These easy no-bake Nutter Butter chicks and bunnies make an adorable addition to any Easter party! Originally posted back in 2011, I figured these guys needed a revival!
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I am a sucker for a cutsie cookie. Or cupcake. Or cake. Really anything adorable made of sugar is my jam. But sometimes the whole-mixing flour and sugar thing, plus turning on the oven, then decorating seems like just too much. Sometimes I like a project where I can pretty well buy everything needed and only need to run the microwave.
What do you need:
- Nutter Butters-obviously. We’re looking for the ones shaped like a peanut. They make nutter butters in all kinds of shapes these days but for this recipe, we want the classic.
- Candy Melts-or any other kind of melting chocolate. I like to use candy melts because they come in a whole host of different colors and you can buy them at Michaels and Wal-Mart. For flavor, I actually prefer Girardhelli, but they only come in chocolate or white, which is fine for the bunnies, but you’ll have to color it for the chicks. Note: if you plan to color your own, you’ll need to use food coloring designed for chocolate, regular food coloring is water-based and will make the chocolate seize.
- Frosting-for the chicks, this is easy. Orange is all we need. For the bunnies we need pink and black. You can make your own buttercream, probably a half or quarter batch of this frosting would work nicely. This is an occasion where if you have any frozen frosting tucked away, you can dig it out. I sometimes like to just buy some of the small icing writer tubes. I almost always buy a tube of black icing for accents. Black is a pain to make and I usually only need a little bit. (Fun fact, Wilton piping tips and couplers fit on these tubes of frosting).
- Eyes-for the chicks, mini chocolate chips-nice and easy. For the bunnies, you can use mini chocolate chips, but I like the looks of candy eyes. Another option is to draw the eyes on with your black frosting (but I think drawing eyes it a little tricky).
Notes about melting chocolate:
Candy melts and other melting chocolate does not have to be tempered. It has vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter and is designed to harden on it own. Using chocolate chips or regular chocolate instead will leave you with a soft, greasy finished product. If you’re looking for it in the store, melting chocolate is sometimes called compound chocolate.
How to melt chocolate in the microwave:
- Dump candy melts in a heat proof bowl. I think candy melts are a little on the thick side so I add in a teaspoon of shortening for each package of candy melts. The shortening thins out the chocolate making it easier to dip. (Note: it does increase your drying time by a few minutes, if you’re in a hurry, chill the dipped cookies in the fridge for 10 minutes) Don’t be squeamish about the shortening, we’re talking candy melts here, they are already over processed and unhealthy beyond control. Don’t eat them every day.
- Put bowl in the microwave and microwave for 30 seconds. NO LONGER!
- Get the bowl out and stir. It won’t look like anything happened and you will be tempted to go longer next time because you find this process tedious. DON’T DO IT!
- Put the bowl back in the microwave and microwave for another 30 seconds. Get the bowl out and stir again.
- Keep doing this until the chocolate is melted. There will be a point when it is almost melted, just a few little lumps. Try and stir it smooth at this point. I have noticed with the candy melts it is possible to over heat it and then the chocolate gets streaky as it dries.
The recipes below are to use an entire package of Nutter Butters. If you would like to make half chicks and half bunnies like I did, split each recipe in half.
Nutter Butter Chicks
Ingredients
- 1 package Nutter Butter sandwich cookies the ones shaped like a peanut
- 64 mini chocolate chips
- 2 packages yellow candy melts
- 1 small tube orange frosting or piping gel
Instructions
- Melt Candy Melts according to directions.
- Dip Nutter Butters into the candy melts. Place on wax or parchment paper to dry (don’t just put them directly on a cookie sheet, they will stick).
- While cookies are still a little bit wet, place two mini chocolate chips at the top for eyes. Allow to dry for 20-30 minutes.
- Once the cookies are dry, using the orange frosting, pipe a little triangle “beak” under the mini chocolate chips. If you’re feeling sassy, you can also pipe some orange feet.
Notes
Nutter Butter Bunnies
Ingredients
- 1 package peanut shaped nutter butters
- 64 candy eyes
- 2 packages white candy melts
- 1 small tube pink frosting
- 1 small tube black frosting
Instructions
- Melt Candy Melts according to directions.
- Dip Nutter Butters into the candy melts. Place on wax or parchment paper to dry (don’t just put them directly on a cookie sheet, they will stick).
- While cookies are still a little bit wet, place two candy eyes about 2/3 of the way down for the eyes (we want to leave room for the ears). Allow to dry for 20-30 minutes.
- Once the cookies are dry, use the pink frosting to pipe loops for ears and a little heart below the candy eyes for the nose.
- Use the black frosting to pipe whiskers and a mouth. If using a piping tip, I use a Wilton #1 or #2.
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