These Mini Egg Cookies filled with Cadbury mini egg chocolates are the perfect treat to make over Easter and Spring. The cookies are soft and chewy on the inside, with slightly crisp edges and filled with the best Easter chocolate around!
I've been making these Mini Egg Cookies for the past two years now and they sit as a family favourite in the Easter Baking department!! My girls are very partial to any type of cookies, but when filled with mini eggs, they are something special! They definitely don't last long in the cookie box!
These cookies are loaded with the best mini eggs on the market, none other than Cadbury Mini Eggs of course! The crispy shell and milk chocolate filling are incredible chopped up throughout these delectable cookies, they add such an amazing texture. If you love them too then be sure to check out my No-Bake Mini Egg Cheesecake too.
You'll make friends and family VERY happy if you bring these to your next get together! That's a promise!
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Makes the most out of Easter chocolate. These eggs are only available for a couple of months a year, stock up so that you can enjoy these all year long!
- Easy to make cookies. The process of making these cookies is super simple using the regular creaming method. No tricky techniques needed here!
- Soft and chewy deliciousness! The light brown sugar means added flavour and chew factor in these cookies. They are super tasty- you'll have to take my word for it.
Ingredients needed
The list of ingredients isn't exhaustive which is great. Except for the Cadbury's Mini Eggs, the other ingredients needed are basic pantry staples.
- Butter - Stick to unsalted here so that you can control the level of salt within the cookie. Of yes- and make sure it's room temperature too.
- Sugar - Light brown sugar and granulated sugar - two types of sugar used in this recipe to provide structure and sweetness. The white sugar allows the cookie to go slightly crisp around the edges, whilst the light brown sugar makes the cookie moist and chewy because of the added molasses.
- Eggs - You'll need two large eggs to bind the ingredients together.
- Vanilla Extract - If you don't have any then vanilla bean paste or the seeds of a vanilla pod will do- the vanilla definitely helps layer the flavour. Try to buy the best quality vanilla extract that you can -it's far superiour to vanilla essence.
- Plain (All-Purpose) Flour - Plain flour, not self-rasing or cake flour is needed. I recommend weighing the amount out with digital scales so that you don't add too much and make the cookies cakey.
- Baking Soda - The baking soda is our leavening agent in these cookies and helps the cookie become chewy rather than cakey.
- Salt - Imperative in sweet baked goods as it balances the sweetness but also brings out the flavour of the chocolate.
- Mini Eggs - The undeniable hero of our cookies! The best on the market are Cadbury's Mini Eggs and are usually found in store from February to April. Whenever you see them on the shelves, make sure to stock up on a stash of them!
- Dark Chocolate - Usually I like to sprinkle flaked sea salt over the top of cookies- but to counter balance the sweetness of the milk chocolate eggs, I add in 75% dark chocolate. The bitter edge cuts down on the sweet milk chocolate. As the mini eggs don't melt, I like to add some chopped chocolate to get those melting chocolate puddles.
Step-by-step instructions
*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*
1. Cream butter and sugar. We want to whip lots of air into the butter and break down the sugar crystals at the same time - we do this by creaming the room temperature butter and two types of sugar with a stand mixer, or hand-held electric beaters for around 3-5 minutes. You'll see the butter get visibly paler (Image 1 &2).
Note: Make sure the butter is at room temperature before creaming it. Taking it out of the fridge for two hours before baking or you can slice the cold butter, lay it on the outside edge of a plate and microwave for a couple of seconds. Just don't melt it!
TIP: Periodically scrape down your bowl.
Make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after creaming the butter, and also after adding the eggs. This ensures the batter is fully mixed.
2. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Next up is to add the wet ingredients which are the eggs and vanilla. Add the eggs in one at a time and the vanilla extract, mixing well after each addition (Image 3 & 4).
3. Dry ingredients go in. Sift into the bowl your flour, baking soda and salt and give it a mix together...this cookie dough is nearly done! (Image 5 & 6).
Regarding the mini eggs- two-thirds of them get chopped finely and added into the batter and the remaining third are chopped into larger pieces and set to one side. These will be sprinkled over the cookies about 5 minutes before the cookies finish baking.
