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Peanut Butterscotch Bird Nests

April 1, 2021 | Updated April 5, 2022 | Laura

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These peanut butterscotch bird nests cookies are made out of chow mein noodles and are so delicious. These delicious cookies are topped with drizzled chocolate and sea salt, and the nests are filled with chocolate eggs. This easy recipe makes for the perfect Easter treat!

Butterscotch Haystacks: Cute Easter Treats

Aren't these birds nests just the cutest?! They would look absolutely adorable on your Easter table! Plus, they are the easiest Easter treat!

I discovered these delicious no bake cookies when I was a kid when one of Aunts would bring them to all the holiday functions.

That's right, you don't have to just limit these delicious nests to the Easter season. You can enjoy them all year long! Take the eggs out of the middle and you have your dessert for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, you name it.

Peanut Butter & Butterscotch Bird’s Nests Ingredients

*Some of these links may be affiliate links.*

✽ Peanut Butter: A smooth creamy peanut butter works best in this recipe. There's just enough peanut butter in this recipe so that the nests are peanuty, but they still hold together.

✽ Butterscotch Chips: Not only do these butterscotch chips add delicious flavor to these nests, they also provide the glue to hold everything together. Once the butterscotch hardens, you can pick the nests right up with your hands and enjoy.

✽ Peanuts: I loved the addition of actual peanuts stirred in to give the nests some extra texture and crunch. Just like a real bird nests- there's a lot of different components!

✽ Chow Mein Noodles: The crunchy chow mein noodles are what provides these nests structure. Oh, and they taste really good too! I like to hold a few back to place on top of the nests to make them extra cute and bird nest-like. You can also find gluten-free chow mein noodles which would make this dessert a great gluten-free option.

✽ Sea Salt: Adding a bit of sea salt to the top of these gives you that irresistible sweet and salty combination.

✽ Milk Chocolate Chips: The drizzled melted chocolate make these nest look more realistic because bird nests are messy in real life! I didn't want chocolate to actually be inside the mixture as I felt it would overpower the peanut butter and butterscotch flavors which I enjoy so much. The small amount of chocolate on the nests was the perfect amount to accompany the flavors.

✽ Chocolate Eggs: You gotta have eggs for the bird nests! My absolute favorite milk chocolate eggs (and favorite Easter candy!) are Cadbury Mini Eggs. They are so addicting and fit perfectly inside of these nests.

How did I come up with this bird nest no-bake recipe?

Butterscotch and Peanut Butter

Of course, I wanted to create the best version of this recipe. That means the calculator came out and the ratio calculating began.

I tried many peanut butter to butterscotch ratios, but I found the best ratio was a 1 cup to 1 cup. However, the more peanut butter there is in this recipe, the less likely the nests are going to harden.

Even though I thought this was the best flavor profile, I chose to add a bit more butterscotch chips so the eating process wasn't as messy.

Peanuts

I tried these nests with and without peanuts. While the non-peanut version is the version I used to eat during the holidays, the peanuts add such fun texture and made them just a little bit better, in my opinion.

Chow Mein Noodles

The chow mein noodle amount was difficult to determine. Do you want these to have a nice sturdy noodle structure or would you rather have a loose structure where the holes are filled with peanut butter and butterscotch goodness?! I chose the second route.

Looking for more Holiday recipes?

→ Check out all of my favorite holiday recipes!

How to Make Peanut Butterscotch Bird’s Nest Cookies

➊ Add 1 1/3 cups of smooth peanut butter and 1 cup of butterscotch chips to a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in-between each interval, until fully melted.

This ensures that the peanut butter and butterscotch melt uniformly and nothing gets burned.

➋ Stir in 2/3 cups of peanuts into the peanut butter/ butterscotch mixture. Then carefully stir in 3/4 cup chow mein noodles.

➌ Line a baking sheet or cookie sheet with wax paper or parchment paper. The baking sheet just makes it easier to transport the nests into and out of the fridge. Each nest will be a heaping tablespoons worth of mixture. Plop them out on the prepared baking sheet.

You should get about 16-20 nests.

➍ Now it's time to form the nests! Using your fingers, push down in the center to shape it into a nest shape. I like to take extra chow mein noodles and surround the outside. This really makes it look like a real nest, and it will help those eggs stay put.

➎ Next, the sprinkling of sea salt. This is such a small step but a crucial one. In fact, it may be the best part of this recipe. Who doesn't love a good sweet and salty mixture? Then put all the nests in the fridge for about 30 minutes. This will help them to harden so your fingers won't get as messy when you pick them up.

