Egg Nest Easter Sugar Cookies
A simple sugar cookie that requires no chilling time, and features a delightful, stress-free mosaic of speckled malted milk balls.
Active Time: 20 Minutes, Total Time: 45 Minutes
Just perfect for an Easter cookie basket, the week after Easter when malted milk balls
go on sale, OR when you realize you bought way too many in the first place!
I almost forgot to mention, only one bowl is necessary for this recipe!
Plus a large ziploc bag to crush your malted milk balls.
No fuss, all fun, just like the holidays should be.
8 tablespoons salted butter (1 stick) softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cup (190g) all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup partially crushed speckled malted milk balls
Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large ziploc bag, add a large handful (about 1 heaping 1/2 cup) of malted milk balls, crush until relatively fine (about the size of large sprinkles). We will repeat this step again later, but create larger pieces to place on top. A rolling pin works great for this task.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add egg yolks one at a time, beating until thoroughly combined (save your egg whites in the freezer for later baking!), follow with vanilla extract, you should have a thick, but fluffy mixture.
Add baking powder, and half the flour, beating gently until no dry bits remain. Mix in the rest of the flour with a spatula or wooden spoon, if the dough is dry and crumbly, add 1 tablespoon more butter.
Fold in the finely crushed malted milk balls until evenly mixed, then divide the dough into 12 equal size balls. (All my recipes are flexible, you can make 24 smaller cookies, 6 huge cookies. Keep a closer eye on baking time when adjusting size, the edges should be just barely brown when done.) Arrange 6 per baking sheet, slightly press the balls of dough down.
In the same ziploc bag previously used, add another 2 large handfuls of malted milk balls. We just want to break them in halves or quarters, I use the bottom of a glass to gently hit the milk balls and break them in large chunks. Arrange generously on top of each cookie, gently pressing them into the dough. This is the fun part, so get creative with your mosaics! Try a monochromatic style, or include all colors on each cookie.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges JUST begin to brown. Remove from oven and let cool on pan for 10 minutes. If they cookies have not flattened as much as you'd like, gently press the bottom of a glass directly on top of each cookie while warm.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Happy Easter.