Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies (Brown Butter, No Chill)

Name: Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies
Prep time: 18 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 3/4 cup salted butter; 1 cup light brown sugar (packed); 1/4 cup granulated sugar; 1 large egg (plus 1 large egg yolk,); 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour; 3/4 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 cup Cadbury Mini Eggs, (roughly crushed/chopped); 1/4 cup Cadbury Micro Mini Eggs (If you can't find you can substitute more regular sized mini eggs); Flaky sea salt (for sprinkling on top)

Jump to Recipe

These Cadbury mini egg cookies are made with brown butter for a deep, nutty flavour and loaded with crushed mini eggs inside and on top. No chill time required, ready in 30 minutes, and genuinely the best Easter cookie you will make this season.

Overhead view of Cadbury mini egg cookies cooling on a wire rack with a bowl of mini eggs alongside.

Quick Look

📋 Recipe: Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies
⏲️ Ready In: 30 minutes
👪 Servings: 22 cookies
🔪 Difficulty: Easy
💭 Top Tip: Press some mini egg pieces into the tops of the dough balls right before baking so every cookie has that beautiful pastel color on top.

Why You'll Love These Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies

Brown butter makes all the difference. That extra step gives the dough a nutty, almost toffee-like depth that a standard cookie just doesn't have.
No chill time required. I tested both and found no meaningful difference. You can bake these straight away.
Mini eggs inside and on top. You get that iconic crunch and pop of color in every single bite, not just on the surface.
Flaky sea salt on top. This small detail takes these from good to great and balances the sweetness of the candy shell beautifully.
Ready in 30 minutes. One bowl, simple ingredients, no waiting around.

The Easter Cookie That Deserves Brown Butter

Most Cadbury mini egg cookie recipes use softened butter creamed in a stand mixer. They are fine. These are better.

Brown butter is the kind of technique that sounds fancier than it is. You melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and just keep going, stirring often until the milk solids turn golden and the whole kitchen smells like toasted nuts. It takes about five minutes and it transforms the flavor of the dough in a way that is genuinely hard to describe until you taste it. Nutty, rich, slightly caramel-like. It is the difference between a cookie that is good and a cookie that people ask you about. Trust me, it's so worth the extra little effort.

The other thing I tested with this recipe is the chill time. Most brown butter cookie recipes insist you must chill the dough for at least an hour and up to 48 hours. I tried it both ways and found the difference was minimal. The chilled cookies were slightly less puffy. That was it. So I skipped the chill, and now you have a cookie that goes from butter to baked in thirty minutes.

If you are building an Easter dessert table, these pair beautifully with this mini egg Easter trifle as a showstopper centrepiece, and these mini egg brownies with chocolate frosting for a full Cadbury mini egg baking weekend.

What Are Cadbury Mini Eggs?

Cadbury Mini Eggs are solid milk chocolate candies shaped like small speckled eggs with a thin crisp candy shell. They have been an Easter staple since 1967 and have a devoted following that is entirely deserved. In Canada, they are made by Mondelez with a slightly different formulation than the US version, which is produced under license by Hersheys. Canadian mini egg fans will tell you ours have a creamier chocolate and slightly brighter shell colors.

In Canada we also have the Cadbury Micro Mini Eggs, which are about seven times smaller than the regular ones. I use a mix of both in this recipe. The regular eggs are crushed or chopped and the micro minis added in for extra chocolate flavour, texture, and that beautiful speckled look throughout every cookie. If you are in the US, the micro minis may be harder to find. Check specialty candy stores or online, or simply use all regular mini eggs. And if you can't find them, no problem, just add in a few more regular mini eggs instead.

Ingredients

Full measurements are in the recipe card below.

Salted butter: You will brown this, which takes about five minutes and is completely worth it. I use salted butter for extra flavor, if you use unsalted, add an extra pinch of salt to the dough.
Light brown sugar and granulated sugar: The combination of both gives you a cookie that is chewy in the centre with slightly crisp edges. The brown sugar does most of the work for flavour and chew.
Egg plus egg yolk: The whole egg gives structure and the extra yolk adds richness and chew without making the cookie cakey or dry.
Vanilla extract: A full tablespoon, which is generous and intentional. It rounds out the brown butter flavor beautifully.
Salt: A smaller amount than you might expect since we are using salted butter. Plus flaky sea salt sprinkled on top of each cookie straight from the oven, which is non-negotiable.
Cadbury Mini Eggs and Micro Mini Eggs: Roughly crushed or chopped regular mini eggs go into the dough, along with micro minis for extra texture and chocolate throughout. Some pieces get pressed into the tops of the dough balls before baking.

How To Make Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies

Butter foaming and browning in a white saucepan on the stovetop with golden brown milk solids beginning to form.

