Egg-celent!
These Easter Egg Cookies may look all blinged-out but underneath the over-the-top embellishments lies a familiar classic: ye old chocolate chip cookie. There’s no rule that says only cutout sugar cookies can be decorated for Easter. Enter the humble, but well-loved, chocolate chip cookie — shaped like an Easter egg, covered with chocolate or royal icing and decorated to the hilt.
“Appearances can be deceiving. Not every decorated cookie is a sugar cookie.” Kasha
The key to making Chocolate Chip Easter Egg Cookies is to take your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and replace the baking soda with baking powder so it will puff up instead of spreading out. Then add a tablespoon or so more flour to make a stiffer dough. To shape the cookies like eggs, press the dough into a floured tablespoon. Finally, freeze the raw cookies for about 10 minutes before baking to help them maintain their shape. After they’ve cooled completely, ignore the fact that they’re not a sugar cookie! Go ahead and dip them in chocolate or cover them with royal icing or stiff glaze, and decorate them exactly the way you would a cutout cookie.
Cookie specifics
Chocolate Chip Easter Eggs. These egg-shaped cookies are decorated to look like Easter eggs to celebrate the holiday. The beauty of it is that you can use your own favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe ... and we all have one, don’t we?
Although I haven’t tried it, I bet even store-bought (gasp!) cookie dough might work. If you have some, conduct your own experiment. Can you think of a better way to spend your time while waiting for the “virus-that-shall-not-be-named” to go away? No matter what they look like, they’ll still taste like chocolate chip cookies. And that’s a plus in my book.
I also give a few of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes below in “The Recipes” section. Get baking!
Shapes
Use a tablespoon with a slightly oval-shaped bowl to form the cookies.
TIP: Use your own favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe but replace the baking soda with baking powder and add a tablespoon or so of extra flour. And don’t forget to freeze the shaped dough before baking. Or if you’re feeling adventurous, you might enjoy trying one of these recipes:
Cookie Recipes from These Talented Cookie Artists
Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Secret Ingredient Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies from Chelsea’s Messy Apron.
Salty Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Girl Who Ate Everything.
Icing & Frostings
Glaze for Piping: This glaze/icing dries hard enough that you can stack or package the cookies without damaging the embellishments. I often use it exclusively or in combination with Royal Icing.
Glaze for Piping Recipe
Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies: flour, butter, baking powder, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg, pure vanilla extract, salt, semi-sweet chocolate chips
Icing & Decorative Embellishments
Royal Icing: confectioners’ sugar, egg whites, corn syrup, pure vanilla extract or almond extract, cream of tartar, food coloring
Glaze for Piping: sugar, water, corn syrup, food coloring (optional), various extracts for flavoring (vanilla, almond, lemon, raspberry, etc.)
Dark Chocolate for Dipping: bittersweet chocolate
Plate, Box or Bag?
Decorated Plate. I arranged these cookies on a plate and set them out for everyone to enjoy. It was fun to see how surprised people were to discover a chocolate chip cookie under all the decorations.
What I’ve learned...
These cookies were made with the best ingredients I could find and baked in a small batch of two dozen. I’ve experimented with less expensive ingredients, but have come to the conclusion that flavor is best when I use the best. Why spend all this time baking and decorating if taste and texture are just so-so? Decorating the cookies takes time, but it’s an enjoyable process for me and I know that those who receive them appreciate that. Life is just better when you can share something you love with someone you love. Don’t you agree?
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