Cornflake Marshmallow Cookies are made with a baked cornflake crunch, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows for a sweet and salty treat. Try my No-Bake Chex Cookies for another cereal-inspired cookie.
Cornflake Marshmallow Cookies {Milk Bar Copycat}
This recipe was inspired by Milk Bar’s cookie with caramelized cornflakes, chocolate chips, and marshmallows. Even if you don’t have the sweetest tooth, you will want to take a bite of one of these cookies. They are the perfect combination of sweet with a slightly salty crunch from the baked cornflake clusters.
Cornflake Marshmallow Cookies Ingredients
There are two parts to this recipe–the cornflake clusters and the cookies.
Cornflakes: You can use cornflake cereal and crush it up, or you could use cornflake crumbs if you have those on hand.
Powdered Milk: Powdered milk, milk powder, or dry milk are all the same product. You can usually find it at your local grocery store in the baking aisle. You could also substitute coconut milk powder or even powder coffee creamer in a pinch.
Kosher Salt: Kosher salt has larger crystals than table salt. Do not substitute table salt for kosher salt in this recipe.
Flour: In the cookies, you will use both all-purpose flour AND bread flour. When only all-purpose flour was used, the cookies spread out significantly and were not the texture expected. Bread flour has a higher protein than other flours (above 12%). This helps give the cookies a chewy texture and added flavor. If you don’t have bread flour, you could use all-purpose flour as a substitute. However, the cookies will be flatter and not have the same texture. With the added bread flour, the cookies puffed up just the right amount.
Cornflake Crunch
The cornflake clusters in this recipe add a bit of saltiness and crunch to the sweet cookie. To get the cornflake clusters made, first, preheat the oven to 275°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, toss together the crushed corn flakes, powdered milk, sugar, and salt. Pour in the melted butter and toss again; clusters will form.
Pour the mixture onto the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cereal is slightly toasted. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. After it has cooled, break up any large clusters into bits. This will be added to the cookie batter.
The cornflake clusters can definitely be made ahead of time. Simply store the baked clusters in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Then, add them to the cookie dough when you are ready to make the cookies!
How to Make Cornflake Marshmallow Cookies {Milk Bar Copycat}
When ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven temperature to 350°F and prepare the cookie dough. First, in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter (no warmer than 68°F), granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Mix on medium speed until creamy (about 2 minutes).
Next, add the egg and vanilla and continue to mix on medium for another eight minutes. Yes, eight minutes! This may seem like a long time, but the long creaming time aerates the dough, creating tiny pockets of air that make for fluffy cookies. It will definitely be worth the time!
After creaming the ingredients, add all-purpose flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix on low until just incorporated. Finally, gently fold in the cooled cornflake clusters, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows.
Using a large cookie scoop (I used a 1/4 cup), place the cookie dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. The dough is very dry – but if it will not stay together enough to hold its shape, you may need to add an egg yolk.
Leave a couple of inches between each cookie. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the cookies cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to five days at room temperature. Freeze the cookies for up to a month.
To Chill or Not to Chill the Cookie Dough
We did test this cornflake marshmallow cookie recipe a few times. In one test, we chilled the cookie dough before baking the cookies. Then, we tested the recipe without chilling the dough. Our preference was to bake the cookies without chilling the dough.
When the dough had been chilled and then baked, the texture of the cookie was a little crunchier (but still delicious). The batch of cookies baked without chilling the dough resulted in a softer texture that we liked. So, it is up to you if you decided to chill the dough for an hour or just get the cookies baked right away.
Looking for More Cookie Recipes?
Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies {Double Tree Copycat}
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
Cornflake Crunch
- 4 cups cornflake cereal, roughly crushed
- ⅓ cup powdered milk
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (1 stick or 113g)butter, melted
Cookies
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 227g) butter, softened
- 1¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup (133g) brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1½ cups (187.5g) all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons
- 1 cup (127g) bread flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ⅔ cup mini chocolate chips
- 1¼ cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
Cornflake Crunch
-
Preheat oven to 275°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
-
In a medium bowl add crushed cornflakes, powdered milk, sugar, and salt. Toss to combine.
-
Pour in the melted butter and toss again. (Small cornflake clusters will form).
-
Pour the mixture onto the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes (or until the cereal is slightly toasted).
-
Cool completely. Then, break up any large clusters into bits.
Cookies
-
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
-
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Mix on medium until creamy (about 2 minutes).
-
Add egg and vanilla and continue mixing for 8 minutes. (Yes, 8 minutes, to aerate the dough.)
-
Add all-purpose flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix on low until just incorporated.
-
Gently fold in the cooled cornflake crunch, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows. (The dough will be dry, but it should hold its shape on the cookie sheet.)
-
Using a large cookie scoop (about ¼ cup), place the cookie dough on the lined baking sheet, slightly flattening each and leaving about 2 inches between each cookie.
-
Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
-
Let the cookies cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.