Happy Friday! I'm leaving you this weekend with Easter Nest Sugar Cookies - a fun little project you can do with your kids, or your friends' kids, or just your friends. (I have a wide demographic of readers, so you know where you fit in.) 😉
The other day I baked up the miniature soft frosted sugar cookies and decorated them into Easter egg nests. They turned out pretty cute if I say so myself!
The only change I had to make in the original recipe was to thicken the icing up (just by adding more powdered sugar) so that it was at a better piping consistency and not so runny. This way, I could use the star icing tip to create the grass.
Another tip? If you want to be more cost-effective with these, use the jelly eggs found at Walmart (pictured above) for only $1.00 instead of the chocolate eggs (pictured below) that are close to $3.00 (or more than $3.00 at Target). The batch makes a large amount of cookies, and I ran out of the chocolate eggs. When I made a quick run to Walmart, I discovered the cheaper jelly eggs and found they were just as adorable!
Living in a tightly knit neighborhood with a GAH-zillion kids is fun for me right now. These kids are perfect for sharing fun projects like this.
They love their cookies! I may or may not be bribing them for the title of favorite mom on the block. 😉 I also brought some to the child care workers at my gym. Yep, I might also be the favorite gym mom, too...
I can never end a photo shoot without taking a big bite!
Easter Nest Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 4 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 5 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 6 cups powdered sugar more or less to reach desired consistency
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 7 tablespoon milk more or less as needed
- green food coloring
For decorating:
- jelly beans or chocolate eggs
Instructions
For the cookies:
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients just until incorporated and evenly mixed. Cover and chill the dough for 1 hour.
- When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Scoop a tablespoon of dough (about ¾-ounce) and roll into a ball then place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing cookies 2 inches apart. Using your fingers, slightly press the top of each cookie. Bake for 8-10 minutes, rotating cookie sheets halfway through baking. It is important not to over bake. The edges should not even be brown. Let cool for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the frosting:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, melted butter, vanilla and milk until smooth. You will want a thick consistency that holds a star piping. Whisk in additional milk, one teaspoon at a time, to reach desired consistency. Tint with food coloring.
- Use a piping bag with star tip to make the grass. Top with eggs. Store in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
