These Brown Butter Coffee Mini Egg Cookies are a perfect treat for Easter. Made with brown butter, instant coffee, and mini eggs, these coffee mini egg cookies are sweet, chewy, salty and delicious!
Easter Coffee Cookies
I’m all about festive and holiday baking. Growing up, I never really celebrated any holidays but as an adult, I get so excited about holidays because of food. Food is so expressive and I love seeing everybody’s creation during the holidays. When I think of Easter baking, I immediately think of Mini Eggs and Hot Cross Buns. Honestly, I LOVE anything with mini eggs. I love that outer crunch that shatters when you bite into it and the milk chocolate on the inside. When baked, I think they’re even better because they have a tender inside.
These Brown Butter Coffee Mini Egg Cookies are inspired by my love for mini eggs. I was brainstorming what would be a good combination and I felt a classic chocolate cookie would be a bit boring. I decided to add coffee for an extra little kick and I love how these turned out! I used instant coffee granules which are not only inexpensive but also very convenient. These cookies have a great crisp but chewy texture, and the nutty caramel from the brown butter compliments the coffee well. The mini eggs of course add even more texture and sweetness. Top these babies with flaky salt and these are the perfect sweet and salty treat!
Chewy and Crisp Coffee Cookies
I follow an Instagram food blogger who recently talked about using bread flour in your cookies. She explained that using a mix of bread flour can give you a chewy cookie. I had never considered using bread flour in cookies! I decided to experiment with that in this recipe and I really love how these cookies turned out. The bread flour makes the cookie slightly more chewy, rather than gooey. I usually make cookies that are more crisp and gooey, rather than chewy which honestly is a nice change-up. That chewy texture complements the mini eggs and really makes these coffee mini egg cookies addicting.
If you don’t have bread flour, you can of course sub it with all-purpose flour. These coffee mini egg cookies only use 1/2 cup of bread flour and 1 cup of all-purpose flour, making a total of 1.5 cups of flour. If you use too much flour in these cookies, the cookies won’t spread. If you have a scale I highly recommend weighing out your flour, which is 150g of all-purpose flour, and 75g of bread flour.
Browning Your Butter
If you’ve never heard of brown butter, you are definitely missing out! Browning butter is the process of melting and cooking the butter till you’re left with this nutty, caramel-like flavour. It seriously enhances any recipe and gives a deeper and richer flavour. If you don’t believe me, believe science! By browning butter, you create a Maillard Reaction, a chemical reaction that enhances the flavour and aromas of the molecules.
Browning butter can be intimidating especially if it’s your first time doing it, but it is super easy. It takes around 5 minutes to cook, with an additional 10 minutes of cooling time. It’s an extra 15 minutes in your day – but is it worth it? Absolutely! It will make these Coffee Mini Egg Cookies even more amazing. That nutty caramel flavour with the coffee goes so well together!
Start by using a light-coloured pot. Over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Once melted, the water content of the butter will continue to evaporate, leaving you with the fat, and white specks we call milk solids. Stir the butter often, scraping the sides to allow the milk solids to brown. Once the milk solids have browned, the butter will start to foam up again so be careful not to burn it. Remove from the heat, and pour into a heat-safe bowl. Scrape all the brown bits along with the melted butter and let the entire mixture cool in the fridge for 10 minutes. The entire process takes around 4-5 minutes from start to finish.
Brown Butter Coffee Mini Egg Cookies
Course: Cookies16
Cookies45
minutes12
minutes1
hourThese Brown Butter Coffee Mini Egg Cookies are a perfect treat for Easter. Made with brown butter, instant coffee, and mini eggs, these coffee mini egg cookies are sweet, chewy, salty and delicious!
Ingredients
3/4 Cup (170g) Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup (100g) Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup (100g) Packed Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp (3g) Instant Coffee Granules
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Egg, Room Temperature
1 Tsp (5g) Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 Cup (150g) All Purpose Flour*
1/2 Cup (75g) Bread Flour*
1 Cup (225g) Mini Eggs, + 1/2 Cup to top
Optional: Flaky Salt to top
Directions
- Brown the butter: Use a light-coloured pot to visualize the butter better. Over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Once completely melted, stir the butter often with a heat-proof spatula to evenly cook the milk solids (the white specks). As the milk solids cook, they will start to brown, giving you nutty brown butter. This will take around 4-5 minutes total. Before the butter finishes browning, it will foam up. You can swirl the pan to check if the solids have browned. Once browned, remove from the pot and pour into a heat-proof bowl, scraping all the browned bits as well. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to cool. If you are using a stand mixer, you can pour it directly into your kitchen aid bowl.
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or a bowl with a whisk, add the brown butter and both brown and granulated sugar. Brown butter at this point should still be warm and melted but not hot to touch. Cream butter and sugars for 1 minute, until well combined.
- Add in the egg, instant coffee granules, vanilla extract and mix for 1-2 minutes until slightly pale and thickened.
- If you are using a bowl, switch to a rubber spatula. Add in baking soda, salt, all-purpose flour, and bread flour and mix until the flour is just mixed in. Do not over-mix! *You can sub bread flour for all-purpose flour*
- Add in 1 cup mini eggs and mix for 30 seconds. If you are mixing by hand, I recommend breaking up your mini eggs slightly. If you are using a stand mixer, they will break up as you mix it in.
- Using a large cookie scoop (around 2-3 tbsp), scoop your cookies onto a tray lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Add 2-3 additional mini eggs on top of each cookie. Place the tray into the fridge uncovered and let it firm up for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Place cookies a few inches apart and bake for 12-14 minutes in the middle rack of the oven. Cookies should be golden brown on the edges but slightly soft in the middle. Let it cool for at least 15 minutes before eating.
- Optional – Add flaky salt to garnish.
Notes
- Using a mix of bread flour and all-purpose flour gives the cookie a slightly chewier texture. If you don’t have bread flour you can swap it for all-purpose flour.
Looking for more cookie recipes? Check out my Brown Butter Lucky Charm Cookies or my classic Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie!