➏ After the nests have had a nice rest in the fridge, it's time to give them some chocolate. Add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to a small microwave-safe bowl. Melt in the microwave on high heat, in 30 second intervals, stirring in-between each interval until the chocolate is fully melted. Use a spoon to fling chocolate all over the nests. Do not be afraid to get messy!

Not only will this chocolate make them taste better, but it will also bring about a sense of realness to the nests. Bird nests in real life are messy and a mixture of things are found in them. Well I'm not sure if you'll find chow mein noodles and chocolate in a real bird nest, but you get the point.

➐ Lastly, put in those chocolate eggs. You can use whatever candy eggs you want. Even jelly beans would work!

Store in the fridge for up to two weeks in an airtight container.

Peanut Butterscotch Bird Nests

By Laura | Laura The Gastronaut
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Fridge Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 16-20 nests

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These peanut butterscotch bird nests cookies are made out of chow mein noodles and are so delicious. The nests are topped with drizzled chocolate and sea salt, and the nests are filled with chocolate eggs. They make for the perfect Easter no-bake treat!

*Some of these ingredient links may be affiliate links.*

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups smooth peanut butter
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 2/3 cup peanuts
• 3/4 cup chow mein noodles, plus a few extras for decorating
• Sea salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 60 chocolate eggs

Instructions

➊ Combine peanut butter and butterscotch chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the peanut butter and butterscotch in 30 second increments, stirring in-between, until fully melted.
➋ Stir in peanuts and then carefully stir in the chow mein noodles.
➌ Place a sheet of wax or parchment paper on a baking sheet. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of the mixture onto the wax/parchment paper. Continue until you run out of mixture (about 16-20 nests).
➍ Using your fingers, work each nest so there is a dip in the middle of each one. This will allow the eggs to sit better in the nests. Take the extra chow mein noodles and decorate the outside of the nest to help form the spot for the eggs.
➎ Sprinkle a small amount of sea salt onto each nest, and place nests into the refrigerator until hardened- about 30 minutes.
➏ Melt chocolate chips in a small microwave-safe bowl in 30-second increments, stirring in-between, until fully melted.
➐ Dip a spoon into the melted chocolate and fling chocolate over the nests. The messier, the better!
➑ Lastly, fill each nest with 2-3 chocolate eggs.

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*Notes

Leftovers: Store any leftover nests in the fridge in an airtight container for up to two weeks. You can keep them at room temperature, as well, but they will hold together better if stored in the fridge.

Stove Method: Instead of melting the peanut butter and butterscotch in the microwave, you can also melt in on the stove in a small saucepan over low heat while constantly stirring.

Peanuts: I love the addition of peanuts in these nests, but definitely feel free to leave them out as well. You may need to add a little more chow mein noodles so the structure of the nest holds up.

Chocolate & Extra Chow Mein Noodles: These components are optional as well. However, I feel like they really capture the messiness of an actual bird nest. Plus, the chocolate makes these nests even more delicious!

Eggs: There's so many candy Easter eggs out there. I love love love Cadburry Mini Chocolate Eggs, but any candy egg will do the trick! There's jellybeans, Hershey's milk chocolate eggs, Robin Eggs, Tootsie Roll Eggs, etc.

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✽ Did you make this recipe?
Let me know by leaving a comment below and sharing on Instagram. Tag @laurathegastronaut and hashtag it #laurathegastronaut.

Category: Sweets, Holiday Cooking Cuisine: American
Keywords: easy Easter dessert, butterscotch bird nests, bird nests dessert, fun easter treat, cute easter dessert

More Sweet Treats Recipes:

✽ Raspberry Jelly Filled Donut (homemade donuts filled with delicious raspberry jelly)
✽ Cherry Dipped Vanilla Strawberries (vanilla strawberries covered in a simple homemade cherry sauce)
✽ S'mores Trifle Cups (mini trifles filled with homemade chocolate pudding, marshmallows, and graham crackers)
→ Check out all of my sweet recipes!

Bon appétit!

April 1, 2021 by Laura Ehlers

*This Peanut Butterscotch Bird Nests blog post and recipe may contain some Amazon affiliate links. These link to products that I personally use and recommend. If you purchase anything using my links, it will not cost you anything. It will though give laurathegastronaut.com some financial support which helps me keep this blog running. Thank you for reading my blogs and your continued support.