It’s impossible to miss the baby chicks and pastel colors in nearly every store right about now. Although Easter is a date celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, you don’t have to be of the faith to mark the the springtime holiday with egg hunts and candy-filled Easter baskets. Sugar is a universal language.
I grew up in a Christian home, where Easter was a very important day because of our religion, but also because our mom would give us baskets filled with Peeps, Cadbury creme eggs, and chocolate bunnies. Before going to church, we would have to find where she hid our baskets (it was always in the closet), and then after church we could eat as much candy as we could handle.
As an adult, I’d like to think my tastes have refined, but it’s hard to let the season pass without having at least one Peep. Here, I’ve come up with what I think is the perfect adult-style Easter basket. It’s a mix of high- and low-brow candy tastes, with a mix of other treats sure to please people with all kinds of palettes (unless you are one of those crazy people who don’t eat sugar).
Click through the gallery to see what we picked and let us know in the comments what you put in your Easter basket!
Every single year my mother put a hollow chocolate bunny (90 percent of the time a Palmer one) in our Easter baskets. It wasn’t until we were practically adults that my sister and I told our mom we would have rather had solid chocolate, so the next year she bought us solid ones. You know what? Not as good! There’s nothing that says Easter quite like biting into hollow bunny ears… and then throwing away the rest. Purchase on Target for $3.49.
Candy corn is not for everyone—but if it’s your thing and you can throw spring colors on it and have the opportunity to eat it more than once a year, why not? The Sweet Garden of Eatin’ paint bucket tin is filled with nearly a pound of both candy corn and speckled jellybeans. Purchase on Dylan’s Candy Bar for $18.
Why does a Reese’s egg taste better than a regular Reese’s cup? Is it because it’s only available at holidays? Is it because the chocolate-to-peanut butter ratio is more even? Is it because of the blobby shape? It’s one of life’s great mysteries we may never know the answer to. In any case, enjoy them while you can (because the next holiday shape won’t come around until October). Purchase a six-pack on Target for $3.
This two-piece set from Sugarfina could serve as its own basket for your less-sugar-inclined friends, but we would put it inside our larger Easter basket. The candy boxes inside are Fluffy Bunnies, fruity sour bunnies with marshmallow tails, and Bunny Tails, fluffy strawberry marshmallow gummies rolled in sugar. It’s a sweetness—and cuteness—overload. Purchase on Sugarfina for $24.
Each year Godiva releases a collectible beaded Easter egg—this year it features a pink chick and flower design. The outside is beautiful, and the inside is delicious. The egg is filled with 12 assorted foil-wrapped chocolate eggs in milk, dark ganache, caramel, almond butter, and dark raspberry ganache flavors. That’s our kind of egg. Purchase on Godiva for $35.
Now, traditionally, an Easter basket is filled with candy. But when a non-GMO popcorn is made in small gourmet batches with flavors like Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake, Dark Chocolate Caramel, and Birthday Cake, we’ll let it take a coveted spot in our baskets. Purchase on Amazon.com for $5.99.
Along with bunnies and eggs, carrots are a common image at Easter. But putting an actual carrot in an Easter basket would just be rude! Luckily Dove has given us a carrot option with milk chocolate truffles ensconced in orange and green wrapping. Purchase a box to share on Amazon.com for $27.38.
Every occasion is made better with confetti. Sugarfina’s Bunny Bark, available in both pink and milk chocolate, is a piece of chocolate from Paris topped with colorful sprinkle sugar and edible confetti. Purchase on Sugarfina for $9.50.
Whether you call them ring dings, ding dongs, or some other mildly inappropriate name, you know these Little Debbie/Hostess-style cakes are delicious. New York City’s Duane Park Patisserie has taken the 1960s classic and devoted an entire shop to them called the Ring Ding Bar. Purchase their pastel flavors—such as lemon crème, strawberry shortcake (pictured above), and pistachio raspberry—in a box of six for a special Easter treat. Order online from Duane Park Patisserie for nationwide shipping.
See’s Candies is the West Coast’s go-to chocolate shop, and that’s no different at Easter. The 95-year-old institution makes a variety of chocolate eggs for the holiday, with the Chocolate Butter Egg with Pecans weighing in tops. The one pound egg—yes, one pound egg—is filled with the richest chocolate and hand decorated with candy roses. Purchase on Sees.com for $20.30.
Peeps are a standard in the Easter basket tradition. And here’s a hot take: The bunnies are better than the chicks. Although neither is necessarily good, this is the only time of year you can get away with eating marshmallows covered in neon-colored sugar. Live while you can! Purchase on Amazon.com for $5.05.
These chocolate-covered Oreos are adorably perfect for Easter. Two feature bunnies, one has a nest with “Easter eggs” on top, and all three are delicious. Purchase on Dylan’s Candy Bar for $15.
I personally feel there’s no such thing as too much chocolate, but for those of you who do, here’s a white chocolate option: The blueberries and cream Lindor truffles from Lindt Master Swiss Chocolatiers. The “pie box” includes 12 truffles. Purchase from Lindt for $6.99.
No Easter basket is complete without at least one Cadbury creme egg. Yes, they’re beyond messy to eat and have an insane amount of sugar, but it’s tradition. And you shouldn’t mess with tradition. Purchase a pack of five on Jet.com for $2.31.
Dana’s Bakery, based out of New Jersey, makes non-traditional macarons (think flavors like Fruity Cereal and S’mores) that ship nationwide. For Easter, purchase their specialty Easter box, which includes limited edition flavors that play off traditional Easter candies: Pink Marshmallow, Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter, and Creme Egg Macaron. Purchase a box on Dana’s Bakery for $36.
Finally, you need an actual basket to hold all the loot! We love these white wicker baskets. Toss a little colorful grass on the bottom, fill to the brim with your goodies, and be sure to monitor your blood sugar levels. Purchase the Isabella baskets in medium or large from World Market.
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