This Cool Whip Easter Eggs recipe creates adorable, swirly Easter Eggs and is a fun and easy way to decorate! The colorful, marbled eggs are made using edible ingredients too!
If you are looking for a pretty way to decorate eggs that goes beyond a simple single-color dye, these Cool Whip Easter Eggs make adorable swirly designed eggs! Similar to the shaving cream method for dying Easter Eggs, these Cool Whip Easter Eggs produces colorful, marbled eggs except by using cool whip instead of shaving cream, you can consume the eggs afterwards.
I love how easy this recipe is and how few ingredients you actually need. A large tub of cool whip, white vinegar, food coloring, and a dozen hard-boiled eggs is all you need to make the prettiest tye-dyed eggs. I’m seriously in love with how pretty these swirled designs look and that you can have multi-colored eggs that stand out from more traditional Easter Eggs.
This recipe is way more fun than simply dropping a color tablet into a cup of water from those dying kits. It also allows for more creativity and fun in the kitchen! Each egg looks different and the ability to change up the food coloring makes each design a unique work of art!
Ingredients needed for Cool Whip Easter Eggs
- Hard boiled eggs: A dozen cooled, hard-boiled eggs. I recommend using white eggs for this method since they will produce the best colors. Brown eggs can also be used but keep in mind they will change the appearance of the colors and they will not look as pastel-y and bright.
- White vinegar: The eggs get soaked in vinegar for a couple of minutes. This helps prepare the eggshell for coloring so that the color adheres better. It’s important to not let the eggs soak for too long as the vinegar can eat away at the shell. I do not recommend using other types of vinegar as many other varieties will stain the eggs.
- Cool whip: I use a large tub (in Canada the cool whip comes in 1 litre tubs which is about 4 cups worth. If you are in the US, I believe this is equivalent to about 12 ounces. I opt for cool whip because it is ready to use and fairly affordable. If you wish to, you can whip up your own whipped cream or use a different whip cream topping.
- Food coloring: Assorted colors of food coloring. Gel food coloring is what I recommend as it produces more vibrant colors but liquid food color can also be used. If you are using liquid food coloring, be mindful of not adding too much and making the cool whip mixture liquidy and keep in mind that the color may not be as vibrant. Unfortunately, I tested out drops made from natural food coloring but they did not adhere to the eggs so I do not recommend it.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
How to make Cool Whip Easter Eggs
1. Soak the eggs in vinegar. Place the hard boiled eggs in a bowl and cover them with the vinegar. Allow them to soak for about 2-3 minutes. I do this in two batches, 6 eggs at a time to ensure the eggs are covered with the vinegar and to prevent using double the amount of vinegar in a larger bowl. Remove the eggs from the vinegar soak after 2-3 minutes and dry them off using paper towel. Set them aside.
2. Spread the cool whip. Spoon the cool whip topping into a muffin tin, adding enough cool whip to each muffin cup to fill it completely. [Alternatively, you can spread the cool whip in a 8×13 baking dish instead.]
3. Add swirls of food coloring. I recommend using food-safe disposable gloves for the remaining steps to prevent staining your hands while handling the food coloring. Add drops of food coloring on top of the cool whip and use a toothpick to swirl it around. You can use one food color for each section of the muffin tin or use multiple colors.
4. Roll the eggs in the swirled cool whip. Place an egg into each section of the muffin tin and roll it around to ensure it is covered all the way around. Transfer the muffin tin to the fridge and let the eggs sit in the dyed cool whip for 15 minutes.
5. Rinse and dry. Rinse the eggs under water to remove the cool whip. The color will not be set in yet until after the eggs have dried so take care not to rub the color off of them. Set the eggs down on a paper towel lined baking sheet and allow them to dry. Once dried, store them in the refrigerator.
What kind of food coloring works best?
As mentioned earlier, gel food coloring produces the best dyed eggs as the color is more concentrated. A little gel food coloring goes a long way when dying the eggs and so I wind up using about 4-5 drops in each muffin tin.
If you prefer to use liquid food coloring, you may do so but keep in mind the colors may not look as vibrant. You will also need to be mindful of how much you add since the liquid can make the cool whip mixture very wet. That said, it can still be done.
