Birds Nest Cookies – No Bake Easter Treat

Make these adorable birds nest cookies for Easter! These are simple no-bake springtime treats with only 4 ingredients that taste fabulous. 

Who doesn’t love peanut butter and butterscotch chips? Mixing these two flavors with chow mein noodles makes the perfect sweet and salty combination. Place some chocolate eggs in the “nest”, and you have a fantastic Easter treat!

This cookie recipe is a low-effort dessert that is great for kids to help make. Make this fun treat for an Easter or spring party. 

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Looking for more Easter treats? Make my Birds Nest Cake or no-bake Easter Cereal Bars.

Key Ingredients

For exact amounts needed see the recipe card below

Chow Mein Noodles – These are perfect for these cookies because they look like twigs! Plus, they are salty, which makes the birds nest cookies irresistible.

Peanut butter – Use creamy so that the nests are smooth.

Butterscotch chips – These chips are melted to make the cookies sweet and delicious. Some recipes also include milk chocolate chips, but I prefer just butterscotch.

Mini chocolate eggs – It wouldn’t be a nest without eggs, after all. I use Cadbury mini eggs, but you can use whatever egg candies you have.

How to Make Birds Nest Cookies

1. Melt

Put the peanut butter and butterscotch chips in a small saucepan. Heat them over low heat, stirring until they are completely melted.

Or you can combine the peanut butter and butterscotch chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave it in 30-second increments, stirring vigorously in between. 

2. Mix

Put the chow mein noodles in a mixing bowl and pour the melted mixture over the top. Stir gently to combine, but be careful not to break the noodles too much.

3. Shape

The easiest way to shape these is to use a muffin pan, since it will help form the nest shape. If you don’t have a muffin pan use a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Put a spoonful of chow mein mixture in each spot in the pan. Then make an indent in each cookie to make the bird nest shape and hold the chocolate eggs. You can use a tart tamper, a round tablespoon or a spoon to make a nice deep indent. The deeper the indent, the more chocolate eggs it will hold!

4. Chill

Put the nests in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm them up. Run a butter knife along the outer edge and take them out carefully. If you used a silicone pan muffin pan, just press on the bottom to pop them out.

Add 3-4 candies per nest on top of each cookie and serve.

Serving Ideas

Use a tiered Easter egg display dish for serving! The nests sit nicely on top of the round egg inserts. Or just put them on a plate and watch them disappear.

This simple treat is easy to make ahead, making it ideal for an Easter brunch.

How to Store

The nests will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days. I don’t usually add the eggs until I serve the cookies.

Variations

Here are some ideas for changing up this simple recipe.

• Replace up to half of the butterscotch chips with milk chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate chips to make a more chocolate nest. Or use white chocolate chips instead.
• Stir in 1/4 cup of flaked coconut or shredded coconut with the chow mein noodles. This will give the cookies a mild coconut flavor.
• Change up the candies that fill these adorable nests. Use any type of candy egg. Even jelly beans work.

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