These Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies with Browned Butter are thick, gooey, and packed with that nutty depth that takes Easter bakery treats to a whole new level — crispy edges, soft centers, and crunchy candy shells in every single bite.
Okay, real talk — every Easter, I buy Cadbury Mini Eggs “for the kids” and then eat half the bag before I’ve even taken my coat off. Sound familiar? This year I decided to actually bake with them, and these cookies changed my life a little.
The browned butter is the secret weapon here, and once you try it, you’ll never go back to regular butter cookies again.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Be Obsessed With These Cookies
These aren’t your average drop cookies. The browned butter adds this toasty, almost caramel-like flavor that makes the whole thing taste way more elevated than the effort involved. You’ve got two kinds of chocolate chips plus whole and crushed Cadbury Mini Eggs, so every bite is a different little adventure.
They bake up thick and tall with gooey centers — basically the platonic ideal of a cookie.
If you’re on the hunt for mini egg desserts that go beyond just tossing candy on top of something, this is your recipe. It’s become my go-to for Easter gatherings, and people always think I spent way more time on them than I actually did.
Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies with Browned Butter
Equipment
- Saucepan
- stand mixer or hand mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- wire rack
Ingredients
The Butter Magic
- 1 cup unsalted butter divided
Sugars
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
Wet Ingredients
- 2 large eggs cold
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
The Good Stuff
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup Cadbury Mini Eggs whole
- ½ cup Cadbury Mini Eggs crushed
Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 1/2 cup butter and cook until it turns deep amber and smells nutty. Remove from heat and cool in the freezer for about 15 minutes until solidified.
- Preheat oven to 410°F (210°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a mixer, beat the remaining 1/2 cup cold butter until fluffy. Add browned butter and both sugars, then cream on high speed for 3 minutes.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix until just combined.
- Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low speed until just combined without overmixing.
- Fold in chocolate chips and most of the Mini Eggs, reserving some for topping.
- Divide dough into 8 large balls and place on baking sheets. Press reserved chocolate chips and Mini Eggs on top.
- Bake for 7–9 minutes until edges are golden and centers remain soft. Cool briefly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack.
Notes
The Quick Rundown
These Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies with Browned Butter are oversized, bakery-style cookies loaded with mini and semi-sweet chocolate chips plus everyone’s favorite pastel-shelled candy.
The browned butter brings a nutty richness you just can’t fake, and the high baking temp gives you that gorgeous golden edge while keeping the center perfectly soft. They’re festive, shareable, and honestly dangerous to have in your kitchen.
Ingredients
| Category | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| The Butter Magic | 1 cup unsalted butter, divided — ½ cup (1 stick) for browning, ½ cup cold and cubed |
| Sugars | 1 cup brown sugar, packed |
| ¼ cup granulated sugar | |
| Wet Ingredients | 2 large eggs, cold |
| 1 tsp pure vanilla extract | |
| Dry Ingredients | 3¼ cups all-purpose flour |
| 1 tsp cornstarch | |
| 1 tsp baking soda | |
| 1 tsp salt | |
| The Good Stuff | ½ cup mini chocolate chips |
| 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips | |
| 1 cup Cadbury Mini Eggs (whole) | |
| ½ cup crushed Cadbury Mini Eggs |
Quick note on the candy: Any small candy with a hard chocolate shell works great here — M&M’s, Lindt Mini Eggs, whatever you’ve got. But let’s be honest, Cadbury Mini Eggs are the star of the show when it comes to Easter bakery treats.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the Browned Butter (Do This First!)
This step is where the magic happens, so don’t skip it. Grab a small saucepan and add ½ cup (1 stick) of butter over medium heat. It’ll melt, then bubble, then start to foam — and that foam is your cue to pay attention.
Keep gently stirring as it foams. You’re looking for the butter to turn a deep amber color and smell nutty and almost caramel-like. The moment it hits that color, pull it off the heat immediately and scrape every last dark bit from the bottom of the pan into a dish — that’s where all the flavor lives. Pop it in the freezer for about 15 minutes to re-solidify before using.
Pro tip: Don’t walk away during this step. Brown butter can go from “perfect” to “burnt” in about 30 seconds. You’ve been warned.
Step 2: Prep Your Pans and Oven
Line two large aluminum baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside. Preheat your oven to 410°F — yes, that number is correct, and yes, it feels aggressively high. Trust the process.
That high heat is what gives you those bakery-style thick cookies with crispy edges and soft, gooey middles. It’s not a typo, it’s a technique.
Step 3: Cream the Butters and Sugars
In your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the cold cubed butter (the ½ cup you didn’t brown) for about 1 minute until it’s light and fluffy. Add in the browned butter, then pour in both sugars.
Cream everything together on high speed for a full 3 minutes. This step is doing a lot of heavy lifting — it’s incorporating air into the dough and making sure your cookies bake up thick instead of flat. Don’t rush it.
Step 4: Add Eggs and Vanilla
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add in your vanilla and cold eggs. Mix until just combined. Using cold eggs straight from the fridge helps keep the dough chilled, which means thicker cookies — a little trick worth remembering.
Step 5: Mix in the Dry Ingredients
Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt to the bowl. Mix on the lowest speed until just combined. Seriously — don’t overmix here. The moment you don’t see dry flour streaks anymore, stop the mixer.
Cornstarch might seem like a weird addition, but it keeps these cookies extra soft and tender. It’s a little secret I swear by in most of my cookie recipes (kind of like the technique in these slow cooker-style comfort food recipes — small tweaks make a big difference).
