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Easter is a little over a week away and I already have three bags of mini Cadbury eggs stashed in my pantry. They are absolutely essential in our home once March hits — anyone else? I would trade every jelly bean in my Easter basket for a handful of these little chocolate eggs, and honestly that obsession started young.
So I thought — since mini Cadbury eggs are so irresistible on their own, why not fold them into a cookie? I took a simple brown sugar cookie dough, added chocolate chips and a generous pour of Cadbury eggs, and baked them until just golden. The results were Easter cookie perfection. Some of the eggs melt into little pockets of creamy chocolate, the ones pressed on top stay beautifully intact, and the brown sugar keeps every bite soft and chewy.
These are the perfect cookies to bring to your Easter gathering — just make sure they actually make it out the door!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy, one-bowl cookie dough — no fancy equipment, no tricky techniques
- The Cadbury eggs do something magical in the oven — some melt into pockets of creamy chocolate, the ones on top stay crunchy and gorgeous
- Chewy centers, slightly crisp edges — brown sugar is the secret here
- Endlessly customizable — milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, a pinch of flaky salt on top… all good options
- They freeze beautifully — stash half the batch now, thank yourself later
A Few Notes on Ingredients
The eggs: These are the crispy-shelled milk chocolate mini Cadbury eggs — the ones in the pastel candy coating that show up in the Easter aisle around March. Not the crème eggs. Not the caramel ones. The little ones in the bag.
The butter: Softened, not melted. I know, I know. I’ve tried shortcuts and the cookies spread too much and go kind of greasy. Take it out of the fridge an hour ahead, or microwave it in five-second bursts and hope for the best.
The chocolate chips: Ghirardelli or Guittard if you can find them — the quality difference is real. That said, I’ve used store brand when I was out of the good stuff and nobody complained.
The flour: The recipe calls for 1⅓ cups, but if you want a slightly thicker cookie, go to 1½ cups. Most of the time the smaller amount is perfect. Every once in a while my kitchen is warm and I wish I’d gone higher. Read the room.
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ⅔ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1⅓ cups flour (or 1½ cups for a thicker cookie)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 (10-ounce) bag mini chocolate Cadbury eggs — set aside about ⅓ cup for topping
- ½ cup milk or white chocolate chips (optional, but I always add them)
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350°. Get out a large bowl — bigger than you think you need, because the dough gets bulky.
Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar for a full four minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times because the mixer always leaves a little clump hiding in there. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until just combined.
Fold in the flour, baking soda, and salt by hand with a spatula — don’t overmix, I’ve overworked cookie dough in the stand mixer before and the texture gets a little tough. Just fold until you don’t see dry flour anymore.
Now add most of your Cadbury eggs and the chocolate chips and stir gently. The goal is to break up some of the eggs — maybe a third of them — so you get little shards of candy shell running through the dough, while the rest stay mostly whole. Set that reserved ⅓ cup aside for topping.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it. Minimum 30 minutes, but overnight is better. The butter firms back up, the cookies don’t spread as much, and the flavor deepens in a way that’s hard to explain but you’ll notice. I’ve skipped this step and the cookies come out fine but thinner and a little greasy. Chilling is worth it.
When you’re ready to bake, roll the dough into balls — about a tablespoon and a half each. Line a light-colored baking sheet with parchment (dark pans overbrown the bottoms). Chop or roughly break the reserved Cadbury eggs and press a few pieces into the top of each ball.
Bake 9 to 10 minutes. They’ll look slightly underdone when you pull them — that’s right, they’ll set up as they cool. Go a minute or two longer if you want crispier edges. Let them sit on the pan for at least five minutes before moving them.
Variations
Dark chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate work really well here — the slight bitterness balances the sweetness of the candy shells. A sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top before baking is also really good, when I remember to do it.
Storage
Best the day you make them — the candy shell stays crunchiest and the centers are still soft. Day two they’re still very good. For freezing: cool completely, layer in a freezer bag with parchment between layers, and they’ll keep two to three months. I always freeze half the batch right away so there’s something in reserve for the week of Easter — or just whenever I want a cookie on a Tuesday and can’t justify making a whole batch.
One last thing worth mentioning: mini Cadbury eggs disappear from shelves right after Easter. If you make these and want to keep making them into May — not that I would do this — buy an extra bag now while you still can.
Cadbury Egg Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 2/3 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg large
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 10 oz mini Cadbury eggs
- 1/2 cup milk or white chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3–4 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract, mixing until smooth and fully combined.
- Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.
- Fold in most of the Cadbury eggs (reserving some for topping) and the optional chocolate chips. Gently mix so some candies stay whole while others break slightly.
- For best flavor, cover and chill the dough for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours if time allows.
- Scoop and roll the dough into balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Press extra Cadbury egg pieces on top for a bakery-style look.
- Bake for 9–10 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden and the centers still look slightly soft.
- Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
