Easter Bunny Coconut Tails

As tasty as they are pretty, Easter Bunny Coconut Tails are a no-bake, easy, kid-friendly recipe! They will love dying the coconut those pastel colours! These freeze quite well too, so you can make them in advance!

EASTER BUNNY COCONUT TAILS

Easter cookies and Easter decorations were not big in our family. My parents never decorated for Easter! Sure, we all got a big chocolate bunny, but there was never an egg hunt. Can you believe that? I never once had an Easter egg hunt when I was a kid.

In fact, the only thing good about Easter was the chocolate. We were church-going folks and I hated having to leave behind my chocolate bunny and head off to Sunday morning church. That would have been okay, I guess, but we were Apostolic. Sunday was all about church!

Sunday morning church service started at 10:30 am. We were usually home before 1 pm. Then, we had Sunday School in the afternoon. I think that started at 3 and went until 4. Once we arrived back home, we were forced to take a nap. I think I was 12 years old when the Sunday naps stopped!

Of course, Sunday evenings we had that big Cold Plate for dinner. And, then we were off to church again at 6:30 pm. That service could last until well after midnight! I kid you not! There was never a time that Sunday night church service ended before 9 pm.

SOMEONE CALL ACTION!

I can’t tell you how many times I begged to stay home from church because I had an exam to study for! The answer was always no, even if that exam was a midterm or a final. Church came first.

Somewhere between the ages of 8 and 9, I managed to really embrace my dramatic acting skills. Sometimes, I was able to convince my parents that I was too sick to go to church. I remember one time, I wasn’t able to persuade them, so I headed off to church. But, by 7:30, I had to go home; I was just too sick to stay. ( I walked home alone and arrived just in time to catch Robin Hood on Sunday night’s The Wonderful World of Disney!)

Before I start sharing all of my childhood secrets, I should get to the recipe. My dad reads my blog, so I don’t want to shock him with too many truths! Let’s start by talking about the coconut.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare these Easter Bunny Coconut Tails. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Coconut – You will need a lot of coconut for this recipe. It is the main ingredient. Be sure to buy the right type of coconut. Read the next section for more details.
• Canned Sweetened Condensed Milk – Depending on where you live, the size of the can my differ.  Be sure to have the full 14 ounces!
• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature! You can use salted or unsalted butter.
• Vanilla Extract – Probably the most common extract and the most common flavouring used in cakes and cookies. 
• Confectioner’s Sugar – This superfine sugar is sometimes called powdered sugar. 
• Food Colouring – You will need to use liquid food colouring and not gel for this recipe.

HOW TO MAKE EASTER BUNNY COCONUT TAILS

In a large bowl, whisk together the condensed milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract until well combined. Add the 5 cups of medium coconut and the confectioner’s sugar. Stir well until well combined. Transfer that to your fridge and let it chill for 15 minutes. 

Next, place 1/2 cup of the fine coconut into a mixing bowl. Add 3-4 drops of liquid food colouring. Use a hand-held mixer to beat until well combined and the coconut has a consistent colour. Repeat this step for each colour you want to use. I did blue, green, yellow, and red.

Once the cookie batter is chilled, portion the cookie batter into 1 1/2 teaspoon portions.  Roll into balls and then roll into the coloured coconut of choice. Place on a baking sheet.  Once all rolled, place the baking sheet in the fridge for one hour to set and firm up.

Keep balls refrigerated.  Remove the desired amount from the fridge a few minutes before serving. Can be piled into a food-safe container after being left to set for one hour.

THE TYPE OF COCONUT IS IMPORTANT

When it comes to coconut to bake with, there are two kinds – sweetened and unsweetened. Those two types can be found in different levels of fineness and coarseness.

It’s important to use unsweetened coconut for this recipe. Otherwise, with the addition of the sweetened condensed milk and confectioner’s sugar, these Easter Bunny Coconut Tails will be too sweet to eat!

You’ll also want to use a fine coconut for rolling the balls. This will ensure that the balls look fluffy like a real bunny tail! You can use a medium shredded coconut for the ball itself. A large shred or coconut flakes will prevent you from getting a perfectly rounded shape. I used a medium shredded coconut.

FOOD COLOURING – LIQUID OR GEL?

If you’ve been reading Lord Byron’s Kitchen for any length of time, you will know that I’m a fan of gel food colouring. In fact, 99% of the time, I use Wilton brand gel in all of my recipes.

For this particular recipe, you need to break out the old-fashioned liquid food colouring. In order to get the coconut evenly coloured, you’ll need the liquid, otherwise, it just will not work.

I tried to dye the coconut using my gel food colouring first. It was a big fail. The gel basically stuck to a few clumps of coconut and I couldn’t get it to spread evening. I tried massaging the coconut in a Ziploc bag. And, I tried to spread it using my hand-held mixer. Both attempts failed.

With the liquid type, I added the coconut to a bowl and added a few drops of the food colouring. With a quick mix using my hand-held mixer, the coconut changed colour!

If you plan to make more than one colour, as I did, be sure to wipe out the bowl between each colour! This will keep your colours bright and clean.

CONCLUSION:

Once done, I suggest you place the balls onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least one hour. This will help to firm up the inside of the ball. It will also help to keep the colours from mixing when you pile the balls into a container for storage later.

Don’t keep these at room temperature. They need to be refrigerated at all times. You can take them out of the fridge and bring them to room temperature before serving. Ten minutes at room temperate will be perfect! Enjoy!