Step 6: Fold in the Chocolate and Mini Eggs
Set aside about ⅛ cup each of the mini chocolate chips and regular chocolate chips, plus a small handful of Mini Eggs — these are for pressing on top later. Mix the rest into the dough on the lowest speed.
Now split the dough into 8 large balls, baseball-sized. Place 4 per baking sheet, leaving plenty of room. Hand-press the reserved chocolate chips and Cadbury Mini Eggs onto the tops of each dough ball so they look gorgeous coming out of the oven. Also press some of the crushed Mini Eggs on top — they’ll bake into a sparkly, crackly candy crust.
This is the most satisfying step. Just go ham with the toppings.
Step 7: Bake and Cool
Bake for 7–9 minutes. You want them slightly golden at the edges, still a little mounded and soft in the middle — they’ll look almost underdone and that’s perfect. They’ll finish setting up as they cool.
Let them sit on the pan for 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack. This rest time helps them firm up just enough so they don’t fall apart when you move them. Then try not to eat them all while they’re still warm. (Good luck.)
Expert Tips, Variations & Troubleshooting
Tips for Perfect Cookies Every Time
Don’t skip the brown butter cool-down. If your browned butter is still liquid when it goes into the mixer, it’ll mess with the dough texture. Give it the full freezer time — usually 15 minutes does it.
Cold eggs matter more than you think. Room temperature eggs will slightly warm your dough, which can lead to spreading. Keep ’em cold straight from the fridge.
Bake one tray at a time if your oven runs hot or uneven. These cookies are worth the extra few minutes of patience.
Fun Variations to Try
Swap the Cadbury Mini Eggs for M&M’s or Lindt chocolate eggs if you want to make these year-round — they’re just as delicious outside of Easter. You could also stir in a handful of white chocolate chips for an extra creamy contrast against all that semi-sweet chocolate.
Want to try other festive but non-dessert recipes to round out your Easter menu? These summer rolls with lettuce wraps are a surprisingly fresh complement to all the sweet stuff — and this Peruvian chicken makes a killer Easter dinner centerpiece.
Troubleshooting
Cookies spreading flat? Your butter was probably too warm when you mixed it, or the dough needed a chill. Try refrigerating the dough for 30 minutes before baking.
Centers too raw? Every oven is different. Add a minute or two and keep a close eye after the 7-minute mark. They should look slightly underdone at the center — that’s the goal, not a problem.
Mini Eggs falling off after baking? Press them on more firmly before baking, and add a few more on top right after they come out of the oven while the dough is still soft.
Storage Instructions
| Method | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Room Temperature | Up to 5 days | Store in an airtight container |
| Refrigerator | Up to 10 days | Bring to room temp before eating for best texture |
| Freezer (baked) | Up to 3 months | Freeze individually on a tray first, then bag |
| Freezer (dough balls) | Up to 3 months | Bake from frozen, add 2–3 extra minutes |
Reheating
Pop a cookie in the microwave for 10–15 seconds to bring back that gooey, fresh-baked magic. A warm cookie straight from the microwave honestly tastes like it just came out of the oven.
No-Waste Kitchen Ideas
Leftover crushed Mini Eggs? Sprinkle them over vanilla ice cream, stir into yogurt, or use them to top a batch of brownies. They also make a weirdly delicious topping for your morning oatmeal — no judgment here.
Nutritional Information (Per Cookie, Approx.)
| Nutrient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Calories | ~420 kcal |
| Total Fat | 22g |
| Saturated Fat | 13g |
| Carbohydrates | 55g |
| Sugar | 34g |
| Protein | 5g |
| Fiber | 2g |
| Sodium | 280mg |
Nutrition is estimated based on 8 large cookies and will vary depending on exact ingredients used.
Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies with Browned Butter FAQs
Can I make the dough ahead of time?
Absolutely — this dough keeps well in the fridge for up to 72 hours before baking. In fact, chilling the dough overnight makes the cookies even thicker and more flavorful. Just press the toppings on right before baking rather than ahead of time.
Do I have to use a stand mixer?
Nope! A hand mixer works just fine. You could technically mix it by hand, but creaming the butter and sugar for 3 minutes by hand is a workout — your call.
Can I make smaller cookies?
You can, but you’ll need to reduce the baking time. Go for 5–7 minutes for medium-sized cookies and check early. The baseball-sized portions are part of what makes these feel like legit Easter bakery treats, though.
What if I can’t find Cadbury Mini Eggs?
Any small candy with a hard chocolate shell works — M&M’s are the most accessible swap and taste great. Lindt Mini Eggs are another solid choice if you want to keep that Easter vibe going. They’re right up there with other mini egg desserts made with premium chocolate.
Time to Bake Something Magical
These Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies with Browned Butter are the kind of recipe that makes people stop mid-bite and ask “wait, what’s in these?” — and you get to smile and say “browned butter” like a genius. They’re perfect for Easter, spring baking, gifting, or honestly just a Tuesday when you need something really good.
If you try them, I’d love to hear how they turned out! Drop a comment below with any tweaks you made, and if you loved them, save this recipe to Pinterest so you can find it again next Easter (or next week, no judgment). If you’re looking for more cozy recipes to round out your table, this spaghetti stuffed garlic bread and this minestrone soup are crowd-pleasers that never fail. Happy baking!
