If you love the cinnamon-sugar goodness of cereal but the flaky texture of a great cookie, you’ve come to the right place! This simple recipe merges basic cookie ingredients with something completely unexpected–Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal!
Over the past several months I’ve been growing this blog with recipe after recipe. Honestly? I thought I’d pretty much covered all of the cookies out there, at least the ones that appealed to me. Ultimate Chocolate Chip. Snickerdoodles. Oatmeal Craisin. Mexican Wedding Cookies. Peanut Butter. Easy Cut-Out Sugar Cookies.
You name it, I’d baked it.
Then, after snacking on one of my favorite cereals, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I got to thinking about how yummy it might be in cookie form. Would I? Could I? Should I?
Can I Really Use Cereal in Cookies?
Yes, you can! I’ve done it multiple times with other cereals. For instance, my Peanut Butter Ranger Cookies have cornflakes in them. And my Oatmeal Rice Krispie Cookies are loaded with crispy rice cereal.
I had high hopes that these Cinnamon Toast Crunch cookies would work out!
Years ago I made myself a birthday cake using this cereal as a base, so I knew I could bake with it. But, to turn it into a cookie? I wasn’t sure anyone had tried that.
So, I googled it. And I stumbled across several recipes online. I did some tweaking, as always, but basically followed the recipe I found at this fun baking site. It looked easy enough.
Let’s take a quick look at what you’ll need to make these chewy, crunchy, tasty cookies.
Ingredients for Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cookies
You will find a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here’s a quick peek at what you’re going to need to make these tasty cookies.
- room temperature butter (salted or unsalted, your choice)
- packed brown sugar
- white sugar (granulated sugar)
- large egg
- all purpose flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- finely crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal (available in most grocery stores)
- uncrushed cereal to press on top
- ground cinnamon
- real vanilla extract (not pictured, sorry)
How to Make Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal Cookies
These came together so quickly!
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. (The original recipe called for 400 degrees but I decided low and slow might be better for my oven.)
Prepare your cookie sheets by placing parchment paper on a couple of them. (I use good Nordicware sheets, which I love.)
Crush your cereal in a medium bowl. I put my into a gallon-sized baggie and smashed it up with a rolling pin. I take great satisfaction in smashing things by hand. Don’t judge me.
You will want a fairly fine crumb so the cookies won’t be tough.
Set cereal aside.
Cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract at medium speed until light and fluffy. You can use an electric mixer if you like but I chose to use my stand mixer with paddle attachment.
Note: You can use unsalted butter if you prefer but you will need to add a pinch of salt to the recipe.
Add the dry ingredients. I started with my flour mixture (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon). Then I added the finely crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch, being careful not to over mix.
Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl!
Using a cookie scoop, place dough balls on the parchment paper. I use Nordic Ware pans, along with the perfect parchment sheets that are pre-cut to fit the half-sheet perfectly!
Press down lightly with palm and place 3-4 cereal pieces into the top of the dough.
Place in preheated oven and bake for 12 – 15 minutes. (Time will vary, depending on your oven.)
Remove when lightly golden brown and place cookie sheet on wire rack to cool.
When fully cooled, store in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap.
I only baked a small batch for myself and froze the rest of the cookie dough balls in the freezer. (I always keep frozen cookie dough balls on hand in ziplock bags for when friends and family come over.) I call this prepper baking. (Hey, times are tough. It’s good to be ready!)
Note: This recipe makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies, depending on your scoop size.
What to Expect From these Cookies
I was absolutely delighted with how these turned out. I absolutely loved the cinnamon-y flavor, sure, but my favorite part was that added bit of crunch on top from the cereal.
The bottoms are crisp, too. Check out the backside of this baked cookie!
I can’t figure out how they’re light, flaky, chewy, and crunchy all at the same time. That’s very rare in a cookie.
Maybe it’s the combination of baking powder and baking soda. . .I’m not sure. I am sure I’ll be making them again and again. That cinnamon flavor was over the top!
Variations on this Recipe
I absolutely loved these and sure wouldn’t want to change much.
The only thing that comes to mind right off the bat is that I might roll them in a cinnamon-sugar combination before baking (and before adding the cereal on top). That would just send them over the top! You could also throw in some white chocolate chips, if you like.
Another fun addition would be a cream cheese frosting drizzle. If I had been baking these for others, I probably would have gone to the effort. I’m guessing they would taste like cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting on top. Yum.
Other Cookie Recipes from Out of the Box Baking
If you love cookies, I’ve got a ton! I listed several at the top of this post but here are a few more I didn’t mention:
- Easy Potato Chip Cookies: Crisp and light, these are going to be a new favorite!
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies: These are rich and chewy!
- Copycat Lofthouse Cookies: Just like the ones in the store. . .but better!
- Sour Cherry Thumbprint Cookies: These are easy and tasty!
Thank you for stopping by, friends! I hope you enjoyed this new-to-me recipe! Let me leave you with a verse, which I hope you will find encouraging:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 NIV
About the Author
Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 150 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.
Easy Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cookies
If you love the cinnamon-sugar goodness of cereal but the flaky texture of a great cookie, you've come to the right place! This simple recipe merges basic cookie ingredients with something completely unexpected--Cinnamon Toast Crunch!
Ingredients
- 1 cup room temperature butter (salted or unsalted, your choice)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- large egg
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups finely crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
- ½ cup uncrushed cereal to press on top
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract (not pictured, sorry)
Instructions
- Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. (The original recipe called for 400 degrees but I decided low and slow might be better for my oven.)
- Prepare your cookie sheets by placing parchment paper on a couple of them. (I use good Nordicware sheets, which I love.)
- Crush your cereal. I put my into a gallon-sized baggie and smashed it up with a rolling pin. I take great satisfaction in smashing things by hand. Don't judge me.
- Set cereal aside.
- Cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. You can use a hand mixer if you like but I chose to use my stand mixer with paddle attachment.
- Add the dry ingredients. I started with my flour mixture (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon). Then I added the finely crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch, being careful not to over mix.
- Using a cookie scoop, place dough balls on the parchment paper. Press down lightly with palm and place 3-4 cereal pieces into the top of the dough.
- Place in preheated oven and bake for 12 - 15 minutes. (Time will vary, depending on your oven.)
- Remove when lightly golden brown and place cookie sheet on wire rack to cool.
- When fully cooled, store in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap.
- I only baked a small batch for myself and froze the rest of the cookie dough balls in the freezer. (I always keep cookie dough balls on hand for when friends and family come over.) I call this prepper baking. (Hey, times are tough. It's good to be ready!)
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Janettafudgemessmer@gmail.com
Friday 22nd of July 2022
Those sound amazing. I love cinnamon. I'll give the a try!
booksbyjanice
Friday 22nd of July 2022
Awesome! Thank you!
Tonya
Wednesday 13th of July 2022
This is awesome! There’s so many cereals you could use! Hmm... I’m thinking captain crunch- crunch berries! ?
booksbyjanice
Wednesday 13th of July 2022
Yum! It will be interesting to see what some of those do to the texture. For example, Cinnamon Toast Crunch toughens the batter unless you grind it down to a powder but adding Rice Krispies (intact) works great. You'll have to play around with it...