Birds Nest Cookie Recipe

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This Birds Nest Cookie Recipe is made with only 4 ingredients and makes a fun and delicious Easter dessert! We use pretzel sticks and butterscotch chips to make bird nests and fill the centers with colorful jelly beans for the eggs! 

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Birds Nest Cookie Recipe

This Birds Nest Cookie Recipe is one to keep this Easter season. Made with only 4 ingredients and takes less than 30 minutes to whip up. Salty and crunchy pretzel sticks are coated in sweet butterscotch to make a “birds nest”, then filled with colorful jelly beans to make the eggs.

These no-bake cookies are made with simple ingredients and makes a fun treat for kids to help make. Sometimes you just need an east treat to make especially when life gets busy and these delicious cookies are a great way to save time in kitchen.

Everyone will love how colorful and cute these are and you can easily customize the ingredients to your preference and to what’s available and your grocery store.  

Other Easter Cookies to try are Easter Bunny Cookies, Lemon Crinkle Cookies, Frosted Carrot Cake Cookies, and Italian Ricotta Cookies.

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Key ingredients

• Pretzel sticks: They are crunchy, salty and create a perfect texture for the “branches” and “little sticks”.
• Butterscotch chips: The melted butterscotch will bind the pretzels together. I love using butterscotch chips because of the golden brown color, similar to a nest.
• Jelly beans: Used for the little candy eggs. Bright and colorful jelly beans make beautiful nest cookies. Any type of egg shaped, colorful candy or chocolate candy eggs will work!

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how to make Birds Nest Cookie Recipe

Melt butterscotch: Fill a medium saucepan or double boiler halfway with water; cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Uncover the pan and place a medium heatproof bowl over the simmering water, allowing it to sit on the rim. Add butterscotch chips and butter to the bowl; using a rubber spatula, stir often, until just melted. 

Prepare pretzels: In the meanwhile, break pretzels into 1/2-inch pieces or roughly chop with a knife.

Add pretzels to melted butterscotch: Once the butterscotch has melted, carefully remove bowl from the heat. Add pretzels and stir until fully coated in butterscotch.

Form bird nests: Spoon the coated pretzel mixture onto cookie sheet or baking sheet lined with parchment paper or wax paper into small piles (about 1/4 cup per nest). Spread each pile out into a 2 1/2-inch circle, then make a small divot in the center of each cookie to create a nest.

Fill with jelly beans and chill: Fill each nest with 3-4 jelly beans and place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or until they are cooled and harden.

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TIPS

• Melting: Avoid melting butterscotch over the stove by using candy melts or almond bark instead. This will create an easier method and is a few minutes quicker to melt.
• Place eggs on nests: You can do this before or after the nests go in the refrigerator. I recommend placing them on top while the butterscotch is still melted so the jelly beans stick to the nests.
• Forming nests: Use a mini ice cream cookie scoop to form the bird nests into a perfect shape. Use the back of the ice cream scoop or the handle of a wooden spoon to form the divot.
• Year round dessert: Make these any time of year by not creating the divot in the centers and top the cookies with sprinkles or candies. 

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recipe variations

• Peanut butter: Give this easy treat a peanut butter flavor by adding a few tablespoons of creamy peanut butter to the melted butterscotch.
• Chocolate: Swap the butterscotch chips for chocolate chips. Use either white chocolate chips, semisweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or milk chocolate chips. You could also use peanut butter chips instead.
• Easter Eggs: You can use just about any round and colorful Easter candy for the eggs. Cadbury Mini Eggs, Easter themed M&M’s, Robin Eggs, Skittles, or Reese’s peanut butter eggs would work well.
• Pretzels: Chow Mein Noodles (crispy noodles) are perfect to use as the noodles look like branches. They don’t need to be chopped up since they are already in smaller pieces.
• Chocolate peanut butter: If you’re not a fan of butterscotch, use a combination of peanut butter chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips to make the chocolate mixture. 

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leftovers & storage

To store: Cookies will last for up to 1 week when stored in an airtight container or plate covered with plastic wrap in a cool area (the kitchen counter is a perfect place!). They will last up to 2 weeks when stored in the refrigerator.

To freeze: Freeze bird nests in an airtight container for up to 3 months in the freezer. Place parchment paper between each layer of cookies so they don’t stick together. Defrost cookies in the refrigerator or on the counter before serving.

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