Bird Nest Cookies for Easter

Anyone else love to whip up a holiday inspired snack or cookie?! 

Once Valentine's Day is over I usually see my favourite chocolate treat hit the shelves at local grocery stores. Mini eggs. How someone was able to pack so much delicious in one mini egg shaped chocolate I will never know. But they always inspire me to cook up these Bird Nest Cookies for Easter. 

These have been one of my favourites since I was a kid. They're easy to make, require minimal ingredients and if you've got littles around you can bring them in to be part of the process!

A quick note, if you don't have mini eggs you don't need to add them. They're included in this recipe to add Easter inspiration. You can leave them out entirely or substitute them for Smarties, M & Ms or any other colourful chocolate candy!

Ingredients: 

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

2 cups chow mein noodles

Mini Eggs - you can also use M&Ms or Smarties!

Directions:

• Place a medium saucepan on the stove and set heat between low - medium. If you have a double boiler use that instead as it will be less likely to burn the chocolate in the melting process.
• Measure the chocolate and butterscotch chips into the saucepan (or top of double boiler). Keep a close eye on chocolate as it melts, stirring frequently. You want chocolate to melt low and slow, if it gets too hot too fast it will turn crumbly and won't maintain a smooth consistency that you need to work with. 
• While chocolate is melting, measure chow mein noodles into a large bowl. Cover a large cookie sheet with a sheet of parchment paper, this will be your work surface to scoop the chocolate nests onto once the noodles and chocolate is combined.
• Once the chocolate is melted down to a smooth consistency, turn off the stove and pour it over the chow mien noodles. You will need to work quickly here as the chocolate will set fast. With a wooden spoon, combine the melted chocolate to coat the chow mein noodles.
• Continuing to work quickly, use a large tablespoon and a smaller teaspoon to scoop small mounds of the chocolate and chow mein mixture onto your lined cookie sheet. As you scoop this mixture over, you'll want to form them into a bird nest shape so you set your mini eggs in them. If you have a second set of hands helping you make these, one person can scoop while the other forms the nests. The chocolate will set quickly once taken off the heat so this process needs to be quick. You will notice as you get to the end of the chow mein mixture that they are more difficult to form.
• Put a collection of mini eggs in each nest and allow the nests to set and dry, about 2 hours.
• These can be stored in a sealed container on your countertop for a week, if that last that long!