Cereal Cookies

These easy to bake cereal cookies are a great way to use up the last bits of breakfast cereal sitting in your pantry for a crispy and buttery treat that is sure to please!

Loaded with coconut and nuts, these simple rice krispie cookies are ideal for tucking into lunch boxes and care packages for their sweet flavor and hearty texture.

Basic Ingredients

The great thing about old-fashioned recipes like these cereal cookies is that require nothing fancy and yet turn out the most amazing treats. Basic pantry ingredients combine for something that is truly delicious.

A few quick notes about the ingredients I used for your own baking adventures.

Salted Butter

I use salted butter and skip any additional salt in the recipe. If you use unsalted butter, consider adding a teaspoon of salt to the dry ingredients for optimal flavor.

Oats

Rolled Oats were used in the recipe testing. Quick oats could likely be substituted but I can’t guarantee the results.

Unsweetened Coconut

There’s already plenty of sugar in this recipe there’s no reason to add more with the sweetened coconut flakes. I purchase shredded, unsweetened coconut in the health-food and bulk aisles of my local grocery store.

Rice Crispy Cereal

You can use a brand-name cereal or something generic, they all work just fine in my experience.

Nuts

Use whatever you have on hand or fancy here – almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc. will turn out something tasty.

If you don’t like nuts, skip them and you’ll still have a very tasty cookie.

Optional Extra Touches

This recipe turns out a delightful cookie just as written. However, if you want to fancy it up a bit consider these ideas:

• Dip half of the cookie into melted chocolate
• Drizzle the finished cookie with melted chocolate stripes
• Sandwich 2 cookies around a filling (chocolate frosting, vanilla frosting, etc.)

Cookie Size

These cookies will spread quite a bit when baking, keep that in mind when dropping dough onto your baking sheets.

Make larger or smaller cookies by dropping more or less dough onto the prepared cookie sheet.

I generally use a cookie scoop to keep things uniform but a regular tablespoon works more than fine.

Old-Fashioned Inspiration

This recipe was adpated from one inside the Blue Ribbon Recipes cookbook. My copy has a copyright date of 1968. It’s a collection of recipes from county fairs that were prize winning. It’s a delightful and fun vintage cookbook.

How to Serve

Like any cookie, I don’t think you need to get fancy here. Serve with milk, coffee, tea, hot cocoa, or other favorite beverage and call it good.

You could serve these with ice cream for something a bit more substantial, if desired.

Perfect for Care Packages

If you’re sending a care package to a loved one, these cookies are ideal for staying fresh and holding up to the shipping process. Simply place cookies into plastic bags and pack into shredded paper or packing peanuts.

How to Store

Keep any baked and cooled cookies in an airtight container where they should stay fresh at room temperature for up to 4 days.

For longer term storage, place cookies into freezer bags or containers and freeze. Let frozen cookies thaw on the counter prior to serving. Use up any frozen cookies within 6 months for best flavor and to prevent freezer burn.