Quick and Tasty Crown of Thorns Snack
"Haystack" snacks made with chinese noodles (chow mein noodles), peanuts, and melted butterscotch chips are a quick and tasty treat that looks like a tangle of thorn vines and even a "crown of thorns" when you shape them.
Here's a quick recipe. You'll find others on the web, such as this one at SavoryTooth.com. For exact ingredient amounts do an online search for "butterscotch haystack recipes."
INGREDIENTS
11-ounce package butterscotch chips
6-ounce package chow mein noodles
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
bowl and spatula
bowl to microwave butterscotch
wax paper on cookie sheet
foil to wrap around waxed paper to carry crowns home
INSTRUCTIONS
Coat Noodles: Combine chow mein noodles and peanuts in large bowl, mixing them together. Melt butterscotch chips in separate bowl in microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between bursts, until melted. Use rubber spatula to scoop melted butterscotch over noodles and peanuts. Mix until noodles are coated.
To form haystacks to look like "crowns" use a tablespoon measure to scoop out noodles onto wax paper, forming single stack that looks like a crown. Repeat until noodles are used up.
Chill, Bible Study, & Serve:
Refrigerate until haystacks are hardened, about 30 minutes in the refrigerator or 15 in the freezer.
Students can eat their crown and take extras to share at home.
Questions you could ask after reading the Bible story:
- Why did the soldiers mock Jesus and put thorns on his head?
- Why are people so mean sometimes?
- How strange is it that we have turned an instrument of pain into a tasty symbol of remembrance?
- Do you think it is okay? Why/Why Not?
- What is "sweet" about the suffering and sacrifice that Jesus made for our sins? (Pass out butterscotch chips as students taste and think.)
Suggestion: Create a "crown" of vines using floral vine wreaths found in many hobby stories. It will hurt just a little if you try to push it on your head. Have a few students try that and ask them how you think Jesus felt when the soldiers pushed thorns into his scalp.
As a reflection, have students write "things that hurt Jesus" on slips of pointed paper and place them in the crown.
