Tag Archives: Easter cookies

Chocolate Shortbread Bird Nests

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These crisp chocolate shortbread nests are filled with ganache and pretty blue eggs, a perfect treat to place by each plate on your Easter table.

You’ll be surprised by how easy and fun these are to make—a great project for the whole family. They’re a little fragile after they’ve been baked, so if your littles are . . . well . . . little, you may want to supervise the filling and egg placement. To make the process even easier, you can always use canned frosting instead of making ganache.

Chocolate Shortbread Bird Nests
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Makes about 4 dozen
Ingredients
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • ½ cup shortening
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3 tablespoons coffee or milk
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup cornstarch
  • GANACHE:
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 6 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (I used mini-chips)
  • Small candy eggs
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl (a stand mixture is recommended) beat the butter, shortening, and powdered sugar together until creamy.
  2. Add egg yolk and coffee (or milk) and mix well.
  3. Add flour, cocoa powder, salt, and cornstarch. Beat well. Be patient - it may take a few minutes before the mixture comes together.
  4. Divide into two parts and chill for 1 hour.
  5. Heat oven to 350 F.
  6. Lightly spray mini cupcake pan with baking spray (an oil/flour mixture).
  7. On floured surface roll half of the dough out approximately ⅛-inch thick. To keep the cookies similar in size, cut out 3-inch rounds (or squares). Using a thin spatula or bench scraper, chop one piece into thin strips. Lift the strips into a cavity of prepared pan, loosely surrounding the sides. Leave a few stray pieces sticking out of the top. Place a scrap of dough into the bottom of the cup if needed and press gently. Repeat with all of the remaining dough.
  8. Bake approximately 8-9 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for several minutes, then gently lift each out of the pan and place on a cooling rack. Once cooled the cookies should be fairly crisp. If not, add another minute to the remaining cookies.
  9. GANACHE: Heat heavy cream until it's steamy. Remove from heat, add chocolate and let it sit for 3-4 minutes. Stir well.
  10. Add a dollop of ganache to the bottom of each nest and decorate with small candy eggs.
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Chop fine strips to create nesting material.

Loosely arrange shortbread strips in prepared cups. Bake!

Hint: Once they’ve cooled a bit, try putting something lightweight but stiff (cardboard, a flexible cutting board, etc.) over the top and then flipping the whole works over. It’s easier than lifting each one out of the pan.

So simple. Even the ganache is easy to make. Hope you’ll try this!

Lorinda

Deviled Cookies

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If you’ve been following my blog, you might remember the Deviled Cakes I made a few years ago. They’re still one of my very favorite creations, but unfortunately the egg shaped baking pan is impossible to find now. So I decided to try the same idea with easy shortbread cookie dough.

Finding plastic eggs that open horizontally wasn’t that easy either, but they’re out there!

It wasn’t quite as I envisioned. I had hoped the shortbread dough would be strong enough to hold its shape in the oven with a hole in the middle for jam or ganache.

It wasn’t.

However, I filled that hole with a solid chocolate egg and baked it flat-side down, and—voilà! The chocolate egg supported the cookie dough and added a fun surprise center. Sweet!

A little white chocolate was spread smoothly on the cookie and topped with yolk-colored buttercream and red sugar sprinkles.

I’m getting this post in just under the wire, with two days until Easter. It was sort of an impromptu decision, which translates into: “I didn’t feel like cleaning house today”. This was much more important, right? If you don’t have time to make them this Easter, they’d be cute for a spring tea or luncheon, too.

