Easter is coming and in terms of food, for me that means one thing: Cadbury Mini-Eggs.
Mini-eggs are my absolute favorite candy, and I never get sick of them because they only show up twice a year (Christmas). I’m not a fan of the dark-chocolate variety, so I’m glad I could only find the milk chocolate variety. [Side note: I love dark chocolate, but not in coated candy form of any kind… weird.] I really wanted to use these in a way that wasn’t stuffing my face with them and regretting it later, so I turned to my mom’s trusty box of cookie recipes.
One of my very favorite holiday cookies from my mom is her Chewy Chocolate Cookies. They are a delicious pecan-meal chocolate cookie that she only makes at Christmastime (another food I haven’t gotten sick of yet), and I found myself craving them. Suddenly a “new” cookie was born. Behold:
Ingredients (*adapted from my mom’s original recipe):
- 1 ¼ cups butter*
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups bread flour*
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt*
- 1 cup finely chopped nuts (optional) (i.e. pecan meal)
- handfuls of mini-egg candy
Directions:
- Cream butter/margarine and sugar in a large mixer bowl.
- Add eggs and vanilla and blend well.
- Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; blend into creamed mixture.
- Stir in nuts, if desired.
- Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 to 9 minutes. (do not overbake, cookies will be soft. They will puff during baking, flatten upon cooling.)
- Cool on cookie sheet until set, about 1 minute; remove to wire rack to cool completely.
I love these nostalgic cookies already, so I was really excited to try them with chocolate candy tucked inside. At first, I didn’t know how they might do because mini-eggs are so much bigger than most in-cookie candies (i.e. M&M’s or chocolate chips). When I mixed in the candies, I ended up using the mixer and not a spoon, which actually broke up most of the pieces. This worked out well and created a fun effect in the cookies.
I was right to be excited. Warm from the oven, the chocolate from the mini-eggs was a perfect amount of melty and went perfectly with the cookie. The colors from the candy make them look like they’re ready for spring (and to be devoured). I really want my mom to try this take on her delicious Christmas cookie turned Easter cookie. Fortunately, I’ll get to see her this weekend. Let’s hope they last until then!