Chocolate, coconut, and almond butter make for the perfect No-Bake Easter Egg Nest Cookies! They're just right for kids who like to help in the kitchen, too. Use anything you'd like for the "eggs" and enjoy this very sweet tweet!

To say my kids are excited about these Easter egg nest cookies is a massive understatement! We don't celebrate Easter but we love learning about other traditions and hearing how other families celebrate each season. As far as we're concerned, anything with chocolate and coconut is a reason to celebrate! I saw several different versions of this cookie around Instagram and just knew I needed to make a vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free version of my own. I am SO excited about these results and I hope you love them, too!

All About Coconut

Coconuts are cholesterol free, very low sodium and a really good source of dietary fiber. Plus, they add amazing texture and flavor to these cookies! Make sure to look for unsweetened raw shredded coconut. Sweetened coconut has lots of added ingredients and sugar!

Health Benefits of Cocoa

Years of nutrition research have shown that chocolate isn’t just junk food and may actually provide health benefits. With chocolate coming in so many different forms, it is difficult to know exactly what benefit we are getting. The health benefits of chocolate come from antioxidants called flavanols found in the cocoa solids (as opposed to the cocoa butter) that you'll see on many ingredient lists.

Like most foods, eating the least processed and most pure form is the healthiest. When you start to dilute the food with added sugar and unhealthy fats, the overall health of the food is reduced. Use the highest quality cocoa powder you can find for these Easter egg nest cookies! Dark chocolate provides calcium, magnesium and potassium. Compared with milk chocolate, you are getting more cacao solids and thus more flavanols. Flavanols provide a dark pigment, so visually you can look for darker color for more nutritional benefits.

All About Almond Butter

I love making my Homemade Raw Creamy Almond Butter! It's so simple, has just a couple ingredients, and tastes incredible. Almonds are low in carbohydrates and high in protein. They offer a good source of fiber, healthy fats, vitamin E and magnesium. They also provide iron and calcium!

Almond Butter Substitutes

Any nut butter that you enjoy would be delicious in this recipe, and if you're avoiding nuts, go with sunflower butter, tahini or pumpkin butter! Whatever nut or seed butter you use, make sure it's runny and not hard. The oils should be well incorporated! You can store your nut butters upside down to make stirring a breeze.

Refined Sugar-Free Easter Egg Cookies

If you don't want to use store-bought Cadbury eggs and are looking for a refined sugar-free, vegan option, there are so many ways to make the "eggs" in these yummy nest cookies! A few ideas:

Blueberries
Macadamia nuts
Peeled hazelnuts
Marcona almonds

These Easter egg nest cookies are vegan, paleo, gluten-free, and can be made nut-free and refined sugar-free as well! If you make them this weekend, I hope you'll share and tag me on Instagram. A review on this post is awesome, too!

More Vegan Homemade Candy Recipes

No-Bake Chocolate Coconut Birds' Nests for Easter

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5 from 1 review

Author: Elaine Gordon
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 11
Diet: Vegan

Print Recipe

Description

Ingredients

Scale

1.5 cups unsweetened shredded coconut (raw)
3 tablespoons raw creamy unsalted almond butter (or sub another nut or seed butter), runny not hard, oils mixed in well
2 heaping tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon fine salt
33 mini Cadbury dark chocolate eggs (not vegan), UNREAL Dark Chocolate & Crispy Quinoa Gems (vegan), jelly beans (I like YumEarth brand), blueberries, Marcona almonds, peeled hazelnuts or macadamia nuts (the eggs used in the photos are vegan and can be found here)

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Instructions

In a large glass bowl combine coconut, almond butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup, vanilla and salt. Stir well.
Use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion out the mixture onto a parchment lined half-sheet baking sheet. Gently form each mound of chocolate coconut mixture into a round nest shape. Don't pack it in or press it together too much or it won't look like a bird's nest. You want it rustic looking.
Use your thumb or the back of the cookie scoop to make a small well in the center of each nest.
Place 3 mini eggs in the center of each nest.
Place in freezer to set for 20 minutes. Enjoy!