You know how this recipe will start… “I meant to share the recipe for these cereal marshmallow cookies quite a while back but… [enter lame excuses here]. I finally got around to it so here it is!” Yes, that is my story (or excuse) once again but what I’m trying to say is that this recipe was worth the wait. I’ve made it several times since I first shared it on Instagram and along the way I collected more tips and pointers for the perfect marshmallow cookie. Since I first shared the photo on Instagram 12 months I would regularly receive messages about this recipe — so here we are. Lucky Charms marshmallow cookies, perfect for any day but if you’re into St. Patrick’s Day, it is the perfect excuse for you to make it.
There are two things that make this cookie so special: cereal ‘flour’ and the gooey marshmallow centre. I love the idea of cereal flour (which is basically just the Lucky Charm cereal itself minus the rainbow marshmallows, blitzed in a food processor or blender until it reaches a flour consistency) because it uses up all the cereal left behind after you pick out all the rainbow marshmallows to incorporate in the cookie dough and it adds this very nostalgic, dreamy cereal (duh) flavour to the cookie than if you were to only use flour. They gooey marshmallow is centre is to amp up the marshmallow flavour and textures of the cereal marshmallow, which honestly isn’t very marshmallow-y. The Lucky charms marshmallows are there for the nostalgia and the real marshmallows are there for the streeeeeetch. The texture of the cookie is like a chewy sugar cookie but with lots of fun flavour and textural surprises with every bite.
These cookies had a very long recipe testing phase. I like to make sure the large marshmallow pieces are wrapped in the centre (vs. mixing it into the cookie dough) because that way you reduce the chance that the marshmallow leaking out of the cookie and caramelizing on the baking sheet. I’ve made it both ways — some friends prefer to have the lacy caramelized marshmallows that leak out during the baking process and some prefer the gooey centres. I’ve found that the listed amount of marshmallows to be the perfect ratio of marshmallow to cookie dough — enough for a very chewy and stretch centre, but not too much that it will ooze out of the cookie once it hits the oven.
Lucky Charms Cereal Marshmallow Cookies
Ingredients
- 227 g (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar, plus more more rolling
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 230 g (1 3/4 cup and 2 tbsp) all-purpose flour
- 50 g (1 1/4 cup) cereal
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 35 g (1 cup) cereal marshmallow
- 40 g (6) large marshmallows, cut into quarters
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat unsalted butter and granulated sugar together on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Add in egg and vanilla. Mix until combined
- Using a food process or blender, blitz cereal until it becomes a powder. This will be your cereal 'flour.'
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, cereal 'flour', baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until just combined, about 45 seconds.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in the cereal marshmallows until evenly distributed.
- Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out dough balls onto lined baking sheet.
- Using the knuckle of your index finger, create an ident into the centre of the cookie dough. Place halved marshmallow in the centre and pinch the cookie dough to wrap around the marshmallow. Repeat with remaining cookie dough balls.
- Optional: roll each dough ball in granulated sugar before baking.
- Bake for 11 – 14 minutes until edges are golden.
- Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.
![day two: sparkly matcha neapolitan shortbread cookies ✨
the instructions might seem confusing, but if you watch the video to see how the different flavour layers are stacked, it will make much more sense! these slice and bake cookies freeze extremely well so you can make the dough now and bake them off when you want to gift them. (makes 40-44)
vanilla dough:
85g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, room temp
45g (6 tbsp) powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
matcha dough:
85g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, room temp
45g (6 tbsp) powdered sugar
90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
2 tsp culinary matcha powder
1/4 tsp salt
strawberry dough
85g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, room temp
45g 6 tbsp) powdered sugar
90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
2 tbsp freeze-dried strawberry powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg white
coarse sanding sugar
for the vanilla dough, combine butter and powdered sugar in a bowl. mix until smooth. add vanilla. add flour and salt and mix until no dry streaks remain. do the same for the matcha and strawberry doughs in separate bowls
place one portion of the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll into a 5 x 9-inch rectangle that is about 1/4-inch thick. slide rolled out dough onto a baking sheet and freeze for 10 min until firm. repeat this step with the other portions of dough
remove the top piece of parchment from each slab and stack the strawberry, vanilla, and matcha dough layers. cut the slab down the middle the long way to form two 2.5 x 9-inch rectangles. with one half, carefully swap the order of the layers (example: if the first half of the dough is stacked svm, swap the second half so it’s msv. this will ensure that same flavour squares don’t stack on each other). stack the halves. press the layers gently to adhere them. return the stacked dough to the freezer for another 10min
[recipe cont’d in comments]
#christmasbaking #christmascookies #holidaybaking #holidaycookies #cookiedecorating](https://constellationinspiration.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Brianna says
Just made them! Love the taste of the cereal flour but had some issues with presentation. Some advice if you’re making these for a party/Instagram – instead of mixing in the quarter marshmallows wrap the dough around them. I had much better luck getting them not to leak that way, limit your lucky charms on top of the cookie and a minute or so before they’re finished in the oven press a few into the top. The photos in the recipe have the balls rolled in the sugar but the actual recipe doesn’t call for it. I tried both ways and didn’t notice any difference. I think these would be delicious mixed with some cornflakes or maybe fruity pebbles for some crunch! Honestly, the lucky charms were incredibly volatile to work with and I don’t really think they’re worth it to the taste unless you’re trying to impress. I really liked the cereal powder mixed in with the dough and will definitely be trying new combinations with that!
Amy says
Hi Brianna! Thanks for the feedback! I’ve made it both ways (wrapping the marshmallow in the centre of each dough ball and adding the marshmallows as a mix in) and have enjoyed it both ways. Some friends liked eating the lacy caramelized marshmallow bits but I do think it’s not as pretty of a cookie when it oozes out. For my last batch that I brought to a party, I did half half so everyone could choose which they wanted 🙂
Thank you for catching the part where I left out the ‘rolling dough ball in sugar’ step — I’ve added it back into the recipe.
Can’t wait to see what other cereal flours you make. I think I’m going to make some cookies with frosted flakes next.
Laurey says
These cookies were SO good!! I followed the IG video / other comments and wrapped mini marshmallows in the dough and stuck extra lucky charms marshmallows on top around 7 mins through. I was disappointed by the spread, despite putting them in the fridge for 15 mins. Will try refrigerating slightly longer or even freezer if I can find room next time! Nonetheless, absolutely delicious!
Bethany says
These cookies made me smile from ear to ear. I love the cereal flour so much. I think to make the cookies prettier I’ll add some sprinkles next time. And I also push the best marshmallow charms on the top just before they are finished so they don’t get smushy. Flavor wise it was a total hit from people aged 9 to 59! Thank you!!
Julie says
I’m surprised there aren’t more reviews for these cookies, they are SO good. Cereal “flour” adds great depth of flavour by really giving the entire cookie a delicious cereal taste.
I did half the cookies using the original method and half using the method described by the commentator above and personally didn’t see much of a difference.
Overall I found the recipe pretty simple to execute and I will definitely be making these again!
K says
Loved this recipe and they were a big hit. Mine didn’t spread as much as other commenters mentioned. Could I make these ahead of time and freeze the dough? Any additional instructions if I freeze them? Not sure if it’s fine to freeze marshmallows.
Midori says
Hi! I only have the marshmallows – not the cereal (I was gifted a bag of only the marshmallows, which some stores apparently sell). If i don’t add the cereal, should I do anything different, like add more flour?