These mini egg cookies are the most delicious Easter treat. Imagine deliciously sweet, soft and chewy cookie dough filled with gooey milk and dark white chocolate chunks and crushed crunchy mini eggs… So good.
For me, Easter wouldn’t be Easter without a packet of mini eggs. There is something about their crispy, crunchy shells and creamy, chocolatey centre that makes me wish I could buy them year round. They are also perfect for adding to Easter baking and dessert recipes - like my mini egg cheesecake and these mini egg cookies.
They are incredibly simple to make. You simply cream together butter and sugar (I use a combination of soft light brown sugar and golden caster sugar to give the perfect texture and subtle toffee-ish flavour), then add an egg, vanilla, flour, raising agents and a pinch of salt to make a smooth dough. All that’s left to do is stir in the chocolate chunks and crushed mini eggs, before scooping and shaping. It really is that simple!
You can then chill time if you have time, otherwise bake straight away. They really are so perfectly thick and fudgy. I love to serve them warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Plus extra crushed mini eggs on top. Or you can pop them in cellophane bags, tie them with a pretty ribbon and give them as a homemade Easter gift instead of an Easter egg…
Jump to:
- Why you will love this recipe:
- Ingredients:
- Substitutions and Variations:
- Here's how to make the best mini egg cookies:
- Cooking Tips:
- To chill or not to chill
- Chocolate chunks vs chocolate chips
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Storage, Freezing & Make Ahead Instructions
- Other recipes you might enjoy:
- Made this recipe and loved it?
- Mini Egg Cookies
Why you will love this recipe:
- They are super easy to make. Ideal for all baking abilities - the perfect Easter bake!
- They can be made ahead. The dough can be chilled or frozen so you always have a stash of cookie dough for when that cookie craving strikes.
- They are full of flavour and texture. Imagine soft, sweet cookies, swirled with gooey chocolate chunks and crunchy mini eggs. Not to mention those irresistibly crispy edges.
- They are so versatile - you can switch up the chocolate chunks or add different seasonal treats to make them all year round.
Ingredients:
Full recipe can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post, just scroll down!
Butter - opt for unsalted butter so you can control the salt levels in these mini egg cookies.
Soft light brown sugar - this adds sweetness, moisture and a delicious toffee-molasses flavour to the dough. You can use soft dark brown sugar but it will give much darker mini egg cookies.
Caster sugar - this adds sweetness to the cookie dough and helps give the finished cookies perfectly crispy edges.
Eggs - I recommend large free-range eggs stamped with the British Lion mark.
Vanilla extract - this gives a subtle hint of sweet vanilla to the cookie dough. You can use a little more if you prefer.
Plain flour - also known as ‘all-purpose’ flour. This helps create the perfect cookie dough.
Baking powder & bicarbonate of soda - this gives make these mini egg cookies a subtle rise.
Chocolate - I use a combination of milk chocolate and white chocolate. Opt for the best quality you can find and chop into relatively equal sized chunks.
Mini eggs - delicious mini milk chocolate eggs covered in a delicate sweet shell.
Substitutions and Variations:
Brown butter: take these mini egg cookies a step further by using brown butter as the base. It will give them a deliciously nutty flavour. The guide for brown butter in my recipe for triple chocolate chunk cookies.
Sugar - granulated sugar or golden caster sugar will work well if that is what you have.
Chocolate - you can use any ratio of chocolate you like. I have gone for more white and milk chocolate, but you do you. Dark chocolate would be good.
Mini eggs - obviously these are mini egg cookies so they are the star of the show in the original recipe. However, you can make them throughout the year using all sorts of different chocolates. Maltesers, M&M's, Smarties, or Minstrels work really well. So do Or just add extra chopped up milk, dark or white chocolate chunks. If you want to stick with the Easter theme, you can use other small Easter chocolates like Terry's chocolate orange mini eggs, Lindt milk chocolate mini eggs or the various versions by Reese’s, Oreo, Aero, Daim and Kit Kat.
Here's how to make the best mini egg cookies:
Here's a step by step guide for what you need to do, but you can find the full recipe at the bottom of the page for detailed instructions.
ONE: Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan. Line a couple of baking sheets with non-stick baking paper and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter with the soft light brown sugar and golden caster sugar until creamy.
TWO: Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again until combined.
THREE: Sift in the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix until just combined to form a smooth dough.
FOUR: Add the chopped chocolate and crushed mini eggs and fold through until evenly distributed throughout..
FIVE: Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the cookie dough into around 9 equal-sized balls. Use your hands to roll into proper balls and place roughly 5 cm apart on the prepared baking sheets. Chill if you have time.
SIX: Bake for about 12 minutes - or until the edges are just golden-brown but the centres are still puffy and slightly gooey. They might look underdone, but they will continue to bake as they cool on the trays. I like to decorate with more melted white chocolate.
Cooking Tips:
Softened butter: make sure your butter is slightly softened so that it creams properly with the sugars.
