Cadbury Egg Cookies are a fun and easy treat to make for Easter! Chewy and sweet, they're full of chocolate chips and Cadbury mini eggs. Make this Easter cookies recipe to share at your holiday dessert table, or any other time of the year!
When you want an easy and festive Easter treat that's quick to make, Cadbury Egg Cookies are the perfect choice!
Some recipes just include the mini eggs, but I include mini chocolate chips too. This way, the Easter cookies are loaded with chocolate and crunchy candy!
The crispy edges and soft centers are absolutely perfect. This sweet treat is a hit at Easter brunch or as a light Easter dessert.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Delicious flavor. Imagine chewy middle, crisp edged chocolate chip cookies stuffed with candy-coated Cadbury eggs. So good!
- Perfect Easter cookies. Your family will love these cookies so much that baking them is sure to become an Easter tradition!
- Freezer friendly. Save time by making a double (or triple!) batch of cookie dough at one time. It freezes well for several months!
If you're a fan of baking cookies with candy, be sure to try my recipes for Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies and Easy M&M Cookie Bars.
Ingredients
See ingredient substitutions in the next section. ⬇️
To make this easy cookie recipe, you'll need:
- unsalted butter: If you can afford it, I recommend using European butter rather than American-made. The extra butterfat content adds so much more flavor!
- white granulated sugar
- light brown sugar
- large eggs
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour: I like to use unbleached flour because it's less processed than bleached flour.
- leavener: The baking soda causes the Cadbury egg cookies rise in the oven. If you haven't used your leavener in the past few months, it's best to test it for freshness before you start making this recipe. When leaveners are too old, they don't produce the gas bubbles needed to cause baked goods to rise.
- mini chocolate chips
- Cadbury mini eggs: You can save some money by taking advantage of pre and post-holiday candy sales! I like to stock up on seasonal holiday candies and freeze them so I can bake seasonal treats at any time of the year.
📖 Time-Saving Tip - Testing Baking Soda or Baking Powder for Freshness
This simple little test can save you time and money, because if your leavener is expired, whatever you're baking wont rise in the oven! This test works for baking soda and baking powder:
- Add about ½ teaspoon of baking soda or powder to a small bowl. Stir in an equal amount of an acidic ingredient, like vinegar or citrus juice.
- If the solution doesn't start to bubble immediately, it's time to replace your leavener.
Substitutions and Recipe Variations
- all-purpose flour: If you'd like to make gluten-free Easter cookies, substitute the AP flour with a cup-for-cup brand of gluten-free all-purpose flour. Two popular brands are Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur Flour.
- baking soda: This leavener is not the same as baking powder. They do not react the same way, so do not substitute baking powder for baking soda.
- white granulated sugar: To cut down on the calories of your cookies, feel free to use any cup-for-cup granulated sugar substitute. Monkfruit sugar is a good option. Light brown sugar can be used instead, but the Cadbury egg cookies will have a stronger molasses flavor.
- brown sugar: If you don't have any on hand, you can use white sugar and molasses to make a brown sugar substitute! Just use a food processor or high speed blender to combine 1 tablespoon of molasses with 1 cup of white sugar.
- unsalted butter: If you need or want to use salted butter, just omit the salt this recipe calls for.
Although I haven't tested plant-based butter substitutes with this recipe, I think they'll work fine. - egg: The egg yolk is an important ingredient, because it adds structure and moisture to cookie dough. I haven't tested any egg substitutes with this recipe. If you want to do some testing on your own, feel free! For tips and suggestions, read my article, Egg Substitutions for Baking.
- vanilla extract: If you need an alcohol-free flavoring, you can use vanilla essence.
Recipe Variations
- Swap out the mini chocolate chips for other flavors and/or sizes. both chips and chunks work well, and the cookies are delicious with white chocolate chips, semi-sweet, milk chocolate, and even dark chocolate chips.
- Add chopped nuts: Macadamia nuts, walnuts, and pistachios are great options.