Add the more finely chopped mini eggs and dark chocolate into the batter and beat on low until they are evenly divided into the batter (Image 7 & 8).
TIP: The easiest way to chop Mini Eggs
Chopping Mini Eggs with a sharp knife can be a little hair raising!! Those hard little shelves have them slipping from under the blade and flying all over the place. The easiest way I found is to place the eggs into a ziplock bak, remove the air and seal, then bash with a rolling pin. This crushes them in minutes!
5. Scoop cookie dough balls and refrigerate. Use an ice cream scoop or a heaped tablespoon to create balls roughly 2-cm (1-inch) wide and place them on a lined baking tray (Image 9 & 10). If you want to get super accurate, as I do, then each cookie dough ball weighs 60g.
Loosley cover the tray in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 1 hour. Alternatively, freeze the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
TIP: Refrigeration/Freezing dough.
Refrigerating the dough allows the butter to re-harden, the flour to hydrate and the gluten to relax. The cookies hold their shape better once baked.
6. Bake and cool. Set the cookies a couple of inches apart on a lined baking tray. Only bake one tray at a time in the centre of a pre-heated oven. Refrigerate the remaining cookies until ready to bake.
Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. Everyone's oven runs at a different temperature, so keep an eye on the cookies. At the 9 minute mark, pull the tray out and divide the remaining chopped Mini Eggs over the top of the cookies. Gently push the eggs into the cookies, and pop the tray back into the oven for the remaining time. (Image 11)
You want them to set all around the edge with a slight golden colour, but with a little give in the centre. They'll continue to cook after you take them out of the oven. These are soft, chewy cookies- if you want a sturdier, crispier cookies then bake for a couple of minutes more.
Remove from the oven, give the pan a couple of hard bangs as this knocks out some of the air and crinkles them a bit, and then hula hoop (see Tip below to know what on earth I am talking about!! (Image 12 & 13).
TIP: Bakery style round cookie shape.
Doing this step is optional. But when you've taken your cookies out of the oven, you'll notice that they are kind of a weird shape, right? Sometimes that happens. Well, a tip from my friend Erin of Cloudy Kitchen fame gives you round cookies to rival any bakeries!!
Once the cookies have baked, pull the tray out of the oven, grab a cookie cutter larger than the actual cookie (or a mug if you don’t have a cookie cutter- it just needs to be round). Place over the top of a cookie onto the baking tray and then twirl it round and round the cookie. Kinda like the cookie is playing with a hula hoop around its waist! Because the cookie is still hot, it’s still malleable so the sides can be gently pushed into shape giving them a more uniform appearance.
Variations
Use this as your base recipe and swap out the Cadbury Mini Eggs and dark chocolate to create your very own favourite cookie recipe. Here are some ideas to think about:
- Macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips. This combination always reminds me of my time living in Australia as macadamias are such a popular nut over there.
- Butterscotch and Pecan Cookies. Add in some butterscotch peices and chopped toasted pecans for all the Autumn/Fall vibes.
- Halloween Cookies. Simply sub the Cadbury Mini Eggs for your favourite Halloween chocolate. It's a great way to use up your Halloween candy!
- White chocolate chunks and dried cranberries for a festive twist. You could even add some orange zest too.
Pro tips
- Scrape down bowl. Ensures all the cookie dough is being mixed evenly.
- Refrigerate cookie dough. Helps the cookies not spread once baked.
- Add flavourings to top of cookie dough balls. Means that you can see the hazelnuts and milk chocolate once baked.
- 'Hula hoop' cookies. Do this fresh out of the oven, and you'll get perfectly round cookies.
Frequently asked questions
Two things spring to mind. Your butter may have been too soft. Sometimes if your ambient air temperature for getting your butter to room temperature is too hot and humid (like in a tropical climate), the butter softens too much. Next time this happens- pop it back into the fridge for ten minutes or so.
My next question would be, did you weigh the flour with a digital scale or use a measuring cup? I know I say this a lot, but scales are SO much more accurate- by using a measuring cup you could be under scooping and not have enough flour to give the cookie dough the structure it needs.
