These Adorable 3-Ingredient Easter Bird's Nest Cookies Are Effortless Show-Stealers

What are your favorite Easter food traditions? You might dye a pot of boiled eggs or bake up a batch of hot cross buns (even if Mary Berry prefers the store-bought kind). If you'd rather not bake, though, you might want to try these attractive yet nearly effortless Easter cookies. As developer Julianne De Witt says of this recipe, "This easy no-bake cookie recipe is so fun to make. I love that there are only three ingredients, yet the cookies are so rich, crunchy, and chocolatey, you'd never guess how simple they are to make." These festive show-stoppers are the perfect embodiment of the season, with their adorable bird's nest form and bright pastel colors. They're even wonderful for bringing family and friends together. "It's the perfect treat to make with children (with supervision when melting the chocolate, of course). It's also a wonderful dessert to bring to an Easter potluck, spring party, or give as a hostess gift."

These cookies can be whatever size you want them to be, although if you go with mini versions (Sized to hold a single candy egg), you might want to break up the chow mein noodles into smaller pieces. If you've got a packed Easter-day schedule and you're looking for a good make-ahead recipe, you'll be glad to know that these taste great either at room temperature (where they'll keep for three days) or chilled. 

Just like the name says, these cookies don't require a laundry list of ingredients. The "nest" is provided by crunchy chow mein noodles, while chocolate chips are the edible glue that holds them together. Candy-coated chocolate eggs are used to fill each nest, and yep, that's all you need.

Line a large cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Place the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.

Melt the chocolate chips, stirring occasionally, until smooth.

Remove the chocolate from the heat and add the chow mein noodles.

Stir until the noodles are evenly coated with the chocolate.

Using about 3 tablespoons per cookie, portion the mixture into 14–15 mounds. Gently press 3 candy-coated chocolate eggs into the center of each. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until set.

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There are plenty of different ways you can adapt this recipe to your own preferences, starting with the chocolate. Instead of milk, you could use either semi-sweet or white chips. You could also use a 50/50 combo of chips, including flavored ones like butterscotch, mint, or peanut butter. Speaking of peanut butter, another way to get a somewhat Reese's-like flavor would be to melt half a cup of peanut butter along with the chocolate. (Yes, this would also work with a different nut or seed butter, too.)

Chow mein noodles are convenient because they're already cooked, and they have a crunchy, almost pretzel-like taste. Instead of the chow mein noodles, you can use something else to provide some nest-like texture. Shredded coconut would taste delicious and look appropriately bird's-nesty, while puffed-rice cereal (Rice Krispies or similar) would add crunch without affecting the flavor too much. If you're a fan of all things sweet and salty, you could even experiment with the smaller, thinner kind of pretzel sticks. Finally, fill the nests with whatever you like. Here we went with candy-coated chocolate eggs, but jelly beans would be an excellent alternative, as would any other kind of sufficiently small Easter candy. 

One of the great things about chocolate as a cooking ingredient is that it melts so easily, and you have several different options at your disposal for doing so. This recipe calls for the double-boiler method, but you can also melt it directly in a pot on the stove. This only takes about half as much time, but the chocolate is more likely to scorch if you don't watch it closely. The easiest and quickest method, however, may be to use the microwave.

You will first need to pour the chips into a microwave-safe container, and then zap them for an initial 20 or 30 seconds. (This works on either the medium-power setting or the standard one.) Once the microwave goes ding, remove the chips and stir them. Many will remain intact at this point, so give the chocolate another 20 or 30 seconds of heat and then stir it again. After a few repetitions (about 90 seconds in all), you should be down to just a few unmelted chips. Stir until they melt in the residual heat, leaving you with smooth, liquid chocolate. (Taking the container out of the microwave before the last chips dissolve prevents the chocolate from burning.) If you find that the chocolate looks grainy, stir in a tiny bit of warm milk to smooth it out.

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