosted with cream cheese, it's a certain crowd-pleaser.
Maple Walnut Cake
A moist and dense walnut pound cake with maple syrup in the batter and finger-licking maple icing. Two flavors that pair fantastically well.
Crustless Ricotta Cake
This 7-ingredient, no-crust ricotta cheesecake is soft and creamy. It leaves a wonderful aroma in your kitchen, lasts for days, and cuts like a dream.
Chocolate Torte
This chocolate almond torte is a rich and showstopping dessert served with berries and cream. It is flourless, cuts like a dream, and keeps well.
Lemon Almond Cake
Not your typical cake, this one has almond cream swirled into a wonderful lemon batter. The result is moist, perfectly tight, and with a fantastic flavor!
Bonus: easiest Easter Sugar Cookies
A bonus recipe that is more an idea, because it doesn't have a post, only the image below.
We took our favorite sour cream sugar cookie dough and made egg and bunny cookies decorated with chocolate candies in pastel colors. Look for those that are meant to be baked without losing color or form.
Cookie decoration was never easier!
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Jacquie Gariano says
Love all the choices. will be doing 2-3 and pining some for later use. Thanks