These Easter rice krispie nests are a delicious treat for any Easter dessert table! A rice krispie treat nest gets topped with Nutella hazelnut spread, shredded coconut, and mini eggs for an adorable and tasty treat!
My family absolutely loves rice krispie treats, so I thought it would be fun this year to make Easter rice krispie nests to go along with the chocolate nests and butterscotch haystack nests that I made last year!
These are so simple to make and would be the perfect addition to an Easter dessert table, an Easter charcuterie board, or as a fun treat at the end of an Easter scavenger hunt!
If you can make rice krispie treats, you can make these fun Easter goodies! And it’s a fun Easter activity for the entire family!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- No-bake dessert – these yummy Easter treats require no baking at all, so they can be ready to enjoy within minutes! No bake recipe ideas are our favorites!
- Easy to make – there’s nothing complicated about this fun dessert, it’s just making rice krispie treats and turning them into little nests! This easy Easter treat is so easy that even kids can help!
- Cute treat – Easter is all about adorable treats that the Easter bunny might drop off, and these cute rice crispy treats are the perfect cute treat to go along with any other Easter desserts you might make!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Butter – I recommend using unsalted butter in this recipe but if you only have salted butter on hand, just omit the added salt.
- Mini marshmallows – you can use either mini marshmallows, regular marshmallows, or even jumbo marshmallows in this recipe. I’ve included substitution guides in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. You’ll need about 3/4 bag of marshmallows.
- Cadbury mini eggs – I like Cadbury mini eggs because people tend to love them, but you can also substitute them with other mini eggs, chocolate eggs, or even jelly beans if you want!
- Coconut shreds – if you don’t want to use colored coconut shreds for the nest, you can get the edible grass as well or just use green sprinkles instead.
- Nutella – I’m a big fan of Nutella but if you want to avoid nuts or just want to try something different you can switch out the Nutella hazelnut spread with a Cadbury spread, Biscoff cookie butter, or you could even do something like peanut butter.
- Food coloring – gel food coloring is best for coating the coconut in this recipe! I used blue and purple, but you could definitely do green food coloring too!
How to make easter rice krispie nests
If you can make rice krispies treats, you can make these cute Easter nests! They’re as easy as can be with just a few steps before you get to enjoy these adorable Easter treats!
1 – Make Rice Krispies
Heat a large pot or large saucepan over low heat then add the butter and salt and melt. If using salted butter, skip adding butter here.
Once the butter is melted, add the mini marshmallows and heat until melted, stirring constantly.
Remove the pot from heat, add the vanilla, and stir into the marshmallow mixture.
Add the rice krispy cereal to the mixture.
Fold the rice krispies in gently with a rubber spatula until all the cereal is coated in melted marshmallow mixture.
Tip!
If you find the rice krispies are sticking to the spatula, you can spray the spatula with non-stick spray to keep them from sticking when you’re stirring it all together! You can do the same thing with the spoon or your hands (add a bit of cooking spray) on the next step when you’re adding them to the muffin tins as well!
2 – Make Rice Krispies Nests
Lightly grease two 12 cup muffin tins (aka cupcake tin) with non-stick cooking spray to keep the nests from sticking to the pan!
Scoop 3-4 tablespoons of the rice krispies and use your hands to press them down gently into the greased muffin tin and mold them into the shape of the tin. Spray your hands with non-stick spray if necessary to keep them from sticking!
Make sure to leave a small indention in the center where you’ll fill it with Nutella later.
Let the rice krispy nests sit for 30 minutes to allow them to form into the correct shape before moving onto the next step!
3 – Make the Colored Coconut
Add the shredded coconut to a zipper top bag along with 1-3 drops of the food coloring depending on how dark you want the nest to be. If you want to do two different colors, split the coconut across two bags and do two different colors.
Close the bag, shake, and massage the coconut into the coloring until the food coloring has rubbed onto the coconut and dyed the coconut your desired color.
4 – Decorate Nests
Once the nests have set, place a tablespoon of Nutella on top of each of the nests in the cavity you added when you molded the nests into the muffin tins.
Sprinkle the colored coconut shreds over top of the Nutella and then add three mini Cadbury eggs (or chocolate egg candies or other egg-shaped candy) to the center of each nest on top of the shreds.
