Bird’s Nest Cookies
These Easter Bird’s Nest Cookies are adorable, easy to make, and taste incredible. Impress kids and adults with this cute dessert. Not only do they taste good, but they are a great gluten-free, grain-free, low carb, and keto treat everyone is sure to enjoy.
Heading to Easter dinner just got even more fun. Everyone is sure to rave about how delicious and captivating these nest cookies are. So, if you are the person who always signs up to be in charge of Easter dessert or you want something special to make at home, please add this to your recipe list! I promise you won’t regret it.
Traditional birds nest cookies are LOADED with lots of refined sugar and ingredients that are very high in carbs. Naturally, that wasn’t going to work for me, so I wanted to think outside the box and come up with something that is visually appealing, keto-friendly, and tasted great. Well, this dessert checks all of those boxes, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.
A few of these and some Sugar Free Cookie Dough Eggs, Keto Peanut Butter Eggs, and homemade Cadbury Cream Eggs, and you’ll have the perfect sugar-free Easter basket!
Ingredients Needed
Cookies:
- Slivered Almonds – They are a key ingredient to help form the nests. Plus, they are a fantastic source of fiber, magnesium, vitamin E, and riboflavin too.
- Coconut – You’ll need to use shredded coconut and make sure that you get unsweetened. Using sweetened coconut will add a lot of extra sugar that isn’t required.
- Sweetener – I use a blend of erythritol, xylitol, and stevia but offer alternatives in the recipe notes.
- White Chocolate Chips – To help the other ingredients stick together correctly, white chocolate chips are a must. Stick with a sugar-free variety.
- Coconut Cream – Filled with antioxidants, vitamins & minerals, adding some coconut cream to your diet is a tasty way to get nutrients.
- Butter – The butter will need to be softened but not melted. You can simply place it on the counter before you begin and let it sit for a little bit or microwave it for 10 – 20 seconds. Be sure if it does melt that you let it sit and cool back down.
- Vanilla – You could use vanilla or any of your favorite extracts for this recipe. Almond extract is pretty tasty too, just make sure to cut it in half, so it’s not too overwhelming of a flavor.
- Salt – All you need is a pinch to help bring out even more sweetness.
Toppings:
- White Chocolate “Jelly Beans” – You’ll need to melt some sugar free white chocolate and add some drops of food coloring. Then press it into a bean-shaped mold. I found that putting a little colored sweetener in the mold eliminated the line from using a ‘coffee bean’ mold. I wanted to replicate those cute little candy eggs that are popular this time of year.
- White Chocolate Drizzle – It’s a great garnish and gives the bird’s nest cookies an even more chocolatey flavor.
- Sugar Free Sprinkles – Add some extra color to the bird’s nest cookies with a few sugar free sprinkles. You don’t have to go overboard, but a little bit makes them even more festive.
- Colored Erythritol or Xylitol – Simply add a few drops of food coloring to the sweetener to make it colored.
How To Make Bird’s Nest Cookies
Step One: Combine the slivered almonds, shredded coconut, melted chocolate chips, coconut cream, softened butter, vanilla, and salt together.
Form 12 cookies and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet or waxed paper. Form them into nests by gently flattening them.
Step Two: Drizzle melted chocolate on the nests and add white chocolate jelly beans or other garnishments to decorate. Serve and enjoy!
When Can I Eat The Bird’s Nest Cookies?
They will set up pretty quickly, and you just need to let the chocolate harden back up. You can place them in the fridge to speed up this process. It will usually take around 30-minutes – 1 hour, but that’s not a hard and fast rule. So, once they are ready, it’s time for you to indulge!
Can You Make Birds Nest Cookies Ahead Of Time?
Sure! They will last around 4-5 days if kept airtight. This makes them a prime dessert to take to Easter dinner because they can be made in advance. They can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge if they are going to be exposed to warmer temperatures. Just be sure to keep them away from direct sunlight or heat, so they don’t melt.
Substitutions & Tips
Nuts: It’s OK to use different nuts if you want or a combination of several kinds. I like almonds because when they are slivered, they resemble traditional bird’s nest cookies. However, you can use pecans, walnuts, or macadamia nuts will all taste good. I recommend chopping or crushing the nuts instead of adding them whole.
Chocolate: Feel free to add in any of your favorite sugar free chocolate chips. Milk chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, or semisweet chocolate chips all taste great.
Coconut: If you want to use toasted coconut or toast your coconut before adding it to emphasize the coconut flavor that is fine.
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Bird's Nest Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup sugar free white chocolate chips melted
- 1/4 cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 3 tbsp coconut cream
- 2 tbsp butter softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch salt
Toppings:
- sugar free white chocolate 'jelly beans'
- white chocolate drizzle
- sugar free sprinkles
- colored eryhritol or xylitol
Instructions
- Mix together all the cookie ingredients. Scoop 12 cookies onto a waxed paper or parchment-lined cookie sheet. Form into a nest shape by flattening.
- Drizzle with additional melted chocolate and decorate as desired.
- White Chocolate Jelly Beans: simply melt white chocolate, add food coloring (if desired), and mold in a bean-shaped mold.
- Colored Sweetener: mix a few drops of food coloring into the sweetener of your choice. If it doesn't mix in well simply process it in a small food processor for a few seconds.
Can you use coconut milk instead of cream?
I think that would work. I would use the thick, fatty portion of canned coconut milk. Not from a carton.