Our Kid-Friendly Easter Brunch Menu Is Colorful, Cute, and Delicious

Running around searching for eggs and eagerly waiting for the Easter bunny to arrive are surefire ways to make both kids and adults work up an appetite. Our kid-friendly Easter brunch menu is packed with colorful, appealing dishes so little ones will eat something besides candy on Easter Sunday. It's also fun for adults—who doesn't love a cheesy strata? It's essentially a breakfast casserole; the savory bread pudding has layers of bread and fillings and is baked until crispy on top.

We sneak in some nutritious dishes, like a homemade carrot juice (the Easter bunny's favorite drink) and a creamy white bean dip paired with spring vegetables for dipping. And we make it easy on the cook by selecting dishes that can be totally made ahead—or prepped and cooked on the morning of brunch.

Menu at a Glance

• Drink: Carrot, Apple, and Lemon Juice
• Starter: Lemony White-Bean Hummus
• Main: Ham-and-Cheese Strata
• Side: Asparagus with Rabbit Carrots and Mustardy Vinaigrette
• Dessert: Coconut Macaroon Nests and Easter Chick Cookies

Drink: Carrot, Apple, and Lemon Juice

Fresh carrot juice is a fitting way to start an Easter meal. Our juice isn't all carrots, we balance it out with apples and lemons, which bring sweetness and tang and give the drink a lemonade-like appeal. If you don't have a juicer, don't fret. Buy bottled carrot juice and combine it with apple juice and fresh lemon juice.

Starter: Lemony White-Bean Hummus

Arrange a colorful vegetable patch of spring crudités around a bowl of this creamy dip made from cannellini beans. The Lemony White-Bean Hummus can be made a day ahead and stored covered in the refrigerator. Now that the first new vegetables of the season are arriving at the market, look for tender young carrots and sweet sugar snap peas—both will be hits with the kids. Put out celery, fennel, and radishes for the adults and more adventurous little ones.

Main Dish: Ham-and-Cheese Strata

Our Ham-and-Cheese Strata, an easy-to-make yet sophisticated breakfast casserole, is a savory French toast with cheese. Assemble it the night before by soaking the bread and fixings (in this case ham, cheddar and scallions) in an egg mixture. In the morning, pop it in the oven to bake. You'll know it's done when the strata puffs up and has a crunchy golden top.

Side: Asparagus with Mustardy Vinaigrette

Asparagus is a fun vegetable for kids—they can hold a spear and eat from top to bottom or bottom to top. And serving them vinaigrette on the side means that only those who want it need have it. Adorn our Asparagus and Mustardy Vinaigrette with edible cutout bunnies made from carrots to make it the most playful side dish.

Dessert: Coconut Macaroon Nests and Easter Chick Cookies

Part table decoration, part dessert, part excuse to eat more Easter candy—that's these Coconut Macaroon Nests and Easter Chick Cookies. The nests are made from coconut macaroons and filled with mini Easter candies, like chocolate eggs and jelly beans. Place a few peeps on top of the nests for a super-cute finish.

Which came first: the chicken cookie or the egg cookie? When you make these Easter treats, they all come at the same time, from the same dough and the same cookie cutter—and it's a cutter you probably already have. Just pinch one end of a round cookie cutter to create an egg shape, then roll out the lemony shortbread dough, stamp out the cookies, and bake. Decorating can be a fun family project the day before your brunch. Set up a selection of sanding sugars, mini chocolate chips, and candy and let little fingers assemble.