DId the Easter bunny go a bit overboard? Are you up to your ears in pastel-colored candies and chocolate rabbits? Or maybe you are just hoping to take advantage of the post-holiday markdowns.

Regardless, if you’d like to turn that bag of mini Cadbury eggs and bunny-printed M&Ms into chewy, buttery, delicious cookies, I have just the recipe for you.

 

We start with cold butter and cold eggs; no waiting around for butter to soften or eggs to slowly come to room temperature. Beat the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy, as per usual, then add the eggs and vanilla and stir in the whisked dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.

 

Pastel M&Ms take the place of chocolate chips — making these ideal for shipping to hot climates. But the surprise goes in the middle.

 

Instead of smooshing down the balls of cookie dough like you may be used to, we’re going put to a mini chocolate egg in the middle of a tall cookie dough ball. It’s a trick I learned from Sally’s Baking Addiction to keep cookies nice and thick (pressing them down makes them more likely to spread out and get thin and crispy), plus it will keep that candy egg intact in the center of the cookie, so you get a extra bite of chocolate.

Obviously you can try these with chocolate chips or regular M&Ms instead of Easter-themed ones, try breaking up your chocolate bunnies into chunks to use as chips, or try putting some other kind of small-ish chocolate candy in the center.

Whatever you try, let me know how they turn out!

Leftover Easter candy cookies (Makes about 40 cookies roughly 3 inches in diameter, adapted from Fine Cooking)
1 1/3 cup (2 sticks plus 2/3 another stick) unsalted butter, cold
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, tightly packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, cold
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups (17 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 ounces Easter M&Ms
About 40 mini Cadbury eggs or other chocolate candy eggs

Put the oven racks in the upper and middle positions inside your oven, then preheat to 375 F.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together on low speed (be careful that the sugar doesn’t jump out of the bowl!) until it is combined, then turn speed to medium and eventually to medium-high. Keep beating for about three minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Turn off the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl and the beater with a rubber spatula, then add the eggs and vanilla and mix on low to combine, then turn speed back up to high and beat another minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl and the beater again with the spatula, then remove the paddle attachment.

Measure the flour, salt and baking soda into a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is just incorporated (this will be challenging — the dough is not super soft). Add the M & Ms and stir to combine.

Make small balls of cookie dough and place about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet (or cookie sheet covered with a silicone mat or parchment paper). Place a candy egg in the center of each ball of dough. For each cookie, make another similarly sized ball of dough and place on top of the candy egg, so the cookie dough seals the candy egg inside. Use your hands to form the cookie dough ball into a tall, narrow oval and place back on the cookie sheet.

If you don’t plan to bake all the cookie dough at once, cover the leftover dough and put it in the refrigerator. Bake the cookies on the cookie sheets for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are just turning golden brown. Allow the cookies to sit on the cookie sheets, out of the oven, for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Make sure the cookie sheets are completely cool before reusing.