Deviled Cookies
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Makes 24
Ingredients
  • COOKIES:
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon milk
  • 2 cups flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter, increase to ½ teaspoon)
  • ½ cup cornstarch
  • 24 small solid chocolate eggs
  • BUTTERCREAM ICING:
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • 3½ cups powdered sugar
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • food coloring
  • *****
  • You will also need:
  • Plastic eggs that open horizontally
  • White chocolate candy melts - about 1 cup
  • Red sugar
Instructions
  1. COOKIES:
  2. In a large bowl, combine butter and powdered sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.
  3. Add egg yolk and milk, and blend well. (If using a stand mixer, you may want to switch to the dough hook at this point.)
  4. Add the flour, salt, and cornstarch and mix until it turns into a smooth, stiff dough. At first it will seem very crumbly, but it should come together. If it doesn't, add a little milk, a few drops at a time.
  5. Chill dough for 1 hour.
  6. Heat oven to 350 F. Cover baking sheet with silpat or parchment.
  7. Lightly grease or spray the inside of one egg half and dip in flour. (The grease will help the flour stick.)
  8. Press chilled dough firmly into egg, level with the top.
  9. Press one unwrapped chocolate egg into widest half of the egg as deep as possible. Using your hand or a knife, level the dough in the egg. It's okay if a little chocolate is showing.
  10. Squeeze the sides and ends gently to release the egg flat side down onto prepared baking sheet. Repeat, placing eggs at least 1 inch apart.
  11. Bake 14-15 minutes, or until the flat side is beginning to turn light golden brown. Allow to cool on the baking sheet on a rack. (If you need to use the pan for the remaining eggs, slide silpat or parchment onto the rack.)
  12. Once eggs are cool, melt white chocolate in the microwave at 15 second increments, stirring often, or in a small pan on lowest heat. Use a knife or offset spatula to spread melted chocolate smoothly on each egg. Run your finger around the top edge for a clean look.
  13. Make buttercream: Beat soft butter until creamy. Slowly add powdered sugar (and a little of the cream if it's too thick to mix), beating well. Add vanilla and remaining cream and beat well until fluffy. Add food coloring. I used mostly yellow, with just a tiny amount of green and orange to achieve an egg yolk color.
  14. Pipe buttercream onto each cookie and sprinkle with red sugar.
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Solid chocolate egg ready to be pressed firmly into the dough.

Lay flat to bake. (I used a Silpat, but parchment works too.)

Baked. I flipped them over so you can see their underbellies.

Spread melted white chocolate on the flat side.

Sigh. I didn’t get a photo of piping the buttercream. You’ve got this, right?



Happy Easter, everyone.

Lorinda

Easter Bunny Drops

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If you see chocolate covered raisins and grated carrot peeking out of the cookies on my brunch table, you’ll know the Easter Bunny has left a little surprise on his way through the kitchen!

He can’t help it; bunnies are like that. I had a litter-box trained rabbit once, but he still left a few droppings on the way to and from the box. More than you wanted to know, right?

These cookies are very light and cake-like, not crunchy. I like mine just bursting with goodies, so I add a handful of toasted pecans to the dough too for a little extra flavor and crunch. You could also add a small can of crushed pineapple with the juice thoroughly pressed out.

You don’t really have to glaze them, but they’re so appealing with that thin coat of icing that I couldn’t resist.

These are about as easy as cookies get. Make lots and lots; they’ll go quickly!

Easter Bunny Drops
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Makes 48 cookies (a few more if you add the optional ingredients).
Ingredients
  • 1¼ cups sugar
  • ½ cup oil (I use peanut, but any light colored oil will work)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1½ teaspoons vanilla
  • ¼ cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup grated carrot (not too finely grated - you want to see the color!)
  • 2½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 8 ounces (about 1¼ cups) chocolate covered raisins
  • OPTIONAL: ¼ cup chopped nuts, 1 small can crushed pineapple (all liquid pressed out)
  • GLAZE: 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons water, whisked together well.
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350 F. Cover baking sheets with silpat or parchment.
  2. In large bowl, beat sugar and oil together well.
  3. Add eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk and beat for 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
  4. Mix in grated carrot, (pineapple, if you're using it) flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon just until incorporated.
  5. Stir in chocolate covered raisins (and nuts, if desired).
  6. Using a small cookie scoop or level tablespoon, drop onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes, until the bottoms are golden brown.
  7. Cool on a rack and brush with a very thin layer of sugar glaze.
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Sticky, gooey dough!

Scoop onto silpat or parchment. Don’t flatten!

Bake for 12 minute until bottoms are a rich golden brown.

Tell the kids that the Easter Bunny is magic, and his droppings are good to eat. They’ll buy that. I did!

Lorinda