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These homemade Easter vanilla sugar cookie cups are filled with white chocolate strawberry ganache and decorated with marshmallow peeps and robin eggs candy for an adorable spring treat.
These festive sugar cookie cups are a beautiful dessert for any spring or Easter-themed gathering. Or if you’re looking for a way to help use up some of your candy after Easter, this recipe will come in handy!
You could sub out jelly beans for the mini robin eggs if that’s what you have on hand. Or put little chocolate bunnies on top.
This would be a fun thing to do with kiddos. You could set up a little toppings bar and let them go crazy decorating any way they fancy.
White Chocolate Ganache
White chocolate really is an interesting thing.
To me, it doesn’t taste like chocolate at all (although the aroma of cacao butter – white chocolate in its purest form – is deeply chocolaty and pretty fantastic). And because white chocolate is a byproduct of making cocoa powder (which is then used as-is or made into milk or dark chocolate), some people don’t think of white chocolate as chocolate at all!
I confess, I used to really dislike white chocolate.
It was always way too sweet for me, and I much prefer the flavor complexities of a great-quality dark chocolate. Recently I tried a little piece of white chocolate at the urging of a friend. I realized that it was actually pretty good. I didn’t think of it as chocolate. To me, it tasted like birthday cake-flavored candy!
I do like birthday cake flavor, and I realized that white chocolate is a misnomer. If I think of it as candy instead of chocolate, I actually really enjoy it! Long story short, that was the inspiration for the ganache frosting for these cookie cups.
The sugar cookie base here is pretty basic, but that doesn’t mean its boring. It’s aromatic with vanilla and butter the way any good sugar cookie should be. The ganache is strawberry white chocolate, in which I used powdered freeze dried strawberries for both color and flavor. The real fun is the adorable decorations on top.
Here I kept the topper pretty simple with marshmallow peeps and mini robin eggs, but you could do these up any way you want. I’ve seen toasted coconut used to look like a bird’s nest, or green-dyed coconut to look like grass. It just depends what look you’re going for, and how much patience you have for the project!
Easter Sugar Cookie Cups Ingredients and Substitutions
Ingredients Explained
In this section I explain the ingredients and give substitution ideas where applicable. For the full recipe (including the ingredient amounts), see the recipe card below.
Sugar Cookie Cups Ingredients
- Unsalted butter – These vanilla cookie cups are rich and buttery.
- Sugar – Use regular granulated white sugar here.
- Egg – This is the binder in our cookie dough that helps create perfect chewy cookies.
- Vanilla extract – This adds rich flavor and aroma.
- Almond extract – It’s optional, but I like to use just a touch of almond extract here. You won’t necessarily be able to pull out the flavor in the cookies, but it adds something special.
- Flour – All-purpose flour is the base of this cookie dough.
- Cream of tartar – In this cookie recipe, cream of tartar is the leavening agent.
- Salt – Salt enhances the flavor of everything else, and prevents our cookies from being bland.
Strawberry White Chocolate Ganache Ingredients
- White chocolate – White chocolate is the base of this ganache.
- Heavy whipping cream – Just like when you’re making milk chocolate or dark chocolate ganache, white chocolate ganache requires heavy whipping cream.
- Unsalted butter – For rich flavor and creamy texture.
- Almond extract – You can use vanilla extract instead. Or if you want to enhance the strawberry flavor, use strawberry flavoring instead.
- Strawberry powder – Strawberry powder is available on Amazon. Alternatively, you can easily make your own! Pulverize freeze dried strawberries in a high speed blender or food processor, strain them through a fine mesh sieve two times, and then use the powder. I like to use strawberry powder as a natural dye, and it also adds a subtle strawberry flavor.
Decoration Ideas
- Mini robin eggs candy
- Marshmallow peeps candy
Instructions
Step 1: Make the Cookie Cups
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 8 wells of a muffin tray with paper liners.
Cream together the butter and sugar, and then beat in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Stir in the flour, cream of tartar, and salt. Cover the dough and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
Scoop the dough out into the prepared muffin tray and push it down into each well. Bake until the cookies are golden along the outside, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely.
Step 2: Make the Ganache
Melt the white chocolate, heavy cream, and butter together in a double boiler or microwave and stir together until smooth. Stir in the almond extract and strawberry powder.
Let the ganache cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate briefly to chill (just until it’s spreadable like frosting).
Step 3: Decorate
Spread the ganache onto the cooled cookie cups.
Before the ganache sets, decorate the tops with mini robins eggs and marshmallow peeps candy.
Serve.
Tips
- If you want this ganache a pink color without strawberry flavor, you could use a couple drops of red food coloring.
- Instead of ganache, you can fill these cookie cups with this easy vanilla buttercream frosting.
- Feel free to leave off the candy decorations, or use any candy you have.
Storage
Store these cookie cups in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
More Easter Desserts to Try
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Easter Cookie Cups Recipe Decorated with Robin Eggs and Peeps Candy
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Ingredients
Cookie Cups:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 10 tablespoons sugar 10 tablespoons of sugar is 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Strawberry White Chocolate Ganache:
- 6 ounces white chocolate chopped
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon strawberry powder see Notes
Decoration Ideas:
Instructions
For the Cookie Cups:
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 8 wells of a muffin tray with paper liners.
- Cream together the butter and sugar, and then beat in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Stir in the flour, cream of tartar, and salt. Cover the dough and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
- Scoop the dough out into the prepared muffin tray and push it down into each well. Bake until the cookies are golden along the outside, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely.
For the Ganache:
- Melt the white chocolate, heavy cream, and butter together in a double boiler or microwave and stir together until smooth. Stir in the almond extract and strawberry powder.
- Let the ganache cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate briefly to chill (just until it’s spreadable like frosting).
To Decorate:
- Spread the ganache onto the cooled cookie cups.
- Before the ganache sets, decorate the tops with mini robins eggs and marshmallow peeps candy.
- Serve.
Notes
- Strawberry Powder: Strawberry powder is available on Amazon. Alternatively, you can easily make your own! Pulverize freeze dried strawberries in a high speed blender or food processor, strain them through a fine mesh sieve two times, and use the powder. I like to use strawberry powder as a natural dye, and it also adds a subtle strawberry flavor.
- Nutrition Information: The nutritional information for this recipe was calculated without the candy decorations.
- Storage: Store these cookie cups in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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