Mini-egg cookies

What’s hippity-hop happenin’, Easter lovers? There are only two times a year that I enjoy scarfing down milk chocolate treats: Halloween and Easter. The rest of the year, I’m a total dark chocolate snob. But when Easter rolls around, my craving for Mini-Eggs skyrockets. And this year, I decided I wanted Mini-Egg cookies.

My friend Alex has posted about her Mini-Egg Shortbread Cookies for years — but my kids aren’t shortbread fans so I’d be “forced” to eat the entire batch. I can’t do that while pandemicking because I’ve already packed on the Sourdough 15.

So I put my thinking cap on and decided there must be a way to use extra sourdough discard to make a chocolate chip-style version of Mini-Egg cookies, but just replace the chocolate chips.

If you’re on the hunt for other sourdough discard recipes, I’d like to introduce you to my sourdough cinnamon rolls and sourdough English muffins. You can also use the search bar on my site to find more!

I tried a few sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipes (you can find plenty of those online with a quick Google search) but the Mini-Eggs seemed to overpower the texture. So I went rogue as I am wont to do and ended up with a Mini-Egg cookies recipe that blew my family away.

When you make this Mini Egg cookie recipe, your kid will lovingly look at you like this, too. (Photo by Kristen Recalis Photography)

But here’s the catch: they’re not exactly cookies. They bake like cookies. They look like cookies. But on the inside, they have an almost cake-like crumb. So I’m calling them CAKE-ies. Cookies on the outside, cake on the inside.

Is this some new food category? Who knows!? I’m sure of only one thing here: this is the Mini-Egg cookies recipe that sourdough fanatics have been looking for.

Recipe: Mini-Egg cookies (er, CAKE-ies…)

This recipe yields about two dozen CAKE-ies, and I’ve also tried splitting it in half and that works just fine if you want a smaller batch, too. Because these are sourdough discard cookies, they’ll last in an air-tight container or bread box on your countertop for a good five days.

I haven’t tried freezing the dough — let me know if you try that — but I imagine this Mini-Egg cookie recipe would also work nicely if you keep it in the fridge, raw, for a few days and just lop off what you need for a few freshly baked cookies at a time. (Because what cookie aficionado doesn’t prefer a Day 1 cookie out of the oven??)

These Mini-Egg cookies are destined to become an Easter staple at your house. (Photo taken with the iPhone 12 Pro.)

Mini-Egg cookies — tools you’ll need

• Measuring cups and spoons
• Stand mixer with paddle attachment (note: I use a KitchenAid mixer and the speeds listed in the instructions below are specific to it)
• Spatula
• Whisk or fork
• Freezer-ready Ziploc
• Meat tenderizer (stay with me…)
• Cookie sheets
• Parchment paper or sil-pads

Mini-Egg cookies ingredients

• 12 tbsp softened, unsalted butter (that’s 1.5 sticks of butter) — it doesn’t have to be super soft, but try to get it on your countertop at least 20 minutes before you start making the Mini-Egg cookies
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 room temperature egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cups sourdough discard (stirred, unfed)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup oat flour (note: I don’t keep oat flour in my pantry. I just measure a cup of rolled oats and pop it in the Vitamix for about 15 seconds to turn it into flour as needed)
• 1 tsp sea or Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 cups Mini-Eggs

Get ready for the Mini-Egg cookie recipe of your dreams where you get to smash the eggs like a caveman would. If, you know, cavemen had access to Mini-Eggs. (Photo taken with the iPhone 12 Pro)

Mini-Egg cookies instructions

1. Line two cookie sheets (baking trays) with parchment paper or sil-pads.
2. In a stand mixer, with your paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars on “stir” speed until blended, then increase to speed 2 and allow to mix until the texture gets a bit “fluffy.”
3. While fluffification ensues, whisk together all of the dry ingredients, except the Mini-Eggs, in a medium bowl — that’s both flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
4. Now head back to your mixer and turn it off before scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Make sure there are no lumps of brown sugar; if there are, blend again until smooth.
5. Turn mixer to “stir” speed and add your egg.
6. Once blended nicely, add the vanilla extract and sourdough discard and combine.
7. Now it’s time to grab your dry ingredients bowl. Add this flour mixture about half a cup at a time and blend it all in your stand mixer until just combined. Scrape down the sides again and set aside.
8. Here comes the fun part, albeit a bit messy: smashing your Mini-Eggs! I used a meat tenderizer to do this, but I’m sure you could also use the handle of a big knife or rolling pin. Put the Mini-Eggs into a thick Ziploc bag and seal it completely (make sure there’s very little air in the bag). If you have expensive or delicate countertops, do this on the floor — maybe with a cutting board between your Mini-Eggs and the floor! Now smash the heck outta those eggs. Don’t pulverize them…they should just be reduced to the size of regular chocolate chip chunks. Leaving some eggs merely dented and not broken is also fine — it’ll just add to the overall look and texture. The hardest part of this step is refraining from eating several Mini-Eggs in the process.
9. Dump the smashed Mini-Eggs into your sourdough cookie dough and using the same spatula you’ve been using, fold them into the batter.
10. Add some plastic wrap to the top of your bowl and refrigerate the dough for somewhere between 15-30 minutes.
11. Preheat your oven to 375F. I use convection bake, but even for regular baking, I’d stick with 375. All ovens are different so just play with the timing rather than the temperature.
12. Finally, spoon out your chilled batter — about an ice cream scoop’s worth per cookie — onto your lined cookie sheets and pop them in the oven.
13. At the 10-minute-mark, turn your cookie sheets 180 degrees. Then let them bake another 3-5 minutes — until they’re just starting to get golden-brown on top.
14. Turn the oven off and crack open the door about 6-8 inches; leave your trays in your oven for another 3 minutes.
15. Remove from oven and let cookies cool another 10 minutes or so before transferring to wire racks.

Your Mini-Egg CAKE-ies will be ready to eat about half an hour after they come out of the oven. I doubt they’ll stick around for very long. 

By using unfed starter to create sourdough discard cookies, you’re essentially lengthening the amount of time your Mini-Egg cookies will last on your countertop. It’s a sweet bonus! (Photo take with the iPhone 12 Pro)

If you have a favourite Mini-Egg cookie recipe that doesn’t require sourdough starter, feel free to add a link to the comments. 

Hoppy Easter!