Bird’s Nest Cupcakes (Easter Cupcakes)

Celebrate Easter with adorable Bird’s Nest Cupcakes. Topped with Easter grass and mini eggs, these sweet treats are perfect for an easy Easter dessert or spring celebration!

Easy Easter Cupcake Recipe

If you’re looking for an easy Easter cupcakes recipe, 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 easy Easter desserts, try my Easter Lamb Cake, Easter Brownies and Mini Egg Cookies or and even more Easter Recipes your family will love.

Ingredients

You only need a few simple ingredients for this bird nest cupcake recipe. They should be easy to find in any grocery store. Full amounts are in the printable recipe card below.

• Cake mix — any boxed cake mix. I usually use vanilla cake mix or yellow cake mix for these.
• Milk — or water to make the cupcakes
• Eggs
• Coconut oil, vegetable oil or butter
• Vanilla extract — for added flavor if using yellow or white cake mix
• Frosting — I use vanilla frosting
• Food dye — green food coloring 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

What is Edible Easter Grass?

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.

How to Make Birds 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.

The family definitely approved! Now, if you happen to have favorite cupcake recipe, you can definitely use that.

Follow the directions on the box to bake cupcakes.

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 mini chocolate eggs into the little nests in the center of each cupcake. Not all of the chocolate candy eggs made it onto the cupcakes, but we had enough to go around.

How to Store Easter Egg Cupcakes

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 Substitutions and Variations

We have been making these cupcakes for years now, and there are many ways to change the basic recipe. 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 cake recipe. Pipe chocolate frosting or buttercream frosting for the nests using a can of chocolate frosting or your own homemade frosting recipe.

Use any egg-shaped candy for the eggs. Jelly beans will also work for these Easter nest cupcakes.

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.

For more easy Easter desserts, easy recipes and easy desserts anyone can make, sign up for the weekly newsletter and follow on social media.

Recipe was published in 2016 and updated in 2024.