Carefully remove the nests from the muffin tin using a small silicone spatula or a butter knife. Place all of the nests on a serving plate and serve immediately! This fun Easter treat is perfect for an Easter brunch, party, or even as a reward when someone completes this Easter egg scavenger hunt!
Expert Tips & Storage Info
Make sure to allow the rice krispie nests to set for 30+ minutes to allow them to form into the shape of the nests. If you remove them too quickly, they won’t set properly, and you’ll end up with rice krispie balls. Still tasty but not what you’re going for.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. Avoid refrigerating so that the treats don’t harden! No one wants crispy nests!
Make sure to use gel food coloring instead of liquid. Liquid tends to just be a big mess and doesn’t dye the coconut in the same way.
Make them smaller by pressing the nests into mini muffin tins, using a tsp of Nutella, less coconut, and small jelly beans on top of the nests!
Use leftovers from these rice krispie nests to make these Easter rice krispie treats that look like carrots!
Recipe FAQs
If you add too much butter to rice krispy treats, you’ll end up with a slimy ooey gooey mixture that won’t set properly. If you accidentally add too much butter, just increase the rest of the recipe to match the amount of butter you added.
These rice krispie nests do not freeze well. I recommend just making a new batch if you want to enjoy these at a later date or make them much earlier than you will be serving them. They are best fresh or enjoyed within a day or two.
More Easy Easter Treats
If you want some more fun Easter treats to serve along with these Easter rice krispie nests, then you should make sure to try these yummy desserts!
- Cadbury egg cookies – these delicious chocolate chip oatmeal cookies get an Easter twist with the addition of mini Cadbury eggs!
- Easter Oreos – these adorable chocolate covered Easter Oreos take only a few minutes to make and will have everyone ooing and ahhing about what a cute idea they are!
- Bunny bait – this yummy Easter snack mix is good enough that even the Easter bunny approves! It’s perfect for a spring time snack!
- Easter egg Oreo – Oreo truffles turned into Easter eggs are a great treat that everyone will eat and enjoy!
- Peanut butter egg recipe – homemade versions of the popular Reeses peanut butter eggs, maybe even better than the store-bought kind!
Easter Rice Krispie Nests
Ingredients
- 4 TBS unsalted butter
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 4 cups mini marshmallows about 3/4 of a 10 oz bag
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 5 cups Rice Krispies cereal
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened coconut shreds
- gel food coloring your choice of colors
- 1 cup Nutella hazelnut spread
- 54 mini Cadbury eggs
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over low heat then add the butter and salt and melt.4 TBS unsalted butter, 1/8 tsp salt
- Once the butter is melted, add the mini marshmallows and heat until melted, stirring constantly.4 cups mini marshmallows
- Remove the pot from heat, add the vanilla, and stir into the marshmallow mixture.1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Add the rice krispy cereal to the mixture. Fold the rice krispies in gently with a rubber spatula until all the cereal is coated in marshmallow mixture.5 cups Rice Krispies cereal
- Scoop 3-4 tablespoons of the rice krispies and use your hands to press them down gently and mold them into the shape of the tin, making sure to leave a small indentation where you'll add the Nutella later.
- Let the rice krispy nests sit for 30 minutes to allow them to form into the correct shape before moving onto the next step!
- Add the shredded coconut to a zipper top bag along with 1-3 drops of the food coloring depending on how dark you want the nest to be. If you want to do two different colors, split the coconut across two bags and do two different colors.1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut shreds, gel food coloring
- Close the bag, shake, and massage the coconut into the coloring until the food coloring has rubbed onto the coconut and dyed the coconut your desired color.
- Once the nests have set, place a tablespoon of Nutella on top of each of the nests in the cavity you added when you molded the nests into the muffin tins.1 cup Nutella hazelnut spread
- Sprinkle the colored coconut shreds over top of the Nutella and then add three mini Cadbury eggs to each of the nests on top of the shreds.54 mini Cadbury eggs
- Carefully remove the nests from the muffin tin using a small silicone spatula or a butter knife and serve!
Tips & Notes:
- Butter – salted butter can be used, just omit added salt
- Mini marshmallows – you can use 16 regular marshmallows instead
- Cadbury mini eggs – you can use any chocolate eggs or jelly beans
- Coconut shreds – you can use edible grass or even sprinkles instead
- Nutella – you can use Cadbury spread, Biscoff cookie butter, even peanut butter
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