I’m all for a good joke, but it’s taken until now—when my kids have grown up a bit — to fully appreciate April Fool’s Day prank recipes. Because when your precious little babies or toddlers reach an age when singing pop songs, refusing kisses in public, and championship-level eye rolling are the norm, we deserve to get ’em good every once and while. And what more innocuous—but still hilarious—way than by fooling them at the table.
So, if you’re looking to trade mealtime drama for a few laughs this April 1st, give one of these prank recipes a try. And no feeling bad: A family who laughs together, stays together. (Plus, they’d do it to you in a second if they could!)
Top Image: Chocolate Easter Egg Prank from Perspective Portions
One note, don’t create a prank with food that will just get thrown away – make it foods that will get eaten – because there is nothing funny about throwing out super expensive good items like eggs and chocolate.
This Chocolate Easter Egg Prank from Perspective Portions is my favorite. I particularly love it because you don’t need to go buy chocolates to unwrap – just use aluminum foil and sharpies you probably already have in your house. My kids are pretty excited to unwrap grapes, so if you are really want to turn up the prank level, use grape tomatoes in place of the grapes.
Grab a box of Jell-O to make this April Fool’s Undrinkable Jello Drink from Miss Annie’s Home and Kitchen. I love this one because it looks so real. And even better, my kids rarely get juice (at least any variety in this color), so I plan to set it up as a special treat. I won’t even get a mean mommy award since Jell-O is a special treat. A win-win. *Rather than using disposable paper straws that don’t really hold up, consider these striped reusable straws (affiliate) so that you can reduce waste and use them for other beverages.
Okay, these English Muffin Donuts are a little bit mean. At least, as a die-hard donut lover, I think so. But maybe the fact that breakfast comes with sprinkles will bring some solace? Plus, these are just so cute! The recipe at Hello Wonderful suggests artificial food coloring, but you can also get that pretty pink color by blending strawberries into cream cheese, like in this recipe for Strawberry Cream Cheese at Creme de la Crumb.
For whatever reason all things poop is really, really funny to my kids – so I’m loving these April Fools Day Poop Cookies from Is She Really and can’t wait to set out a play of poop and then take a big old bite right in front of them. Yes, it may be a bit gross, but a pretty good prank.
If poop cookies are a bit too much for you, give these Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes from Favorite Family Meals a try. I think they are pretty amazing because the cupcake bakes right in the store-bought ice cream cone so no waste! Definitely check this recipe out since it also doubles as a great birthday party recipe.
If you have a little more time on your hands, this recipe for April Fools Day Tacos from Fork & Beans is sure to be a huge hit. And who knows, sweet tacos may be a new #TacoTuesday thing. And if you don’t already have them, these Taco Holders (affiliate) are really useful with this recipe.
