family cookie recipe

No-Bake Easter Nest Cookies

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Ruthanne

Easter nest 4-1 These crunchy little nest cookies are filled with the (seriously addictive!) Cadbury mini eggs and a pinch of coconut. A perfect Easter treat!

Easter nest 6-1

I just want you to know… I am the owner of the perfect no-bake cookie recipe. It’s my mom’s recipe, and it is perfect because it was the recipe we grew up enjoying. My mom passed away about 6 years ago, and I cherish every recipe I have of hers. When I was thinking about making Easter nest cookies, this recipe was the 1st to pop into my head. For sure I could have made it with the traditional oatmeal, but that’s not very nest-y, is it? So I used shredded wheat (the big ones!) I had to look a little bit to find the full-size shredded wheat (there are like a million flavors of mini!), but I found it- and it worked perfectly. I see you, chow-mien nest-makers- but I just could not bring myself to cover chow mien noodles in chocolate. Ewww. Sorry. Sticking with cereal here 🙂

Easter Nest 2-1

Want to know how to make these little nest cookies? Here is the recipe: (printable version)

Ingredients: (makes 24 mini nest cookies)

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine (or one stick of butter)
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups of broken up shredded wheat (this was 9 big pieces, broken up)
1/2 cup coconut (optional) with a tiny bit of green food coloring
72 mini Cadbury eggs (just get a big bag- you’ll want the rest- I promise!)

Directions:

Crunch up the shredded wheat until you have 4 cups.
If you use coconut, place it in a zip-top bag with the food coloring and shake until green.
Spray a mini-muffin tin with non-stick spray and set aside.
Measure sugar, milk, margarine, and cocoa into a large saucepan.
Heat until boiling (stirring constantly) and then boil for 2 minutes.
Add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until smooth.
Take off heat, and add Shredded wheat, stirring until it is completely coated. I recommend adding it one cup at a time and using a little less if it gets too thick to stir well.
Working quickly, spoon or scoop into mini-muffin tin.
Use a tart shaper or a rounded measuring spoon to press the center in (spray this item with cooking spray between each nest to keep it from sticking).
Sprinkle a little coconut over each nest.
Press three eggs into each nest.

Nest process1 Process3 Process2

Allow nests to cool and harden.
Use a small knife to pop nests out of pan.
Enjoy!

Easter nest 5-1

My thoughts: I love how interesting these cookies taste with a different cereal added! For sure the shredded wheat gives these a more nest-like appearance. I really wanted to get the Cadbury eggs that are shimmery, but I couldn’t find them at my grocery, so I sprinkled a few edible sparkles over the top.

If you want to try these with the oatmeal (and experience one of my favorite cookies from childhood), I will leave you with my mom’s original recipe (in her handwriting :)). I actually remember her writing this out for me (from memory). I’d just gotten my 1st apartment out of college and was craving these and she pulled out her notepad and jotted this down for me.

Just a note though- she NEVER used butter (even though the recipe says butter). Butter translated to her was always Country Crock. I use margarine as well- just to be true to her recipe- but I’m sure butter works fine too. Enjoy! ~r

Mom's recipe

Looking for other fun recipe ideas for Easter? We have lots of them! Just click a photo to see the recipe!

Gingerbread Easter Eggs

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Ruthanne

Delicious gingerbread cookies drizzled with colored chocolate- who says you can only have these cookies at Christmas?!?

I love gingerbread. Goodness, it is probably my favorite cookie at Christmas. My go-to recipe is my grandma’s, and it is already shared on Easybaked (here)- but it is TOTALLY worth sharing again! I made these last week for a friend who requested gingerbread cookies, and I couldn’t resist decorating them up for Easter. They were so cute that I thought I’d share them with you! Once Easter has passed, cut these into flowers or butterflies for spring! So. Fun!

Here’s how we made them: (printable recipe here)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 36 medium egg-shaped cookies)

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 cup of dark molasses
2 tablespoons of vinegar
5 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of cloves
Wilton’s candy melts in a variety of colors (just maybe 1/4 cup of each color)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
Cream together butter and sugar.
Beat in egg, molasses and vinegar.
Blend in sifted dry ingredients.
Chill 2-3 hours (this is optional- I have found that the dough rolls out pretty well right away)
Roll 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch thick on a floured counter or board and cut into egg shapes.
Place on cookie sheets covered in parchment paper.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.
Check often- take out when cookies have risen slightly. Slide parchment paper off cookie sheet onto counter with cookies on top. Cool.
Melt Candy Melts in individual bowls in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until melted and smooth.
Spoon each color into a small zip-top bag and seal.
Clip a tiny corner off, and pipe back and forth over each cookie, adding as many fun colored stripes as you wish!
Enjoy!

My thoughts: I love these cookies all year round. There is something fun about having the scent of gingerbread in the house during spring. New tradition I think!!! 😉 I hope you get a chance to try these! ~r