I had hoped to make these pretty eggs using natural food coloring drops but unfortunately, I had no luck using a natural-based liquid food dye. While the swirled cool whip looked pretty, when it came to rinsing the cool whip off of the eggs, none of the dye had adhered to the eggs.
Can you use brown eggs?
White eggs are the preferable type of egg to use when dying Easter eggs using this method. The color will show up more vibrant on a white egg and the swirled designs will show through better. Using white eggs as your canvas, you can expect to get pastel-y, bright colors.
While you can use brown eggs, I don’t recommend it. The food dye will not show up as bright and the eggs will look darker and less vibrant.
Tips for Making Cool Whip Easter Eggs with Kids
Dying Easter Eggs has always been a favorite Easter-time activity for me since I was a little girl. Kids absolutely love getting involved in the kitchen and this cool whip recipe is an easy way to get their creative juices flowing!
As with other egg-dying methods, food coloring can stain items you don’t want stained if you aren’t careful. That’s why I included some tips for working with little ones just to be on the safe side.
- Lay out a cheap vinyl tablecloth you don’t mind getting stained over your kitchen table or counter. While I didn’t need this when making the eggs on my own, working with kiddos, you can expect a little more splatter.
- Dress the kiddos in older clothes you don’t mind staining.
- Wear disposable gloves to prevent hands from staining. This tip was included in the instructions for kids and adults alike. While food coloring will eventually wash off your hands, it can stain them for quite some time (a day or even longer depending on your food dye).
- If making this with multiple children, you can spread the cool whip into pie plates instead so each child can work at the same time.
- For very young children, you may want to modify the activity by using sealed ziploc bags filled with the cool whip and food coloring. While the eggs won’t turn out marbled (they may just end up looking like a simple colored egg), this method is helpful for little hands that may not have the dexterity needed.
Storing Dyed Easter Eggs
Using cool whip and food-safe ingredients means these eggs can be considered safe to consume. This is why I opt to place them in the fridge while the color sets in. Leaving the eggs out for too long will render them unsafe to eat. To properly store the boiled dyed eggs, once the eggs have been rinsed and set out to dry (which takes just minutes), the eggs should be stored in the refrigerator.
I hope you enjoy this fun Easter activity!
Happy Easter!
-Cathy
Looking for more Easter recipes? Check out:
Funfetti Cutout Sugar Cookies
Easter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Koulourakia – Greek Easter Cookies
Tsoureki – Greek Easter Bread
Cool Whip Easter Eggs
Equipment
- 1 12-cup muffin tin
- food-safe disposable gloves to prevent staining your hands
- toothpicks
- baking sheet
- paper towels
Ingredients
- 12 large hard boiled eggs cooled completely. White eggs preferable.
- 3-4 cups white vinegar
- 1 large tub cool whip (1 litre or 4 cups or roughly 12 ounces)
- gel food coloring assorted colors. Gel food coloring produces more vibrant colors but liquid food color can also be used, just be mindful of not adding too much and making the cool whip mixture liquidy.
Instructions
- Place the hard boiled eggs in a bowl and cover them with the vinegar. Allow them to soak for about 2-3 minutes. I do this in two batches, 6 eggs at a time to ensure the eggs are covered with the vinegar and to prevent using double the amount of vinegar in a larger bowl.
- Remove the eggs from the vinegar soak after 2-3 minutes and dry them off using paper towel. Set them aside. [Note: Do not oversoak the eggs in the vinegar as the vinegar will begin to eat away at the eggshell.]
- Spoon the cool whip topping into a muffin tin, adding enough cool whip to each muffin cup to fill it completely. [Alternatively, you can spread the cool whip in a 8×13 baking dish instead.]
- I recommend using food-safe disposable gloves for the remaining steps to prevent staining your hands while handling the food coloring. Add drops of food coloring on top of the cool whip and use a toothpick to swirl it around. You can use one food color for each section of the muffin tin or use multiple colors.
- Place an egg into each section of the muffin tin and roll it around to ensure it is covered all the way around. Transfer the muffin tin to the fridge and let the eggs sit in the dyed cool whip for 15 minutes.
- Rinse the eggs under water to remove the cool whip. The color will not be set in yet until after the eggs have dried so take care not to rub the color off of them.
- Set the eggs down on a paper towel lined baking sheet and allow them to dry. Once dried, store them in the refrigerator.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
