Chocolate Mini Egg Cookies
It’s hard to believe it’s already the second week of April(!!) , and Easter is this weekend. My sense of time is a little messed up right now though, as I’ve been sick the past couple of weeks. Thankfully, I think I’m nearing the end of it — this weekend I finally had enough energy to do some baking. And these Chocolate Mini Egg Cookies were at the top of my list.
A Chocolatey Treat for Easter
When it comes to baking for Easter, chocolate isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind. I think of carrot cake, pavlova, or maybe something lemony (like these Mini Lemon Cupcakes). But chocolate — and chocolate cookies for that matter — aren’t usually on my radar.
Don’t get me wrong, I love and eat alllll the Easter chocolate. Cadbury Mini Eggs are my favorite, followed closely by Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs. But I don’t typically bake chocolatey things for Easter. Until now.
Every year, as I’m snacking on my bag of Mini Eggs, I think “These would be great in cookies!” But I typically eat the whole bag before I can get around to baking a batch. This year, I bought two bags — one for snacking, and a second to make these cookies.
Dutch Process Cocoa vs Natural Cocoa
To really up the fudginess in these cookies, I like using Dutch process cocoa powder, instead of natural cocoa. Here’s the difference:
Dutch process cocoa (or “cocoa processed with alkali”, as it’s often labeled) is cocoa powder that has been processed to lower its acidity. Natural cocoa hasn’t been processed the same way, so it’s more acidic. Dutch cocoa results in a deeper, darker chocolate flavor (think Oreo cookies).
Generally speaking, you can use Dutch process and natural cocoa powder interchangeably. Because of the difference in acidity between them, though, you may notice a slight difference in your bakes depending on if you’re using baking soda (a base) or baking powder (neutral). Put very simply, each leavener will react differently with the different cocoa powders. If you want to know more about that, check out this great article by King Arthur Flour.
Don’t Have Mini Eggs? Try Your Favorite Easter Chocolate!
If you don’t have Mini Eggs on hand, any candy-coated milk chocolate will work. Heck, any chocolate candy will taste delicious in these cookies (I’m looking at you, peanut butter eggs!).
Also, in addition to the Mini Eggs, I added some chopped bittersweet chocolate to these cookies. You could use any chocolate you like though — semisweet, milk, or even white chocolate would be amazing here. You could also use all candy and skip the extra chocolate…but why use one kind of chocolate when you can use two?
No matter what kind of candy and chocolate you choose to use, if you like deep, dark, chocolatey treats, you’ll love these cookies. Bake up a batch, and let me know what you think in the comments below!
Happy Baking!
Chocolate Mini Egg Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 c all-purpose flour
- 3/4 c Dutch cocoa powder*
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1 c (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 1 c brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 9oz bag Cadbury Mini Eggs, chopped (set aside 1/3 bag for topping)
- 1 c chocolate chips or chopped chocolate**
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars until light & fluffy – about 2-3 minutes.
- Add eggs and vanilla, and mix until fully combined.
- Mixing on low speed, slowly add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure all dry ingredients are mixed in well.
- Add the 1 c chocolate chips and 2/3 of the bag of chopped Mini Eggs, mixing until incorporated.
- Using a medium cookie scoop (or your hands), roll dough into 1-1/2 in balls, and place on cookie sheet. Using the back of the cookie scoop, make an indent in the top of each dough ball. Add a few pieces of the reserved chopped Mini Eggs, making sure the candy coating is facing up.
- Bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes, or until edges start to look dry and centers are set.
- Allow to cool on cookie sheets for 5-10 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Cookies will stay fresh for up to 5 days.
Notes
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