This winter has been brutal. With the massive amounts of snow in the north and a gloomy (spooky!) brown bayou down south, we all deserve spring in our lives.
I present to you, spring in Cookie Form! Who doesn’t love chocolate or macaroons? Who doesn’t LOVE Cadbury Mini-Eggs? You have no idea how hard it was to leave the bag unopened until I made these. SO HARD. I obviously cannot be trusted with anything delicious in my house, which is why I immediately sent these with Mr. Nomato to work once the pictures were taken. And then promptly made another batch and took them to cake decorating class, because they needed to get out of my house! Although this recipe may or may not have been entirely concocted as an elaborate justification for me to buy the megabag….
This is an awesome recipe for tiny kitchen helpers. It’s really an awesome recipe for everything. Bake sales. Church picnics. Easter Dinner. Expect many oohs and ahhs for presentation but even more bulged eyes and “oh my god I need this recipe right now” after they take the first bite! And then you will smile confidently, like you have a secret, and tell them ‘it was so easy!’ because these are beyond easy. The hardest part is waiting until they’re set.
This recipe is adapted from Taste Book. it’s the best haystack/macaroon cookie recipe I’ve tried!
The first thing you want to do is toss your sugar, milk, butter, cocoa and salt in the bottom of a pot and turn the heat to medium high. We want to get this thing boiling! Stir frequently to make sure everything is being melted and mixed evenly. Burnt cocoa is not a delicious smell.
Almost there!
That’s what I’m talking about. You want it to boil for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove it from the burner and stir in the rest of your ingredients, the vanilla, oats and coconut. If nuts are your jam, you can absolutely add walnuts, pecans, anything would be delicious, really!
Stir until everything is completely mixed and coated in melted chocolate. Be sure to keep a backup spoon handy in case you have an uncontrollable urge to eat a giant glob of this stuff.
Drop them onto wax-covered trays with a spoon.
YUM. I’m giving you permission to lick said spoon when you’re done dropping.
Now you have two options. If you’re lucky enough to have a giant fridge or are supremely talented at Fridge Tetris, put the trays in there for 15 minutes. If you are like me and have a fridge that’s barely large enough for a brita and some old apples, leave them out in a cool place for about an hour. I stuck them right in the cross breeze from our air conditioner because apparently Louisiana in March is 32 freaking degrees (89.6 in American). This is unnatural.
You may have to set up an electric fence to keep fingers out of these while they’re setting. Maybe even set up a decoy batch. I wish you much luck, but trust in your ingenuity.
You’ll know they’re ready for the next stage when they don’t feel tacky or sticky. If they do and you find it’s impossible for one reason or another, just make sure your spoon is coated with a little bit of non-stick spray or coconut oil.
Take your most round spoon and press it firmly into the centre of your cookies, pushing the middle down and creating the nest shape.
Some cookies will be easier than others, which may need some coaxing with fingers.
But ultimately they’ll look like adorable little birds’ nests.
The next step is to take your Cadbury Mini Eggs and put them into the dents made by the spoon.
Give them a little push to ensure that if you were to say, pass them to a three year old as she tears past you…
… or your friend as she pours her fourth glass of sangria, the eggs won’t end up on the floor.
Now you let them set the rest of the way. In the fridge, I’d say about another hour. In your airco crossbreeze, another two.
In order to transport them I always put wax paper between the layers because these can get sticky again real quick!
So simple, easy, and so delicious! It’s really just a bonus that they’re this cute! Enjoy!
- 2 cups sugar
- ½ cup milk (I used soy milk for this recipe and it still turned out great!)
- ½ cup butter or block margarine (tub margarine is too soft)
- ½- ¾ cup cocoa
- dash of salt
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup flaked coconut
- 1 large bag Cadbury Mini Eggs
- OPTIONAL: you can add nuts – walnuts or pecans if you are so inclined!
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In a saucepan on the stove, mix sugar, milk, butter, cocoa and salt.
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Set to medium heat and boil, stirring frequently
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Once boiling, cook for five minutes, stirring constantly.
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Remove pan from heat and add vanilla, oats and coconut.
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Stir until all ingredients are mixed and completely coated in chocolate.
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Immediately drop onto waxed paper covered trays.
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Let cool in fridge 15 minutes, or cool place for 1 hour, until no longer sticky or tacky to touch.
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Press spoon into the centre of the cookies, making an indent. You may need to use clean fingers to coax shapes into nests. If your spoon is sticking, just cover with a THIN layer of coconut oil or non-stick spray.
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Press Cadbury mini-eggs into the centre, until they’re secure.
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Let set the rest of the way. 1 hour in the fridge, 2 hours in a cool place.
Serve and enjoy!