Step 1: Brown the butter and mix the dough. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking until the butter foams, then subsides, and small golden brown bits appear on the bottom of the pan and the butter smells nutty and toasted. This takes about five minutes. Pour immediately into a large mixing bowl, scraping all the brown bits in, they carry the flavour. Allow to cool for five minutes. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until smooth.

Brown butter cookie dough in a silver mixing bowl before Cadbury mini eggs are folded in.

Step 2: Add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl and fold until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Do not overmix.

Crushed Cadbury mini eggs and micro mini eggs being added to brown butter cookie dough in a silver mixing bowl.

Step 3: Crush the mini eggs. Place roughly one cup of regular mini eggs in a zip-lock bag and crush with a rolling pin into varied-sized pieces. You want some halved, some in smaller chunks, and a few that are almost whole. The variety of sizes gives you different textures in every bite. Alternatively, roughly chop with a sharp knife on a cutting board. Fold in the crushed regular mini eggs and the micro mini eggs. The dough will be thick and slightly soft.

Cadbury mini egg cookie dough balls spaced apart on a dark baking sheet ready to go into the oven.

Step 4: Scoop. Scoop the dough into balls using a cookie scoop or two tablespoons and place on a baking sheet, spacing them well apart. Press one of the mini egg pieces into the top of each dough ball so the pastel colours are visible after baking.

Brown butter Cadbury mini egg cookies on a wire rack with flaky salt, a pink mug of tea, and a bowl of mini eggs.

Step 5: Bake and finish with flaky salt. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes until the edges are just set and starting to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Cool on a wire rack.

Expert Tips

Don't skip the brown bits. When you pour the browned butter into your bowl, scrape every last bit from the pan. Those small dark specks are the toasted milk solids and they carry almost all the flavour. Leaving them behind wastes the whole point of browning the butter.
No chill time needed. I tested chilling this dough and found it made very little difference to the final cookie. The mini eggs help control spread naturally, so you can bake these straight away. If you want to prep ahead, the dough can be chilled overnight - just let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before scooping.
Press eggs on top after scooping. Make sure there are some mini eggs pressed on top of the cookie balls. This ensures every finished cookie has visible color and crunch on the surface.
Use a cookie scoop. Consistent dough balls mean consistent bake time. If some are larger than others, your cookies will bake unevenly.

Variations

Use all regular mini eggs. If you cannot find Cadbury Micro Mini Eggs, simply use 1¼ cups of regular mini eggs crushed to varied sizes. The cookies are equally delicious.
Make them for Christmas. Swap the Cadbury Mini Eggs for Cadbury Mini Snowballs and you have a festive version of the same recipe. The brown butter base works beautifully year round.
Double the batch. This recipe doubles easily.
For the full mini egg Easter baking experience, try these Cadbury mini egg brownies with chocolate frosting alongside these cookies for a dessert table that will disappear fast.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to chill this dough?

No. I tested both chilled and unchilled and found the difference minimal. The chilled cookies were very slightly less puffy, that was it. You can bake straight away or chill overnight if prepping ahead.

How do I crush the mini eggs without turning them to powder?

Place them in a zip-lock bag and use a rolling pin with light pressure. You want a mix of sizes, some halved, some in chunks, a few smaller pieces. Go gently and check frequently. Alternatively, chop them with a large knife, which gives you more control.

Can I use dark chocolate mini eggs?

Yes. The dark chocolate version will give a slightly less sweet, richer cookie. Both work beautifully with the brown butter base.

Should I press mini eggs on top before or after baking?

Before. Press the pieces into the dough balls right before they go in the oven so they bake into the cookie and stay put. If you add them after baking they will just sit on the surface rather than being embedded.

How do I store these cookies?

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. Or store unbaked dough in the fridge for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to three months.

Can I freeze these cookies?

Yes. Baked cookies freeze well for up to three months in an airtight container. You can also freeze dough balls and bake from frozen, adding one to two minutes to the bake time.

What if I cannot find Cadbury mini eggs?

Outside of Easter season they can be hard to find. You can substitute any candy coated chocolate egg, or use Cadbury Mini Snowballs at Christmas. Or use any candy coated chocolate candy like M&Msm or smarties in Canada. Regular chocolate chips will also work as a year round substitute though the cookie will obviously be different.

Can I use unsalted butter?

Yes. Add an extra pinch of salt to the dough to compensate, and keep the flaky sea salt finish on top.

Why is my dough too soft or sticky?

This can happen if the browned butter was still too warm when you added the sugars. Make sure to let it cool for at least five minutes before mixing. If the dough feels very soft, rest in the fridge for ten minutes before scooping.

If you try these Cadbury mini egg cookies or any other recipe on my blog please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting today!