My cornflake cookies pair crispy toasted cereal with a buttery vanilla dough and gooey marshmallows. NO chilling and only 10 minutes to prep! Toasting the cornflakes first makes a BIG difference in their texture and flavor! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Cornflake Cookies
You’ve probably used cornflakes outside of breakfast time before, like for breading chicken or adding a crunchy topping to sweet potato casserole. But have you ever tried cornflake cookies?! They transform the classic (and let’s be real, somewhat boring) cereal into a surprisingly gourmet tasting dessert! My version has a buttery, vanilla dough and packs plenty of interest with contrasting textures.
If you liked my fruity pebbles cookies, I think you’ll LOVE these!
Why This Recipe WORKS
- Toasting the cornflakes first ensures the cereal stays crisp longer. With my rice krispie cookies, a few people complained that the cereal softened in the cookie. Honestly, this is going to happen no matter what, because the cereal will absorb the moisture from the cookie. However, for this recipe, we minimize that by first toasting the cornflakes, which deepens the flavor and dries them out a bit so they maintain their texture for an extended period of time. The cereal will still soften over time, but the crisp factor lasts longer this way.
- Easy to make with no chilling required. I’m in the process of collecting all of my no-chill cookie recipes into one list; keep an eye out for that one soon if you like no-chill cookies!
- Using key ingredients like cornstarch, an extra egg yolk, and a more brown sugar than granulated sugar yields and incredibly soft and tender texture. This contrasts nicely with the crispy cereal and gooey marshmallow pockets!
- A hefty pour of vanilla flavors the dough and complements the toasted cereal and marshmallow notes beautifully.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Cornflakes. Toasting the cornflakes makes a difference; it makes a nice, slightly malted, toasty flavor and minimizes the stale feeling from sitting in the moist cookie. Just keep a close eye on the cornflakes in the oven because they can burn quickly!
- Egg + egg yolk. If you can remember, set these out ahead of time so they can come to room temperature; otherwise, use my trick to quickly bring eggs to room temperature. Don’t want to throw away your extra egg white? You can use it to make candied pecans!
- Cornstarch. My secret ingredient for a tender and chewy texture.
- Mini marshmallows. The same kind you’d use for rice krispie treats or rocky road cookies (or sprinkling over your hot chocolate).
- Softened butter. Unlike many of my cookie recipes (like my potato chip cookies or Dubai chocolate cookies), I did not opt for melted butter in this recipe. Melted butter would have softened the cereal more than I wanted, and I wanted to give it as much of a chance as possible to stay crispy!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
SAM’S TIP: I experimented with adding mini chocolate chips (½ cup) or milk chocolate chips (about 1 cup) to this cookie dough. My taste testers and I all preferred the taste of the cookies without the added chocolate; somehow the chocolate seemed to distract from the overall taste. You can certainly experiment with adding them if you like though!
How to Make Cornflake Cookies
Toast the cornflakes in the oven, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until darker in color and nice and toasty-smelling. Set these aside to cool while you prepare the cookie dough.
Next, cream the butters and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla, then set this bowl aside while you whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, then gently fold in the toasted cornflakes and marshmallows.
Roll 2-tablespoon scoops of dough between your palms and bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges are just starting to turn golden.
SAM’S TIP: Because of the marshmallow, these cookies bake up pretty messy, just like my s’mores cookies. To help minimize this, I try to make sure the marshmallow is tucked in when rolling the cookies so it doesn’t spill out so much. If it’s still messy anyway, I will take a pair of spoons or a large round cookie cutter to scoot in the spilled out marshmallow and make the cookies more round and uniform. This is totally an aesthetic preference and doesn’t actually matter in terms of taste!
Frequently Asked Questions
There are quite a few different variations of cornflake cookies floating around. My version is very similar to Christina Tosi’s version (the Milkbar version) because of the marshmallows and cornflakes, but it’s not meant to be a copycat recipe.
My confetti crumbs are also similar to Milkbar’s, if you’d like to try those!
Yes, I recommend wrapping them in plastic and storing in an airtight container. To thaw, unwrap and let sit at room temperature.
Note: the texture of the cereal and marshmallows may change after freezing.
I haven’t tested adding peanut butter to this recipe just yet. If you want, you could add some peanut butter chips (I’d recommend no more than a cup!).
If you’d like to see a version of this recipe with peanut butter, please leave me a comment below so I can add it to my list.
More Cereal Recipes
If you like loaded cookies, try my caramel pretzel chocolate chunk cookies or kitchen sink cookies next 🍪
Enjoy!
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Cornflake Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups (80 g) cornflakes
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 ½ cups (85 g) mini marshmallows
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Once oven is preheated, spread cornflakes evenly over a baking sheet and transfer to center rack of oven, bake for 10-15 minutes, checking and stirring every 5 minutes until cornflakes are toasted and have darkened slightly in color (after the 10 minute mark, keep a close eye if they need additional time as they can burn fast). Set aside to cool while you prepare the cookies.2 cups (80 g) cornflakes
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and sugars.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir to combine.1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.2 ¾ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon table salt
- Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring thoroughly after each addition until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- Add the toasted cornflakes and mini marshmallows and use a spatula to fold together ingredients until evenly distributed.1 ½ cups (85 g) mini marshmallows
- Scoop dough by 2 Tablespoon-sized scoops (40g) and roll gently between your palms to form a smooth ball. Place on baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 2” (5cm) apart and transfer to center rack of 350F (175C) preheated oven for 10-11 minutes, until the edges just start to turn a light golden brown.
- Allow to cool completely on baking sheet before enjoying!
Notes
Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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