Empty Easter Tomb Cookies

Why not start a new Easter tradition with your kids? These miraculous cookies are made the night before Easter and teach children about the story of Jesus in a hands-on way.
You will need:

1 cup whole pecans
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar
zipper baggie
3 egg whites
wooden spoon
pinch of salt
tape
Bible

• Preheat oven to 300 F.
  
• Place pecans in zipper baggie and beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. After Jesus was arrested He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.
  
• Smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into mixing bowl. When Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.
  
• Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.
  
• Sprinkle a little salt into your hand. Taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. This represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.
  So far the ingredients are not very appetizing.
  
• Add 1 cup of sugar. The sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.
  
• Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. The color white represents the purity in God's eyes, of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18, & John 3:1-3.
  
• Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.
  
• Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. With a piece of tape seal the oven door. Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 28:65-66.
  
• GO TO BED! You may feel safe to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.
  
• On Easter morning, open the oven and take a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9.
  
• Now you may have a friend who needs to hear the Easter story. You can take some of your Empty Tomb Cookies to this friend and use them to explain the Easter story.