Making the dough: take care not to overmix the dough. You want it to be just combined. If you continue to mix it further, your cookies will become tough. They will still taste delicious, but won’t have the dreamy soft texture we are looking for.
Well-spaced: make sure you leave plenty of room between the cookie dough balls as they will spread during baking. Otherwise you will end up with one giant mini egg cookie. Delicious as it sounds, it isn’t quite what we are going for!
Cooling: I know it is tricky, but try to let the cookies cool for at least 15 minutes before tucking in. This allows them time to firm up slightly and form the perfect chewy cookie texture.
To chill or not to chill
You can decide whether to give the dough a bit of time to chill or not. Technically, you will get a better taste and texture if you do give them a bit of time to chill out (they will be thicker and chewier - with more even browning). Even a 30 minute blast in the freezer helps to solidify the butter and prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven. Sometimes I make the dough the night before and chill overnight. However, you can absolutely bake the cookie dough straight away. They will look a little more rustic, but still so good! If you are still worried, try making my chocolate chip cookie bars and swap some of the chopped chocolate for crushed mini eggs instead.
Chocolate chunks vs chocolate chips
You might have noticed that I specify using bars of good-quality chocolate, chopped into chunks instead of different flavours of chocolate chips. I do the same in my triple chocolate brownies and chocolate chunk muffins. I find it gives a much better flavour and texture. This is because chocolate chips have stabilisers in them which means they keep their shape when baking so you don't get the gooey, melted pockets of chocolate. Try with chopped chocolate and you will never go back to chips!
Frequently Asked Questions
No they will still be delicious without chilling but I do find chilling makes them that little bit better. Scroll up for more information on why chilling makes them so good.
Ideally, yes. Both have their purpose. The light brown sugar adds moisture and a delicious toffee flavour. Meanwhile, the golden caster sugar helps create those crispier edges which are key to the perfect cookie.
Yes! Use any chocolate you like. Easter themed or not, any chocolate works. Just substitute the amount of mini eggs/chocolate chunks for anything else you like.
Storage, Freezing & Make Ahead Instructions
Store for up to 5 days in an airtight container - although they are best the day they are made.
Reheat in the microwave in 20 second bursts until warm and the chocolate is melted. Or pop in a preheated oven or air fryer at 170C for 2-3 minutes or so.
Yes, you can make the cookie dough up to 3 days in advance, then cover and chill in the fridge. You can either do this and keep it in the bowl or after you have shaped it into balls. You can also freeze in advance, I recommend freezing in individual balls and then baking from frozen. Just add a few minutes onto the baking time.
Other recipes you might enjoy:
If you like the sound of these mini egg cookies, try my chocolate chip cookie bars. Also don’t miss my chocolate cheesecake or my chocolate brownie cookies.
Made this recipe and loved it?
I would love love LOVE if you could leave a review in the comments… I love hearing what you thought, any changes you made, the stories behind what made you try my recipes. Also, if you share a photo on Instagram, please tag me @desertislanddishes, it makes my day to see you making my creations!
Mini Egg Cookies
Ingredients
- 125 g unsalted butter softened
- 180 g soft light brown sugar
- 20 g golden caster sugar
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 310 g plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- Pinch of flaky sea salt
- 50 g good-quality white chocolate chopped
- 50 g good-quality milk chocolate chopped
- 150 g mini eggs chopped (or bashed with a rolling pin)
- To serve: optional
- Melted white chocolate
- Mini eggs whole or crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan. Line a couple of baking sheets with non-stick baking paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter with the soft light brown sugar and golden caster sugar until creamy. It is best to do this in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, but you can use an electric whisk or a wooden spoon and good old-fashioned elbow grease!
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again until combined.
- Sift in the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix until just combined to form a smooth dough - take care not to overmix or your cookies will be tough!
- Add the chopped chocolate and crushed mini eggs and fold through until evenly distributed throughout.
- Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the cookie dough into around 9 equal-sized balls. Use your hands to roll into proper balls and place roughly 5 cm apart on the prepared baking sheets (I like to do 5 on one sheet, 4 on the other so they have plenty of space to expand). At this point, if you have the time, it is well worth popping your cookie dough into the fridge to chill. Anything from 1 hour to overnight will improve the texture of your cookies. However, I know this doesn’t work for everyone, so if you don’t have the time, simply continue with the next step - the cookies will still taste incredible! You can also cheat and blast them in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Bake for about 12 minutes - or until the edges are just golden-brown but the centres are still puffy and slightly gooey. They might look underdone, but they will continue to bake as they cool on the trays.
- Leave to cool a little before eating so they have time to firm up. Obviously they are delicious warm from the oven - but try to give them at least 15 minutes so you get the perfect chewy texture of the cookies.
- To serve (optional): drizzle with a little melted white chocolate and sprinkle with extra whole or crushed mini eggs.
