Cereal is great, but have you ever baked with it? These Cap’n Crunch Cookies are made with Cap’n Crunch cereal and browned butter and will have you hooked!
Recipe originally published April 9, 2013 and updated April 28, 2021
I took a page from Christina Tosi’s ‘ole book of tricks and combined two of most everyone’s favorite things; cookies and cereal. And for the record, this ain’t my first time, nor will it be my last. Last summer, I made cornflake-chocolate-chip-marshmallow cookies from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook and they were pretty scrumptious, but I think I found an even better cookie-cereal combo using Cap’n Crunch.
I don’t know about you, but sugary, super bad-for-you cereals do not last long in my house. I can usually get through a box in about a week, but I am not a cereal eater by nature. Unless it’s basically dessert in a bowl with milk, I’m not having it. No thank-you sir! So I figured, why not prove that Cap’n Crunch is essentially dessert by clearly making it dessert...by baking it into cookies.
Feel free to eat a few for breakfast, since that’s what the Quaker Oats Company originally intended it for!
These golden beauties have crispy edges and a nice, firm, chewy center. I find that after sitting overnight, they get just a smidge crunchier, but still slightly chewy at the same time. I found it to be a great combination of crispy, crunchiness and chewiness. I also browned the butter to add a distinct nutty flavor that you can only get from brown butter. It’s certainly an optional step, but I recommend it!
Cap’n Crunch Cookies
Crispy cookies made with Cap'n Crunch cereal!
Servings 24 Cookies (depending on size)
Ingredients
- 3 cups Cap'n Crunch cereal divided
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar lightly packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
Instructions
For the Brown Butter
- Add butter to skillet over medium heat. Once butter has melted, whisk constantly. The butter will bubble and foam up slightly and then subside. This is when the browning will occur.
- Watch for little brown flecks in the bottom of the pan. It should also smell nutty. Watch carefully as the butter browns, because it can burn quickly. Once the foamy has subsided and you see lots of little brown flecks, the butter has been browned.
- Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to stop the cooking process. Allow butter to come to room temperature. It doesn't need to be solid.
For the cookies
- Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In a food processor (or plastic bag, smash with a rolling pin) pulse 2 cups of the Cap'n Crunch cereal until finely ground. Set aside in a bowl.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together browned butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until fluffy and pale in color.
- Beat in vanilla, whole egg and egg yolk and continue beating until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together baking soda, salt, flour and finely ground Cap'n Crunch cereal.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in the flour mixture until just combined.
For rolling the cookies:
- In a food processor (or plastic bag, smash with a rolling pin) pulse remaining 1 cup of Cap'n Crunch cereal until finely ground.
- Portion dough into 2-3 Tbsp sized balls, then roll the cookie dough in the ground cereal and coat evenly. You can also add coarse pieces of cereal to the tops of each cookie, too.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes. Aim to have them slightly under baked if you want them to still be slightly soft once baked.
- Cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a rack to completely cool.
Recipe adapted from Bourbonnatrix
very creative! they have a unique taste and i think it’d be perfect in a cookie.
Thanks! They most certainly do make a perfect cookie, in my opinion 🙂
Making them right now!
🙂
Glad you enjoyed them!
I made them today, they were a big hit! I didn’t have cake flour but all-purpose was fine. Thank you!
Im so happy to hear they were a hit!
Why cake flour vs all purpose flour?
Hi Allison, cake flour in this recipe helps keep the cookies really soft and tender. You can definitely still just use all-purpose. Cake flour just has lower protein, which leaves baked goods (such as cakes) nice and tender.
My granddaughter made Tosi’s Corn Flake cookies, and I immediately thought, wow love to try these with Capn Crunch. Obviously I was not alone! I used the Tosi recipe substituting the cereals. Her recipe calls for making a “crumble”. The result was delicious. Now I will need to make your version to compare. Did you try the Tosi recipe, or did you want to make it your own?
Hi Michael, I’ve made her Corn Flake cookies before and loved them! That’s where I got the inspiration for these!
Followed the recipe exactly and they came out wonderful!
Hi Lulu. I’m thrilled to hear you enjoyed the cookies!