What’s better than a bowl of your favorite childhood cereal?
A cookie that is filled and frosted with that cereal!
Child number 4 is my stepson, LJ. Conveniently in this blended family, there are two Jakes. Thus, the youngest, who also happens to be tallest, is Little Jake or LJ. I created this recipe for him during the first fall of Covid, when we couldn’t travel to see any of our kids. Baking definitely made me feel closer.
From September 2020
As I’ve done since my oldest left for college, I bake treats and mail them across the miles. It’s one of my favorite ways to send some love. With my daughter and stepson recently relocated to Phoenix and being roommates, it was the right reason to send a care package.
Knowing it would require a few days of shipping through lots of hot weather, I needed a treat that would withstand the time and temperature. What also played into my thinking was the newfound knowledge that my stepson’s favorite cereal is Fruity Pebbles with Marshmallows. Could I turn those into a treat? The answer, obviously, is yes.
Of course, there was one more item to consider: my daughter is vegan. Thus, the marshmallows had to go, which brings us to this recipe: Fruity Cereal Cookies. The batch that I baked and shipped was made with vegan butter and yogurt; the recipe below uses non-vegan ingredients. However, it’s a simple replacement, if you’d prefer to make them as vegan.
Make cookies, discover a guilty pleasure cereal
Although I had never eaten this cereal before buying it for the cookies, I discovered that they were just as tasty as one of my guilty pleasure cereals- Froot Loops. Being made of crisped rice, my stepson’s favorite cereal works perfectly in the cookies. They’re small enough that they’re ready to go without dicing or chopping, and they’re crispy enough that they still crunch after being baked in a cookie.
For those of you who don’t agree with eating sugar cereal as a breakfast item, I totally understand. However, if you’re going to make a batch of cookies, why not use the cereal here? Two cups of sugary cereal or two cups of chocolate chips? Pick your indulgence.
If you’re looking for a unique cookie to make, this recipe definitely makes the short list. Turn your favorite cereal from childhood into a sweet treat.
To go into the really wayback time machine, check out this recipe for the first one of my baked goods LJ was enamored with.
Fruity Cereal Cookies
Ingredients
- Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups fruit flavored rice cereal
- Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-1/2 tablespoon milk
- 1/2 cup fruit flavored rice cereal
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350°F.
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Combine butter and both sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer; mix on speed 2 for 3 minutes.
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Add yogurt, mixing until incorporated and scraping sides, if necessary.
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Add vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour, mixing until combined.
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Stir in 2 cups of cereal until evenly distributed.
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Scoop heaping teaspoons of dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
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Bake for 14 minutes or until bottoms are golden.
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Transfer to a baking rack to cool.
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Combine powdered sugar and vanilla in a small bowl.
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Add milk 1/2 tablespoon at a time, until glaze reaches desired consistency.
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Spread glaze on top of cooled cookies, and sprinkle with remaining fruit cereal.
Notes
