Easter Basket Sugar Cookie Cups

Overhead picture of easter treats with eggs on top if the sugar cookie base.

Easter Basket Sugar Cookie Cups are made in a muffin pan with prepared sugar cookie dough as the basket base, filled with vanilla buttercream, and topped with chocolate eggs. A fun, cute, and festive treat that everyone will love.

Course Cookies, Dessert, Easter

Cuisine American

Keyword easter basket sugar cookie cups, easter desserts, easter recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 213kcal

Author Jessica - Together as Family

Ingredients

1 package (16 oz) Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough *see note
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 bags (9 oz each) Hershey's Egg Candies or something similar

Instructions

Sugar Cookie Cups

Preheat oven to 350° F. Liberally spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or baking spray (cooking spray + flour).
Separate the premade cookie dough and put one section into each well in the muffin pan.
Cook for 10-14 minutes until very lightly browned.
* It's best to not over-cook, set the timer for the lowest time, and go from there.
Immediately after baking, use a shot glass or bottom of a spice jar, to lightly and slowly press the center of the cookies down to form a 'basket' or 'nest'. This will create a small indentation for the frosting.
Let the cookies cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully remove them by using a butter knife to help lift them and remove them from the wells. Transfer to a cooling rack so they can cool completely.

Buttercream Frosting

In a mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer or you can use a stand mixer, beat the butter until it's fluffy and lighter in color. About 2 minutes.
Add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition.
Increase speed to medium after all the powdered sugar has been added, and beat for about 1 minute until combined and fluffy.
Add vanilla extract and heavy cream. Beat until desired consistency is reached. Add more milk or more powered sugar depending on if you want it thinner or thicker texture.
* If using anything other than heavy cream in the frosting, start at 1 tablespoon and go from there. You won't need as much milk if using a lower-fat milk than heavy cream.
If using food coloring, add 2-3 drops (or more), and mix until desired color is reached.
Put frosting into a piping bag with a large 1A or 2A star tip and pipe the frosting into the indentation of the cookie cup. Top each basket with 3 eggs.
* If you don't have the piping supplies, simply put the frosting into a Ziploc bag, snip off one of the bottom corners and pipe it on that way into each sugar cookie cup.

Notes

Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough : Be sure you get the package that is flat and not the round log of cookie dough. The larger flat package of sugar cookie dough is already separated into squares which makes it so easy just to put one in each muffin tin.

Egg Candy : You will need enough for 3 eggs per cookie cup. So a total of 72 egg candies. Use whatever you want here. Other options are jelly beans, Cadbury Mini Eggs, Reese's peanut butter mini eggs, etc.

Tip : I think sprinkles make everything better so I will normally add some pretty pastel Easter sprinkles before I press the eggs onto the frosting.

How To Make the Basket/Indentation : There are several things you can use to help create that indentation (or the basket) for the buttercream frosting. Use a tart shaper if you have one, the bottom of a shot glass, the bottom of a spice jar, a small flat bottomed measuring cup or drinking cup.

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