These no bake birds nest cookies are soft, chewy, and packed full of buttery, toasted coconut, marshmallow, and white chocolate flavor. They have an irresistible chewy texture and a stretchy marshmallow pull. This recipe is only 8 ingredients and comes together in under 20 minutes. They're an perfect Easter and spring treat activity to make with kids (adult supervision required).
I love to use them as a table setting decoration with a bunny napkin fold - I show you how to do this later in this recipe!
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🥚 Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- Flavor: They taste like coconut, white chocolate, and butter. They're the perfect spring flavor!
- Texture: They're buttery and chewy. If you love rice krispie squares, you will love these!
- Easy & no bake: You don't have to bake them, making them a fun and easy cookie project to make with kids! You do need adult supervision because you need the stove to melt marshmallows.
For more Easter cookie ideas, check out these creme egg cookies and lemon raspberry cookies.
📝 Key ingredients
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
- Shredded wheat: I used unflavored original shredded wheat to give them a straw like texture. Alternatively, you can use rolled oats, puffed rice, or chow mein noodles.
- Mini marshmallows: Use freshly opened mini marshmallows for the ultimate stretchy and chewy texture.
- White chocolate: Good quality white chocolate will give you the best flavor and soft texture. Don't use white chocolate chips - they're usually not real white chocolate and your filling may be lumpy. I used one bar of lindt white chocolate.
- Shredded sweetened coconut: This gets toasted to give the cookies a warm, coconut flavor. You can use unsweetened coconut if you prefer a crunchier, less sweet cookie.
- Mini eggs: I used candy coated chocolate mini eggs. Similar egg shaped alternatives are chocolate or yogurt covered almonds, raisins, jellybeans...
These mini egg bars and fudgy mini egg brownies are the perfect way to use up any leftover mini eggs.
✔️ Ingredient substitutions
Shredded wheat:
- Rolled oats
- Puffed rice cereal
- Chow mein noodles
Mini eggs:
- Chocolate, yogurt, or candy covered almonds
- Chocolate covered coffee beans
- Chocolate or yogurt covered raisins
- Jelly beans
- Anything that is mini egg shaped
👩🍳 How to make Easter nests
Step 1: Add the shredded coconut into a dry wide pan or saucepan. Toast the coconut on low heat for a few minutes, stirring constantly to prevent it from burning. Remove the coconut from the pan when it is lightly golden brown. You don’t need to wash it.
Step 2: Add butter into the same pan and melt on low heat. Add marshmallows and chopped white chocolate. Heat on low heat, stirring constantly until the marshmallows are almost fully melted.
Step 3: Turn off the heat and whisk vigorously until smooth and combined. Add vanilla extract and whisk.
Step 4: Immediately add shredded wheat, toasted coconut, and salt. Mix well until everything is evenly combined.
Step 5: Grease your hands and a large ice cream scoop with a small bit of butter. Scoop the mixture into 10 large balls and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Step 6: Press the middles of the balls down with your fingers to create a nest shape. Gently push in the sides if needed, but don’t compress the nests too much or they will be tough and hard.
Add three mini candy coated eggs into the middles of the birds nest cookies and serve!
🐣 Expert no bake cookie tips
- Use good quality white chocolate: this will give the nests a soft and buttery mouthfeel and keep them softer at room temperature
- Use fresh marshmallows: stale marshmallows will result in stale birds nest cookies.
- Don't overcook the marshmallows: Take it off the heat as soon as the marshmallow white chocolate mixture comes together. If you overheat it, the cookies will be tough and hard.
- Cook on lowest heat: This prevents overcooking the marshmallows and white chocolate and ensures an even, soft texture.
- Don't over-compact the cookie mixture: Only press the middle of the nest down to fit the eggs, you want the outside edges to be loose. This will also prevent a hard and tough cookie.
- Shape while warm! This is going to make it so much easier to shape the cookies.
🥄 Storage
These birds nest cookies keep well at room temperature for up to 4 days. Keep them in an airtight container to prevent them from getting stale and staying soft.
Table setting idea
These cookies make the perfect spring and Easter table setting decoration! I shaped a napkin into bunny ears and placed a nest cookie on a plate on top of the napkin - see photo for reference and full steps below:
- Fold the napkin in half to make a triangle.
- Roll the napkin loosely to make a long rectangle with pointed ends.
- Fold the napkin roll in half and place it on a larger plate, pointed ends upwards.
- Place a smaller plate on top to cover the folded bottom of the napkin. Place a cookie on top.
- Fold one of the napkin ends down to create a "folded bunny ear".
- Add forks, knives, spoons, cups...
📖 Recipe FAQs
Avoid white chocolate chips unless you know for sure that they are real white chocolate. White chocolate should have a yellow tint to it and easily melt when touching. I used a bar of Lindt brand white chocolate.
White chips and candy melts are not actually white chocolate, but a similar product where the cocoa fat is replaced with vegetable oil. This allows them to set to the perfect shiny and snappy texture without the lengthy process of tempering white chocolate. They taste very similar, but good quality white chocolate does have a creamier mouthfeel.
I used white chocolate so that the nests are soft at room temperature and have a creamy mouthfeel, offset with the delicious crunch from the cereal.
I used three shredded wheat bricks for a total of 2 cups of crumbled shredded wheat.
You can if that's what you have. Press them down when measuring. They take longer to melt and you risk overcooking the marshmallow mixture. I do recommend mini marshmallows over jumbo or large marshmallows.
I haven't tried it but it should work! Let us know in the comments if you try it.
🐰 More related recipes
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📖 Recipe
Birds Nest Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie scoop or large spoon
- Large cookie or baking sheet
- saucepan or wide bottom pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter plus extra for greasing
- 2 cups mini marshmallows fresh, not stale
- 1 bar good quality white chocolate chopped, 100g, 3.5 oz
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups shredded wheat crumbled (or oatmeal or chow mein noodles)
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- 30 mini eggs about 100g
Instructions
- Add the shredded coconut into a dry wide pan or saucepan. Toast the coconut on low heat for a few minutes, stirring constantly to prevent it from burning. Remove the coconut from the pan when it is lightly golden brown. You don’t need to wash it.1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
- Add butter into the same pan and melt on low heat. Add marshmallows and chopped white chocolate. Heat on low heat, stirring constantly until the marshmallows are almost fully melted.⅓ cup unsalted butter, 2 cups mini marshmallows, 1 bar good quality white chocolate
- Take off the heat and whisk vigorously until smooth and combined. Add vanilla extract and whisk.1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Immediately add shredded wheat, toasted coconut, and salt. Mix well until everything is evenly combined.2 cups shredded wheat, ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- Grease your hands and a large ice cream scoop with a small bit of butter. Scoop the mixture into 10 large balls and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Press the middles of the balls down with your fingers to create a nest shape. Gently push in the sides if needed, but don’t compress the nests too much or they will be tough and hard.
- Add three mini candy coated eggs into each middle and serve! Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days.30 mini eggs
Notes
- Use good quality white chocolate: this will give the nests a soft and buttery mouthfeel and keep them softer at room temperature
- Use fresh marshmallows: stale marshmallows will result in stale birds nest cookies.
- Don't overcook the marshmallows: Take it off the heat as soon as the marshmallow white chocolate mixture comes together. If you overheat it, the cookies will be tough and hard.
- Cook on lowest heat: This prevents overcooking the marshmallows and white chocolate and ensures an even, soft texture.
- Don't over-compact the cookie mixture: Only press the middle of the nest down to fit the eggs, you want the outside edges to be loose. This will also prevent a hard and tough cookie.
- Shape while warm!
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