6 fab Easter brunch recipes that you can prep in 30 minutes or less. (More time for egg hunting!)

I know that there's more to Easter than bunnies and food, but in these days leading up to the holiday my mind is on, well, bunnies and food. Easter candy, Easter cakes, Easter brunch: it's hard to focus with such tasty distractions! I, of course, plan on getting my Easter priorities straight by the time Sunday rolls around but, in the meantime, let's get back to the food. Easter brunch to be exact. I've found six amazing Easter brunch recipes that take 30 minutes or less to prep. Cooking time is variable, of course, but by then you'll be sipping on a tasty brunch drink (these mocktails are calling my name!) watching your kids go nuts on jellybeans, so it's all good. Just put in your half hour, kick up your heels and then celebrate spring.   True confession: I've been telling myself that I'm going to make hot cross buns for years. This Easter, with this find from Joy the Baker, I'm ready to get real with myself. Because who needs hard-to-make hot cross buns when you can have Hot Cross Pancakes, shown at top. Genius!  

This Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake from 101 Cookbooks is a light riff on a savory bread pudding with all the same ease. All you have to do is combine and bake. If you can't find great zucchini (it's a little early!), follow Heidi's suggestion and use chopped spinach or whatever veggie you find that looks great. This recipe is very adaptable and will work with nearly any spring produce.  

These Egg Nests from Snow Deal are adorable! I've never seen anything like this before, but the step-by-step pictures here were inspired by a recipe from Simply Recipes, so I know it's good. And what could be more perfect for Easter?!  

I've long sang the praises of store bought puff pastry. This stuff is a revelation, people. Thaw, bake and serve something fancy; it's that easy. Martha uses puff pastry to make this very simple, very springy, very Eastery Asparagus Gruyere Tart. Just four ingredients for all this gorgeousness. Pretty amazing.  

This Maple Yogurt Mousse, which you can find on my own site, One Hungry Mama, is my go-to brunch recipe. It's out of this world delicious, incredibly impressive (if I say so myself!) and easy enough to make for a casual gathering or formal sit down brunch. It's pictured here topped with an Apple Cider Gelee (fancy way of describing Apple Cider Jello!), but is totally fabulous topped with just fresh fruit and your favorite granola.  

Popovers are another relatively quick and easy baked good that make brunch feel special, but the tricky thing is that they don't always rise as they should. Leave it to Grace Parisi at Food & Wine to solve that problem. She's come up with a foolproof recipe with these Orange Popovers. Baking powder, a regular (not nonstick) muffin tin and 10 minutes of prep time are all you need. And you thought you'd be stuck eating hard-boiled eggs for a week.