How to Make Cadbury Egg Cookies
Summary only. The complete recipe instructions are in the card at the bottom of this post ⬇️
- Make the cookie dough. Mix the wet ingredients, then fold in the dry ingredients.
- Stir in the chocolate and crushed Cadbury eggs.
- Portion dough onto baking sheets and refrigerate it for an hour.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
Liz's Recipe Tips
- Be sure to use Cadbury MINI eggs and not the chocolate Cadbury eggs which are larger and have a creamy center.
- To easily crush the candies, seal them up in a zip-top plastic bag, then use a rolling pin or the flat side of a meat mallet to crush them.
- Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper to prevent your goodies from sticking to the pan.
- Use a portioning scoop (or ice cream scoop). This ensures that the dough balls are all the same size, so they bake evenly.
- Don't skip chilling the dough. If the dough isn't cold, it will spread too much in the oven, causing the Easter cookies to be flat and crispy.
How to Store Mini Cadbury Egg Cookies
Storing: Make sure you allow your cookies to cool completely before storing. Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature and they'll stay fresh for up to 5 days, or a week if kept in the refrigerator.
Freezing: Baked and cooled Cadbury egg cookies may be frozen for up to 6 months in a freezer-safe container.
Freezing Unbaked Dough: Portion cookie dough balls and arrange them on a parchment lined baking sheet, or use these cookie dough freezing trays. When the dough has frozen, transfer the balls to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Check out my post, How to Freeze Cookie Dough, for tips on saving cookie dough to bake later.
Cadbury Egg Cookies Recipe FAQs
Cadbury mini eggs are only available during the Easter season, and can be found in the Easter candy aisle of most stores. You can buy and freeze bags of the candy-coated chocolate eggs when they are in season to use them later in the year.
You can certainly use them whole, but despite their small size, they tend to take up a lot of room inside of the cookie. By smashing them, it distributes the chocolate throughout the cookie, so you taste it in every bite.
Absolutely! The crunchy candy shell and chocolate in Cadbury mini eggs adds a lot of texture and crunch, but feel free to use any chocolate-based candy of your choice. Easter M&Ms are a great choice, as are Reese's Pieces.
These cookies should have a soft center with cracks running through it. The edges should be golden brown and firm to the touch.
Other Easter Cookies and Treats to Make
- Easter Sugar Cookies
- Easy Lemon Bars
- Lemon Cool Whip Cookies
- Sugar Cookie Bars - top with Easter sprinkles!
Cadbury Egg Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ cups mini cadbury eggs chopped/crushed
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Add the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar to a large mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together for 1-2 minutes, until pale and creamy. *If using a stand mixer, you may need to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract to the bowl and mix on medium speed to combine, scraping the insides of bowl as necessary.
- Add the flour and baking soda and beat on a low speed until the ingredients are just combined. Add in the mini eggs and chocolate chips.*Optional: You can break the Cadbury egg candies before mixing into the cookies. Place in a Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin or the flat side of a meat mallet to hit until they crack.
- Cover the bowl and chill cookie dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- When the dough is cold, preheat the oven to 325°F/160°c. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Scoop the dough using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop and roll portions into balls (They don't have to be perfectly round). Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until light golden brown. The cookies will still be soft at this stage, but will firm up as they cool.
- Remove from the oven and transfer pans to a wire cooling rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheets.
Helpful Notes and Tips From Liz
- Be sure to use Cadbury MINI eggs and not the chocolate Cadbury eggs which are larger and have a creamy center.
- Don't skip chilling the dough. If the dough isn't cold, it will spread too much in the oven, causing the Easter cookies to be flat and crispy.
- Baked cookies will stay fresh for about 5 days. Store at room temperature in an airtight container. To keep them for up to 3 months, freeze cookies in an airtight container.
Debbie
Do you have Gluten Free Recipes?
Liz @ Tasty Treats & Eats
We don't have gluten free recipes, but my other website has a ton of healthy gluten free recipes!