Sugar Cookie Easter Nests
Easter is one of my favorite holidays...mainly because my Mom makes my favorite meal, and we only have it once a year. So for this Easter, I was on the hunt for a festive dessert recipe when I came across Lovely Little Kitchen's Sugar Cookie Easter Nests. They were so cute, I just had to try them...and who doesn't love a sugar cookie with toasted coconut?
They were easy to make, and you can customize which candy treat you put in the center. They are the perfect dessert to use as a place setting for the holiday, or you can just serve up a plate of these after dinner and watch your guests oooh and ahhh over how adorable and delicious they are!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup buter, softened
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 1/2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
- 72 egg shaped candies (I used 1 bag of jelly beans, and 1 bag of mini whoppers)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix them together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and oil on medium speed. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat until combined.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and mix on low speed until a dough is formed.
- Divide the dough into 24 standard sized muffin/cupcake tins. You do not need to grease them. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of each muffin tin. *Even though these will look like cookie cups, you do not need to form them yourself. Just make a flat base.** Top with 1 tablespoon of coconut. Spread the coconut to the edges as it will shrink a bit as it bakes.
- Bake the cookie nests for 11-15 minutes. The coconut should be starting to brown. Once you take them out you can press the center and they will fall to create the dip you need. Sometimes they fall on their own. Allow the cookie nests to cool almost completely (about 10 minutes) before removing to a cooling rack. If you give the nests a little twist they should pop right out of the tin.
- Once they are completely cooled, place three egg candies in each one.
I cannot wait to share these with my friends and family. It's always nice to find something festive that not only tastes great, but looks great too. A lot of the time these recipes are complicated, so when you find an easy one make sure to store it away in the recipe collection! Happy Easter Everyone!!
<3 P.S. Chocolate Cadbury Eggs would be delicious in here too...unfortunately my store was out of them.
