Coconut Bird Nest Cookies

Published on April 1, 2023 by Raveaboutfood

Coconut Bird Nest Cookies are sweet, colorful and require no baking. They are so quick and easy to make! Wrap them and give them as a gift or just WOW! your family with a plate of these at your next spring gathering.

Coconut has always been a favorite of mine. My mother made Coconut Bird Nest Cookies many times over the years for Easter. I think she loved coconut even more than I did. Get the whole family involved and make some of these fun cookies for Easter or any spring event.

Coconut Bird Nests

What’s needed?

2 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups flaked coconut, sweetened
1/2 cup dried milk
food coloring or colored sugar
Jelly Beans for decoration

NOTE: You can find dried milk in the baking section or the powdered drink mix section of your grocery store.

How to make Coconut Bird Nest Cookies?

Put all ingredients (except jelly beans) in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a spoon. Divide the mixture equally into three smaller bowls.
Now comes the fun part. Grab whatever food coloring or colored sugar you might have in the cupboard. I added green sugar to the first bowl, red and blue food coloring to the second bowl to make purple, and yellow gel icing tint to the third bowl. So pretty!

Adding food coloring to make yellow cookies.

Now you are ready to make your nests. Take a round tablespoon of coconut mixture and place it on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Press down with your thumb to make a hole in the middle. I did the green sugar batch first. Repeat until bowl is empty.

And jelly beans, don’t forget the jelly beans. I used Brach’s Speckled Jelly Bird Eggs. These look just like small bird eggs, love ’em. You should get about 6 nests from each bowl of coconut mixture, 18-20 cookies in total.

speckled jelly beans — Speckled Jelly Bird Eggs from Brach’s.

Make nests with coconut mixture in all three bowls. Try not to eat too many jelly beans while you do this.

So fun and so pretty. Cover the nests loosely with plastic wrap and allow them to set up, about an hour.

Remove from the cookie sheet with a spatula and arrange on a serving tray with marshmallow Peeps, cut-out sugar cookies or whatever other Easter Treats you have on-hand. Your family will rave about these, mine does!

If you have any leftover cookies, store them in an airtight container. They will keep well for two weeks.