Similar to Santa, the Easter Bunny hopped to our house every year in the middle of the night and filled our colorful wicker baskets with festive surprises. He stuffed all of the sweets into plastic eggs, so my brother and I shook each one on Easter morning to guess what hid inside.
If the egg failed to sound, the Bunny had (miraculously) crammed in a yellow marshmallow Peep. If a few dull thuds emitted, the Bunny had left us milk chocolate eggs. And if the plastic egg rattled like a maraca, the Bunny had delivered jelly beans.
But not just any jelly beans… Starburst jelly beans!
Mom rarely bought us candy, so we depended on the Easter Bunny to get both our starburst and jelly bean fixes. And even though we scrutinized the grocery shells whenever we wandered off from the cart, we never saw starburst jelly beans any other time of the year.
Last week, I snagged a bag before the Easter Bunny could give away all of the starburst jelly beans in kids’ Easter baskets. Since I didn’t want to be a complete copycat rabbit, I decided against placing my candy in plastic eggs and made my own little edible nests instead!
I used Starburst-flavored jelly beans because that’s what the Easter bunny always put in my basket. Feel free to use your favorite flavors instead!
- Lay a sheet of wax paper on a clean, dry surface. Pour the cereal into a medium bowl.
- In a medium pot, melt the margarine over medium-low heat. Add in the marshmallows, and stir with a spatula until smooth and melted. Pour the marshmallow mixture over the cereal, and stir with a spatula until the cereal is evenly coated.
- Spray your hands with nonstick cooking spray. Working quickly, shape 2-3 tablespoons of the cereal mixture into a circle, and fold up the edges to form a nest shape. Place the cereal nest on the wax paper, and continue forming nests until all of the cereal has been used. Place 3-4 jelly beans in the center of each nest.
Cutest idea ever! We made these during easter time in our culinary class…yours are AMAZING compared to mine back than lol
Aww, thank you! There’s something soothing about standing in the kitchen playing with rice krispie treats. I made Easter eggs last year, so these nests were slightly easier after that!
Woww.. Very creative idea.. thanks for sharing !!
My pleasure! They were a great hit, especially with the 25-and-over-year-old crowd!
Too stinkin’ cute. I would put dark chocolate cadbury mini eggs in mine- that crisp shell and hard chocolate interior has my heart!
Yum, that sounds like a delicious idea! Shocking, but I don’t think I’ve ever tried a Cadbury egg… I think that has to change by Sunday!
I teach an after school crafts class called “Swing Into Spring” for K-2 and these will be a hit! https://bmoreenergy.wordpress.com 🙂
You’re so sweet to include my little treats in your crafts class! (No pun intended? :]) I hope the kids enjoy them!