Yes absolutely, it's simply a matter of dividing the quantities by two. I've made them as small-batch many times before.
The trick to making the best Mini Eggs Cookie recipe is to firstly make sure that you use digital scales to weigh out the flour, and secondly, do not over-bake them.
You can use any that you like. Over here in the UK, Cadbury's are one of the biggest manufacturers of Easter chocolates, and in my view, one of the best. So, out of choice, I opt for their brand to make Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies. But I know that in other countries, it can be hard to come across, or there may be other brands that you prefer. So please use your favourite mini eggs!
How to store and freeze
Equipment you’ll need
- Stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment: Makes creaming that butter and sugar an easy process- you can use electric hand-held beaters too.
- Icecream scoop / Cookie Scoop: The quickest and less free process to scoop the cookie dough.
- Baking tray: I prefer to use one baking tray and bake one round of cookies at a time on the centre shelf in the oven. I keep the cookie dough balls in the refrigerator until ready to use. Just make sure you wait for the baking tray to cool down fully before baking the folloing Mini Egg Cookies.
Other recipes for Easter
- Lemon Cupcakes with Whipped White Chocolate Ganache
- White Chocolate Blondies
- Small Batch Salted Caramel Brownies
I hoped that you loved this Easter Cookie recipe. They are so more-ish! I become the best mum in the world when I bring a box full of these to the school gates!
If you tried these Mini Egg Cookies recipe or any other recipe on my website, please let me know how you go in the comments below. I love hearing from you. Also, please leave a star rating whilst you're there!
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This post was originally published in April 2019 but has been updated with new photos, new content and a revised recipe.
📖 Recipe
Mini Egg Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- Cookie Scoop
- Baking Tray
Ingredients
- 230 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 165 g light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 400 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 400 g Cadbury's Mini Eggs, ⅔ finely chopped, ⅓ coarsely chopped
- 100 g dark chocolate 75%, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugar. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, on medium to high speed, cream the butter and both sugars for 3-4 minutes minimum until pale in colour and the sugar has dissolved.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract. Scrape down the mixing bowl base and sides, then add one egg and the vanilla extract, and beat on low speed until combined. Add the remaining egg and beat until mixed in.
- Dry ingredients go in. Sift into the mixing bowl the flour, baking soda and add in the salt and mix on low until just incorporated. Add in the ⅔ of the Mini Eggs that are chopped finely and the chopped dark chocolate. Use a robust rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix in the chocolate. (Set aside the remaining third of chopped Mini Eggs).
- Scoop cookie dough balls and refrigerate. Using a cookie scoop or a heaped tablespoon, scoop the dough into 2cm (inch-wide) balls and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 1-hour minimum, or freeze for 30 minutes. Overnight chilling in the fridge is ideal. Note, baking unchilled dough will result in the cookies spreading too much.
- Bake and cool. Whilst the cookies are chilling, pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Remove the cookie balls from the fridge or freezer and place them on the baking trays leaving at least 5cm (2-inches) between the balls. Bake one tray at a time in the centre of the oven, for 12-15 minutes. Add remaining chocolate: At the 9-minute mark, remove the baking tray from the oven and divide the remaining Mini Egg pieces over the top of each cookie. Gently push down the eggs into the cookies. Pop the tray back into the oven for the remaining bake time. The cookies are baked when just starting to brown around the edges and are beginning to set in the middle (but only just!). Remember that they will continue to bake once out of the oven.Get those perfect round cookies (optional!): Once the tray has been removed from the oven and whilst the cookies are still hot, use a round cookie cutter or mug, and place it over the cookie and twirl the cookie inside, gently pushing the edges in so that the cookies form a round shape. Kind of like the cookie and cutter are doing a hula dance!! Only do this if your cookies have baked into irregular shapes and you'd prefer round cookies. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.Note: re the bake time: My preferences are soft, chewy cookies but if you prefer crispier cookies, then add an extra couple of minutes to the cooking time. Time in the oven may vary depending on the size of your cookie dough ball - mine weighs out at 60g each.
All recipes are developed and tested in Metric grams. I strongly recommend that you bake using digital scales for a more accurate result. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Anna
They look amazing Emma! Love that these are small batch too! Perfect little treats, not just for Easter!
