Breakfast Cereal Cookies

Call me crazy, but I'm not a big breakfast cereal person... and neither is my son. Cereal rarely ever makes an appearance on the breakfast table. It's more likely to be eaten dry from a Ziploc bag as a snack on the run. As a result, we always have leftover cereal lying around. You can imagine how thrilled I was to find this recipe.

Just like my Cake Crumb Cookies that use leftover crumbled cake, these cookies are a delicious way to use up stuff in your pantry. I love recycling! You could use any cereal for the cookies, whatever you have on hand or a mixture. The original recipe called for cocoa pebbles. I used lucky charms and I love how the colored marshmallows looked once they were baked in the cookie. Kinda like a smattering of sprinkles.

These cookies were on the thinner side as they spread out quite a bit. Despite how they look, they are not crispy at all. In fact they are really soft and chewy. They are the kind of cookie that would be difficult to go wrong with, even if you overbake them.

Breakfast Cereal Cookies
Makes 3 dozen | adapted from Recipezaar

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 cups coarsely crushed cereal (Cocoa Pebbles, Cheerios, etc.)
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream margarine and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until smooth. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine.
3. With the mixer on the low, stir in crushed cereal.
4. Drop batter by tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets. COOKIES WILL SPREAD, so make sure you leave 2" in between.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for 3-4 minutes on the tray, then remove with a metal spatula and allow to cool completely on a rack.