Empty Tomb Cookies

Empty Tomb Cookies are a great way to bring Easter to life for kids. Begin the process of making these treats on the day before Easter.

What You Need:
1 cup whole pecans in a plastic sandwich bag
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
1 pinch of salt
1 cup of sugar

a wooden spoon or wooden meat tenderizer mallet
mixing bowl
electric mixer
baking sheet
painter's or masking tape
Bible

How to Do It:
1. On the day before Easter, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

2. Read John 19:1-3: "Jesus was beaten for our sins..." Beat the nuts with the wooden spoon or mallet, then set aside.

3. Read John 19:28-30: Jesus drank something like vinegar; sniff the vinegar, take a little taste, then place the vinegar in the mixing bowl.

4. Read John 10:10-11: Egg whites symbolize Jesus' holy, sinless life; add the whites to the mixing bowl.

5. Read Luke 23:27: The women's tears were bitter; taste a few grains of salt, remember your own sins, then add the salt to the mixing bowl.

6. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16: Sweet salvation! Taste the sugar, then add it to the mixing bowl.

7. Mix the ingredients in the bowl with an electric mixer as your child reads Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3; mix for about 12-15minutes. The dough must be quite stiff.

8. Read Matthew 27:57-60: Fold the nuts (representing the rock placed over the tomb) into the dough.

9. Drop spoonfuls of the dough (using a knife and spoon) onto a cookie sheet. These mounds represent the rocky tomb Jesus was laid in.

10. Place the cookie sheet in the oven, and turn the oven off.

11. Read Matthew 27:65-66: Seal "the tomb" oven with two pieces of painter's or masking tape.

12. Read John 16:20 & 22, discuss, then go to bed.

13. On Easter morning (the very next day), read Matthew 28:1-9: Jesus is risen! Behold, the empty tomb! Unseal the oven door and remove the cookies. Break one in half - it is hollow inside. It is empty, just like Jesus' tomb.

He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!