Bird's Nest Easter Cupcakes topped with edible grass and chocolate candy eggs are perfect for an easy Easter dessert or spring celebration! Kids of all ages love this easy dessert!
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If you're looking for an easy, but adorable Easter dessert idea, I've got you covered. These bird nest cupcakes start out with a box of cake mix and are super simple to make!
I am all about easy recipes, and this is kind of a cheater recipe because it uses a cake mix and canned frosting. Honestly, if I'm baking cupcakes and topping them with candy and edible Easter grass, I know the kids will focus on the topping more than the cupcake!
Plus, you're probably making the rest of the holiday meal from scratch, right? So an easy Easter dessert is exactly what you need. These fun cupcakes are the perfect Easter treat!
If you're looking for more Easter desserts, try my Easter Lamb Cake, Easter Brownies and Mini Egg Cookies or check out more Easter Recipes in the archives.
Ingredients
You only need a few simple ingredients for this bird nest cupcake recipe. They should be easy to find in any grocery store.
- Cake mix -- any boxed cake mix. I use vanilla cake mix or yellow cake mix for these.
- Milk -- to make the cupcakes
- Eggs
- Coconut oil, vegetable oil or butter
- Vanilla extract -- for added flavor
- Frosting -- I use vanilla frosting
- Food dye -- green die to tint the frosting
- Edible Easter Grass -- You can find this in Target and other stores or online
- Mini candy eggs -- Cadbury mini eggs or robins eggs
How to Make Bird's Nest Cupcakes
I did make a few a changes, just to make these easy cupcakes taste even better. I used milk instead of water, and I used coconut oil and added some vanilla extract.
Follow the directions on the box to bake cupcakes.
The family definitely approved! Now, if you happen to have favorite cupcake recipe, you can definitely use that.
Bake the cupcakes, and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack or baking sheet. I like to use parchment paper cups for baking and put the cupcakes into fancier cupcake paper liners for presentation!
I tinted some vanilla frosting with green food coloring and spread a thin layer on each cupcake. The kids helped with this part.
Next, take some of the edible Easter grass, and form a nest shape on top of the cupcakes. The bird's nests won't be perfect looking, but that's part of the cuteness!
I found it easier to chop the grass up into smaller pieces and then place them in different directions on the frosting. You can use kitchen scissors or a sharp knife for this.
Then, I the kids and I placed different candy eggs into the little nests. Not all of the chocolate eggs made it onto the cupcakes, but we had enough to go around.
How to Store
Store these adorable cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature. They should keep fresh for 3-4 days.
Note -- If you are using cream cheese frosting or whipped cream frosting, you will need to store them in the refrigerator.
You can make these Easter cupcakes ahead of time and decorate the day before you will be serving them. You can freeze plain cupcakes for up to 3 months and decorate before serving.
Recipe Variations
If you can't find edible Easter grass or don't want to use it, try tinting shredded coconut and using that for the birds nest, instead. Toasted coconut or chow mein noodles will also work.
You can also pipe green frosting for the nests using a piping bag or a small resealable food-storage bag with a small hole cut in 1 corner.
Any frosting works here. Use your favorite buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting if you like.
Make chocolate cupcakes using chocolate cake mix or your favorite recipe. Pipe chocolate frosting for the nests using a can of chocolate frosting or your own chocolate frosting recipe.
Use any egg-shaped candy for the eggs. Jelly beans will also work for these Easter nest cupcakes.
Recipe FAQ
Edible Easter grass is made from potato starch and usually artificial coloring and sweeteners. You can find it in stores like Walmart or Target or online.
You can frost and decorate the cupcakes as soon as they are completely cool. It usually takes about 30 minutes to an hour for the cupcakes to cool down. Be sure to remove them from the baking pan as soon as they are cool enough to handle.
Recipe
Bird's Nest Easter Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 box of white cake mix
- 2 eggs
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- ⅓ cup coconut oil or vegetable oil or melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 can vanilla frosting
- 3 drops green food coloring
- Edible Easter grass
- Miniature candy eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Combine the cake mix, milk, eggs, coconut oil and vanilla in a large bowl, and mix well.
- Pour batter into lined muffin tin
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake is clean
- Let cool completely
- Add food coloring to frosting, and mix well
- Spread a thin layer of frosting on each cupcake
- Top with Easter grass and candy eggs
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition information is estimated. Please do your own calculation to fit special diets.
Nutrition
I hope you enjoy these adorable bird's nest cupcakes as much as we do. These sweet treats are perfect to serve after Easter dinner or Mother's Day. If you do try this fun dessert, please leave a star rating and/or comment.
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Recipe was published in 2016 and updated in 2023.
Betty says
Made these with the grandkids! Great family project for the holiday!
Sally says
These look adorable! Will definitely make these for Easter!