These nest Easter cookies look extra cute because I gave my chocolate eggs a little speckle to appear more realistic. To do this you just mix up a little cocoa powder and vanilla extract, or vodka etc (the alcohol will evaporate) and then use a brush to flick the specks onto the eggs.
It’s the same technique I used for my Robin’s Egg Cake and I love it! I used Hershey’s eggs for this cookie because I loved the pastel colors! When you toast the coconut make sure to take the pan out and mix all the flakes up then put back into the oven to finish. This will avoid black coconut on the edge of the pan and white in the middle. You need a nice golden brown color.
My little bird’s nest cookies are the perfect treat for Easter or any spring-time gathering! I started off with a batch of my no-spread sugar cookie dough then rolled it out and cut little circles for the base.
I bought a set of concentric ring cutters and they’ve come in so handy! I made a small batch of vanilla buttercream up and piped little nests with a large round tip; you could totally just cut the tip off of a piping bag though.
How to Create a Bird’s Nest Effect
A great way to create a twiggy bird’s nest effect for your Easter cookies is to use toasted coconut flakes! Not only do they look super cute but the toasted coconut tastes delicious.
To do this, lay coconut flakes on a baking sheet in an even layer and toast in the oven until golden. Keep an eye on it as it will brown fairly quickly.
I pressed on toasted coconut onto the buttercream to get a twiggy effect and then filled my nest with little chocolate eggs. This was one of the easiest holiday cookies I’ve made and I loved them. I’m just not great at piping and flooding with royal icing and even when It looks ok it takes me forever to mix all the different colors and consistencies and I just don’t have the time with twin boys at home.
Why You Need to Chill Cookie Dough
It’s important to chill the cookie dough to get uniform and perfectly shaped cookies. If you don’t chill the dough the cookies will easily melt in the oven resulting in oddly shaped cookies and a messy oven!
Pro Tip: Did you know you can freeze this cookie dough for later? It’s a great way to prep in advance or store leftovers for those emergency cookie moments!
How to Make Easter Cookies
1. Sift flour, salt, cornstarch into a medium bowl. Give it a whisk.
2. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Scrape down the bowl. Add eggs. Mix until combined. Add dry ingredients to the wet. Mix on low with a paddle attachment until just combined. Drizzle in vanilla.
4. Transfer dough to parchment paper.
5. Roll into a disk. Chill for about 1 hour.
6. Roll dough to ½ inch. Use 2.5 inch circle cookie cutters. Bake at 375F for 12 min.
7. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and confectioners sugar together. Add a cream and vanilla. Transfer to a piping bag. Snip off the tip.
8. Mix cocoa powder and vanilla in a bowl. Using a paint brush, splatter chocolate eggs with mixture to create a speckled, robin’s egg look.
9. Pipe a ring of buttercream on each cookie.
10. Smooth inside with a spatula.
11. Press on toasted coconut to create a nest look.
12. Add speckled eggs to the nest.
What to Do with Leftover Cookie Dough
Do you have scrap dough after cutting out your cookies? Don’t throw it away, you can simply bring the dough back together, roll it out and make more cookies out of it. Alternatively, you can bring the scrap dough together and freeze it for later.
Can I Change the Flavors?
Yes, you can easily swap the vanilla buttercream for your favorite flavor such as chocolate, strawberry or raspberry. You can also add additional flavorings to the cookie dough such as citrus zest or chocolate chips.
These bird’s nest Easter cookies are as fun to eat as they were to make! I picked off the chocolate eggs first, then enjoyed the coconut, buttercream, sugar cookie deliciousness. Hope you get to make them!
Pro Tips for Making Easter Cookies
- Rolling the dough out between layers of plastic wrap makes moving it around, as well as storing it in the fridge or freezer, much easier.
- When you toast the coconut make sure to remove it half-way through baking and toss it around as the edges will burn quickly.
- Make sure to let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes to set before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely
- The cookies need to be cooled completely before frosting
- For making buttercream your butter needs to be at room temperature and soften to avoid lumps
- Make sure to add the confectioner’s sugar gradually when making the buttercream to avoid making a mess
- You can store the cookies in a cool dry place for up to 5 days or can be frozen
If you’ve tried these Easter Cookies then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Easter Cookies
Video
Ingredients
For the Coconut Flakes:
- 5 oz coconut flakes sweetened
For the Cookies:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour 500g
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ cup cornstarch 60g
- 2 sticks butter 230g, room temp
- 1 cup sugar 240g
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Buttercream:
- 1 ½ sticks butter 200g, unsalted, room temp
- ½ bag confectioner’s sugar 350g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
For the Chocolate Speckle:
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder nice quality
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 bag chocolate eggs
Instructions
For the Coconut Flakes:
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- Spread out coconut on a baking sheet.
- Bake for about 5 -10 min.
For the Cookies:
- Increase oven temp to 375F.
- Sift flour, salt, cornstarch into a medium bowl. Give it a whisk.
- In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
- Scrape down the bowl before adding eggs.
- Add eggs. Mix until combined.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet.
- Mix on low with a paddle attachment until just combined. Drizzle in vanilla.
- Transfer dough to parchment paper.
- Roll into a disk.
- Chill for about 1 hour.
- Press to flatten and roll between 2 pieces of parchment paper.
- Roll dough to ½ inch.
- Use 2.5 inch circle cookie cutters.
- Place cookies onto a baking sheet with a silpat.
- Bake for 12 min.
- Let cool before decorating.
For the Buttercream:
- In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and confectioners sugar together. Add a cream and vanilla.
- Transfer to a piping bag.
- Snip off the tip.
For the Speckles:
- Mix cocoa powder and vanilla in a bowl.
- Using a paint brush, splatter chocolate eggs with mixture to create a speckled, robin’s egg look.
For the Assembly:
- Pipe a ring of buttercream on each cookie.
- Press on toasted coconut to create a nest look.
- Add speckled eggs to the nest.
Notes
- Rolling the dough out between layers of plastic wrap makes moving it around, as well as storing it in the fridge or freezer, much easier.
- When you toast the coconut make sure to remove it half-way through baking and toss it around as the edges will burn quickly.
- Make sure to let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes to set before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely
- The cookies need to be cooled completely before frosting
- For making buttercream your butter needs to be at room temperature and soften to avoid lumps
- Make sure to add the confectioner's sugar gradually when making the buttercream to avoid making a mess
- You can store the cookies in a cool dry place for up to 5 days or can be frozen
