crackled easter eggs

I am super pumped to the max (what? forget I said that) to share these pretty lil’ eggs with you all, but first things first: A humongous, gigantimous group hug for all of the wonderful women who threw me a surprise virtual baby shower yesterday. Pretty sure I was grinning like a goofus all day long, overwhelmed by and grateful for all of the love for my baby girl. And the treats! My lans. I’ve posted all of the links at the bottom of this post so once we’re done talking about crackled Easter eggs, you can get your fill of those yums.

OK OK, but these eggs, you guys! Can we just take a moment for some oohing and aahing and egg gazing? Thank you for indulging me (and for sticking around if I haven’t scared you off with the phrase “egg gazing”).

I wouldn’t call myself a crafty person by any means. I mean, I try to do up my house like it could be on Pinterest or Design*Sponge, but in reality yours truly just doesn’t have the time/energy/cha-ching for that. So apologies to those who come visit my house but that poorly spray-painted side table and that picture frame from IKEA I tried to paint Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” on that really just looks like a bunch of random swirly-dos and that janky mobile I made for my future daughter’s nursery will have to do. But HEY — I made crackled Easter eggs and look how fancy they are. And they’re edible, too. I like to think that makes up for/distracts from everything else.

Lest you think these eggs are too complicated to make yourself, let us rewind to the previous paragraph about how I am not so crafty, and I yet I could do this. YOU can do this. So let’s do this together!

eggs boiling on stove

To start, place as many uncooked white eggs you want to dye (and will fit in one layer) in a large saucepan. Fill the pan with cold water up to an inch above the eggs. Slowly bring the water just to a boil over medium heat. Once it’s boiling, cover the pan, remove it from the heat and let it sit for about 12 minutes.

running hard boiled eggs under cold water in colander

Drain the eggs and run them under cool water until they are cool enough to handle. Dry them off, then transfer them to an empty egg carton to cool completely.

eggs and dye and vinegar on table

Meanwhile, round up the rest of the tools you’ll need: one sealable 1-quart container for every color you want to use (I used quart-size Tupperware containers), water, white vinegar and gel food coloring (get more gel food coloring than you think you’ll need, as I found that for the amount of food coloring needed for this activity, each tube was almost depleted just for one color).

crackling the hard boiled eggs

Once the eggs are completely cooled, use the back of a spoon to lightly tap the eggshells all over so they crack. Be gentle with the cracking, as you don’t want too many little pieces of the shell to break off.

Combine 3 cups of room-temperature water, 1 tablespoon white vinegar and 1 tablespoon gel food coloring in each quart container. Go crazy with the colors! I went with a dusty rose for one (1 part blue to 8 parts red), teal for another (1 part green to 1 part blue) and orange sunset (6 parts yellow to 2 parts red) for a third. And make sure the gel coloring is completely dissolved at the bottom, too, before you dip in the eggs.

dying crackled easter eggs

Carefully place up to four cracked eggs in each container. Let them sit at least 30 minutes but preferably overnight, sealed in the fridge, for the best, most saturated color.

When the eggs are sufficiently dyed, remove them from the dye, dry them off with a paper towel, then carefully peel off the shell to reveal your edible artwork. It’s OK — you can “squee!” if you want to. As I did.

crackled easter eggs

I MEAN — I just am in love. With Easter eggs.

One pro tip: Don’t peel the eggs until right before you want to serve them/showcase them/take a selfie with them for Instagram/turn them into bedazzled deviled eggs and devour them. The color tends to fade and bleed a bit once they’ve been peeled for a few hours.

close up crackled easter eggs

And in case you need more Easter egg decoration inspiration, this post from yesteryear has three fanciful ideas for you: Glitter Easter eggs, tea-stained Easter eggs and dip-dyed Easter eggs. Alllll the pretty eggs.

Finally, here’s the roundup of wonderful posts from the bebe shower yesterday! Get your drool bib ready.

Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes from Sarcastic Cooking
Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake with Lemon Drizzle from Greens & Chocolate
Strawberry Cinnamon Twist Knots from A Kitchen Addiction
Lemon Shortbread with Salted Chocolate Drizzle from The Lemon Bowl
Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream from A Zesty Bite
Blackberry and Mango Curd Pie from Joanne Eats Well With Others
Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins from Garnish with Lemon
Super Simple Sugar Cookies from Espresso and Cream
Raspberry Acai Frozen Margarita from Nutmeg Nanny
Berry Coconut Frozen Yogurt from Well Plated by Erin
Pretty in Pink Buttercream Cups from Keep it Sweet Desserts
Broccoli Salad with Honey Toasted Walnuts from The Roasted Root
Neapolitan Baked Doughnuts from Climbing Grier Mountain
No-Bake Rhubarb Cheesecake Parfait Cups from Hungry Girl Por Vida
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp from A Cedar Spoon
Vanilla Anise Cupcakes from A Classic Twist
Mini Vanilla Bean Strawberry Layer Cakes from The Baker Chick
Mini Blackberry Hazelnut Meringue Cakes from Stephie Cooks

Print
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crackled easter eggs

Crackled Easter Eggs

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  • Author: Inspired by Real Simple
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 30 mins
  • Yield: 12+ decorated eggs 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 dozen (or more) uncooked white eggs
  • White vinegar
  • Gel food coloring

Instructions

  1. Place eggs in a single layer in the bottom of a large saucepan. Cover eggs by about 1 inch with cool water. Slowly bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, cover the pan and remove from heat. Let sit 12 minutes.
  2. Carefully drain the eggs and run them under cold water until they’re cool enough to handle. Transfer the eggs to an empty egg carton to cool completely.
  3. In a sealable quart-size container, combine 3 cups water, 1 tablespoon white vinegar and 1 tablespoon gel food coloring (repeat this step in separate containers for each color you want to use). Be sure gel food coloring is completely dissolved.
  4. Using the back of a spoon, carefully tap eggs all over so the shells are cracked. Dip up to 4 eggs in each container. Dye at least 30 minutes but preferably overnight, sealed in the refrigerator.
  5. Remove eggs from the dye; gently dry with a paper towel. Carefully peel the shells to reveal the “crackled” eggs inside.