Birds nest cookies an affordable Easter treat

The very first Easter baskets were given the appearance of bird nests to include renewal and springtime into the holiday that commemorates Jesus’ resurrection.

Aaron Morrison

You can use jelly beans, Whopper's Mini Robin Eggs or peanuts in the center of these easy to make, crowd-pleasing Chow Mein Noodle Birds Nest Cookies.

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You can use that as a theme to make these kid-friendly, crowd-pleasing Chow Mein Noodle Birds Nest Cookies.

Store-bought Easter treats can be expensive and today’s economic times call for creative budget-friendly alternatives. Simple to make and affordable, you can use jelly beans, Whopper’s Mini Robin Eggs or peanuts in the middle to make a crowd-pleasing Easter dessert. A photo is available at www.thelancasternews.com.

Chow Mein Noodle Birds Nest Cookies

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups chow mein noodles

Whopper’s Mini Robin Eggs, jelly beans or peanuts (optional)

Directions

– Butter the cups of a muffin pan.

– Place chocolate chips and peanut butter in a microwave container. Heat on 50 percent power for 1 minute. Stir, and repeat, until chocolate chips are melted.

– Stir in chow mein noodles until fully coated.

– Drop by tablespoon into butter muffin pan. With slightly buttered fingers, press mixture into bottom and up the sides of the muffin pan cups to form a hollow shape.

– Refrigerate pan at least two hours or until nests are firm.

– Remove nests from pan (you may want to sit the pan in warm water first to loosen them up).       

– Fill with mini eggs, jelly beans or peanuts.

– Adapted from recipe by columnist Stephanie Gallagher, author of "Cooking For Kids" on about.com