Name: Easter Birds Nest Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 3 h 10 min
Yield: 13
Ingredients: 1 cup milk chocolate chips; 1/2 cup butterscotch chips; 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter; 2 1/2 cups chow mein noodles; 36 mini candy eggs, (like Cadbury mini eggs, Whopper Robin eggs, Hershey's or M&M's candy-coated eggs)

Birds Nest Cookies are an adorable, no-bake Easter dessert that taste as delicious as they look. These sweet and crunchy little nests are made with chocolate and peanut butter-coated chow mein noodles and filled with mini candy eggs.

Birds Nest Cookies with three mini candy eggs inside each nest. The treats are on a plate on top of green Easter grass. In the background are some speckled wooden eggs and a bowl filled with mini egg candies.

Jump to Recipe

With Easter being just around the corner, I thought to myself, what easy, kid-approved dessert could I make?

Easter Birds Nest Cookies came to mind. These chocolate-covered treats are beyond easy to make and really cute with colorful mini eggs inside each nest. They’re almost like an edible decoration for the dessert table.

All you need to make birds nest cookies are chow mein noodles, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter and candy eggs.

Not only is this dessert delicious, it’s also a fun and easy recipe where little ones can lend a helping hand in the kitchen, and enjoy a sweet treat or two once done.

I should know, my little ones were the best helpers and our tummies were fully satisfied.

Bird's Nest Cookies with three mini candy eggs inside each nest, on a white platter. In the background are three speckled wooden egg decorations and a bowl of Cadbury mini eggs. The image has text overlay that says, Easter Bird's Nest Dessert.

Why You’ll Love Easter Birds Nest Cookies

Minimal ingredients – With only 5 ingredients and 10 minutes of your time, Easter birds nest cookies are delicious, colorful and adorable.

No-bake dessert recipe – All you need is a bowl, a spoon, a microwave, and a baking sheet for an easy no-bake dessert everyone will enjoy.

Not just for Easter – Birds nest cookies are also a fun treat for baby showers. If the gender is known, use all pink or all blue candy eggs. If the gender is still a secret, use a mix of pastel colors.

Fun Easter activity to do with kids – Kids love to get their hands into cooking and making these nests is a fun activity for the whole family. Since it’s a no-bake recipe, you don’t have to worry about hot pans and burned fingers. (My four year-old twins did a great job adding three eggs to each nest!)

With just 5 ingredients and 10 minutes. Easter Birds nest cookies are a fun and easy Easter activity the whole family will enjoy.

A wooden tray that's topped with green Easter grass and has six bird's nest cookies on it. In the background is a small bowl filled with Cadbury mini eggs and three speckled wooden Easter egg decorations.

Birds Nest Cookies Recipe

Ingredients Needed

Milk Chocolate Chips
Butterscotch Chips
Peanut Butter
Chow Mein Noodles
Mini Chocolate Eggs

Milk Chocolate Chips – Chocolate chips have stabilizers in them to help them stay chip-shaped when baking, so some brands don’t melt as well as others. I find that Ghirardelli chips always melt nice and smooth and don’t take as long to do so.

Butterscotch Chips – Butterscotch adds a sweet buttery flavor to the nest part of this dessert. Nestle Toll house Butterscotch chips are my brand of choice.

Creamy Peanut Butter – You just need a couple tablespoons. It gives the nests a hint of peanut butter/chocolate flavor and makes the melted chocolate and butterscotch silky smooth.

Chow Mein Noodles – I made these birds nest cookies with chow mein noodles. They’re easy to work with and I think they look realistic. You can also make them with pretzel sticks, shoestring potato sticks or even Rice Krispies cereal.

Mini Chocolate Eggs – I used Cadbury mini eggs, but you can fill your nests with other mini Easter candies, like Whoppers Robin Eggs, Hershey’s candy coated eggs, M&M eggs, or even jelly beans.

Want to double this recipe? A standard 11-12 ounce bag of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips, a large bag of chow mein noodles, and a full-size bag of Cadbury mini eggs, is enough to make twice as many bird’s nest cookies. (Just don’t nibble on the candy until you know if you have extras!)