Emma
Swap out the mini eggs for any other type of shot, an you are right- not just for Easter. Hope you are doing well lovely xx
Sandra
Amazing recipe, thank you. Easy to follow and tasted delicious.
Emma
That’s brilliant- thanks so much for letting me know! Super happy that you enjoyed them xx
Claudia
These cookies were absolutely delicious! Perfect Easter treat, and really easy to make! Thank you so much, half the batch disappeared straight out of the oven 😀
Emma
That’s great to hear Claudia. Lucky you made a double batch so that you could have leftovers! x
Lexy
These were amazing! I made 2x the amount as I wanted to do some curb side deliveries for friends and family for Easter and they were VERY much enjoyed by everyone! Simple but super tasty and will definitely become a new Easter staple! Thank you for this delicious recipe 🙂
Emma
I bet your friends and family were so happy to receive these! So happy you enjoyed them x
Samantha
These look great! I don’t have a mixer though, so wondering how they would turn out mixing by hand? 🙂 x
Emma
Hi Samantha- I actually cover the point of why we cream the butter and sugar together in the tips section of the blog post. Primarily we do it to break down the sugar crystals and to aerate the butter which intern will give you soft chewy cookies. I don’t recommend doing it by hand but by all means have a go and let me know how they turn out...but just go into your bake knowing that they won’t turn out identical to these. Good luck x
Tamara
I've already made this recipe twice and it's so delicious! I just changed the Easter eggs because it is winter, and used chocolate instead but it's still more than delicious ❤️🍫.
Emma
This is amazing Tamara- thank you so much I really appreciate for feedback and am so happy that you subbed the mini easter eggs for regular choc. Not long now until it’s easter and those mini eggs reappear in the store. x
Marina Godin
Made the recipe and they look great but I don’t understand why yours have ripple effects and mine do not?
Can you think of a reason for this?
Many thanks
Emma
Hi Marina, There could be a couple of reasons for this. Did you beat the butter until pale, for long enough? This aerates the butter, helping create lift in the oven. Did you measure in grams...measuring in cups can cause too much flour in the batter. Your oven temp may run a little hotter than mine and so the cookies come out slightly more baked which results in a more ‘set’ cookie. Then when you come to ‘hula hoop’ the cookies, the cookies don’t round. My cookies are set on the outside but soft in the middle when they come out so that when i ‘lula hoop’ them with the cookie cutter to make them round, they squish up a bit in the centre causing them to wrinkle. Another tip over baker use is to bang the tray when straight out of the oven which deflates the cookie and wrinkles them a bit. So measuring in grams, beating the butter for long enough, oven temp, bake time, how much you shape them post baking are all factors. Good luck for next time, Emma
Hannah
I haven't tried this recipe yet but I definitely plan to! They look so delicious!
With nutritional info - one cookie is 280 cals??
Emma
Hi Hanna,
Thank you so much for your message and query. I do hope that you have a chance to make them. Yes, the cal is 280 for the one cookie. Around 250 seems to be a standard per cookie. I think because this has white chocolate and mini eggs in them it increases the count. If it's a problem you could leave out the white choc. Thanks, Emma
Erin
These look delish! Could I add cornstarch to the recipe to ensure a soft batch style cookie? I see in some cookie recipes it’s added to the ingredients.
Emma
Hi Erin- Yes you could substitute a small amount of flour for cornstarch, but I have not tested this so cannot advise on the quantity. Let me know how you go! Emma
Eliza
These Mini Egg Cookies are incredible. The perfect amount of sweet and chewy. We adore them - a firm favourite with the kids. Thanks for another great recipe Emma
Emma
Hi Eliza- Thanks for the fab review on my mini egg cookies. The perfect way to keep the kids happy!
Carly
Hi Emma! These look so amazing! I am in the process of making them right now!
Jo
These cookies were amazing! Perfect amount of sweetness and chocolate — a wonderful Easter treat, and also a great way to use any leftover mini eggs!
Emma
Thank you so much for such wonderful feedback on these Easter cookies Jo. I truly appreciate it. Emma