Close-up view of a chocolate covered bird's nest cookie that has three mini candy eggs in it that are white, light blue and yellow. The dessert is on a tray that's covered in gree paper Easter grass and there's a large blue and white painted speckled egg decoration in the foreground.

How to Make Birds Nest Cookies

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. (You need to work fast once the Chow Mein noodles are covered in chocolate, so get this ready first.)
To a microwave-safe bowl, add chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and peanut butter. Heat in microwave for 1 minute, remove and stir. If the chips aren’t completely melted, put back in microwave in 15-second increments. (It took me 1 1/2 minutes.)
Add Chow Mein noodles to the melted chocolate and stir well to coat all the noodles.
Form the bird nests by spooning about 2 tablespoons of the chocolate-covered noodles onto the prepared baking sheet. (You should have enough for 12-13 nests.) Using a spoon or small rubber spatula, pull the noodles apart a little bit in the center so there’s a spot to put the candy eggs. (See recipe tips below). Add three candy eggs to each nest before the chocolate hardens.
Place in refrigerator for about 3 hours to firm up. To harden the birds nests quickly, place in freezer for about 15 minutes.

Melting the chocolate & coating the chow mein noodles.

Put chips and peanut butter in microwave-safe bowl.

Making the bird nests and adding candy eggs.

Make nests on parchment for easy clean up.

Tips for Making the Best Birds Nest Dessert

Work fast once chocolate is melted. Line a tray with parchment paper before you begin. And add the candy to each nest before the chocolate firms up.

Shaping the nests: An ice cream scoop and spoon or small rubber spatula work well to shape the nests. You can also use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop-30. Pull some of the noodles in the center back to make space to place eggs.

Firming up the cookies: Place cookies in the freezer for about 15 minutes to harden faster.

If you plan to lay out birds nest cookies for Easter, keep them in the fridge until about 15 minutes before serving. The candies need a chance to thaw, but the chocolate will melt if they sit out too long.

Storage: Store birds nest cookies in an airtight container, with parchment paper between each layer, for up to one week in the refrigerator or one month in the freezer.

Birds nest cookies sitting on a wooden tray that has green fake Easter grass on it. In the background is a small Easter basket with the dessert in it, too, and some wooden Easter egg decorations and a bowl of mini egg candies.

More Easter Recipes

Easter Birds Nest Cookies

Yield: 13 cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Additional Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 1/2 cups chow mein noodles
36 mini candy eggs, (like Cadbury mini eggs, Whopper Robin eggs, Hershey's or M&M's candy-coated eggs)

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. (You need to work fast once the Chow Mein noodles are covered in chocolate, so get this ready first.)
To a microwave-safe bowl, add chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and peanut butter. Heat in microwave for 1 minute, remove and stir. If the chips aren't completely melted, put back in microwave in 15-second increments. (It took me 1 1/2 minutes.)
Add Chow Mein noodles to the melted chocolate and stir well to coat all the noodles.
Form the bird nests by spooning about 2 tablespoons of the chocolate-covered noodles onto the prepared baking sheet. (You should have enough for 12-13 nests.) Using a spoon or small rubber spatula, pull the noodles apart a little bit in the center so there's a spot to put the candy eggs. (See recipe tips below). Add three candy eggs to each nest before the chocolate hardens.
Place in refrigerator for about 3 hours to firm up. To harden the birds nests quickly, place tray in freezer for about 15 minutes.

Notes

Work fast once chocolate is melted. Line a tray with parchment paper before you begin. And add the candy to each nest before the chocolate firms up.
Shaping the nests: An ice cream scoop and spoon or small rubber spatula work well to shape the nests. You can also use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop-30. Pull some of the noodles in the center back to make space to place eggs.
Firming up the cookies: Place cookies in the freezer for about 15 minutes to harden faster.
If you plan to lay out birds nest cookies for Easter, keep them in the fridge until about 15 minutes before serving. The candies need a chance to thaw, but the chocolate will melt if they sit out too long.
Storage: Store birds nest cookies in an airtight container, with parchment paper between each layer, for up to one week in the refrigerator or one month in the freezer.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 13 cookies Serving Size: 1 Cookie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 185Total Fat: 10gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 81mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 1gSugar: 30gProtein: 3g