lucky charms bakery style cookies
These rainbow-filled, delicious cookies are based on my classic chocolate chip cookie, although you would never think ‘chocolate chip cookie’ while eating these. Even though they have the same caramelized sugars, toasty brown butter, and chewy texture, there is no chocolate. Lucky Charms marshmallows are in every bite along with cereal ‘flour’ and malted milk powder for a little flavor boost. (And a milky moment, of course, because cereal.) I like to make large dough balls that bake into large cookies that look like they came from an artisanal bakery. They will also work as a more typically-sized cookie if that’s more your thing.
- Yield: 12 1x
Ingredients
226g (1 cup) unsalted butter
2 ice cubes, or 2 Tbsp cold water
146g (2/3 cup) brown sugar, light preferred
150g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp (4.5g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 3/4 tsp regular table salt)
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
1 whole egg, large
1 egg yolk, large
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp malted milk powder
240g (2 cups) all purpose flour
60g Lucky Charms cereal ‘flour’ (pulverized cereal in small crumbs)
1 cup (ish) marshmallows, from the Lucky Charms cereal box
additional marshmallows (about 50) for topping
flakey salt, for sprinkling on top
Sugary Cereal Dust
25g (2 Tbsp) granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup (ish) crushed marshmallows, from the cereal box
1/4 cup (ish) crushed cereal, from the cereal box
Instructions
Start by browning the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking frequently to make sure the milk solids don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Brown butter is very vocal and tells you when it’s done. It starts out quiet as the butter melts, and once it is fully melted, the butter starts to bubble and sizzle. This sizzling is the sound of the water being cooked off the butter, resulting in moisture loss. After a while, it will start to quiet down and the bubbles will subside. This is right before it starts browning. Now is when you’ll want to continue stirring consistently to prevent the milk solids from adhering to the bottom of the pan and burning. Keep the butter on the heat until the liquid is golden and the milk solids are brown.
Pour the hot butter into a heat proof mixing bowl. Add the ice cubes (or two tablespoons of cold water) and stir to melt the ice cubes. Place the bowl in the fridge while you prep the rest of the ingredients, about ten minutes.
Prepare the cereal ‘flour’: Using either a food processor or a gallon plastic bag and a rolling pin, crush the cereal (just the cereal, not the marshmallows) until it is mostly fine bits. It’s okay if there are some larger pieces, but the majority should be fine crumbs and dusty. Set it aside for later.
Prepare the sugary cereal dust: Using either a food processor or a plastic bag and a rolling pin, crush some marshmallows and cereal. Stir some granulated sugar and salt into that and set it aside.
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Once the butter has been in the fridge for about ten minutes, add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and salt to the bowl and whisk well. Add the egg and vanilla and whisk until the mixture is emulsified, i.e. thick, glossy, lighter, smooth, cohesive.
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cereal ‘flour’. Gently stir it into the wet ingredients with a spatula until nearly combined. Add the marshmallows and gently stir them in to combine.
Using a #20 cookie scoop, scoop the dough into 12-13 balls. Press some reserved marshmallows on top before rolling the ball of dough into the sugary cereal mixture to coat. Place the dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet a few inches apart.
Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes depending on how gooey or well-baked you like your cookies. The edges should be set and toasted brown while the center is soft. Remove them from the oven and tap the sheet a couple of times to settle them if they are a little puffy. While they’re still hot, use a round metal cookie cutter to scoot them into a perfectly round shape. Sprinkle with flakey sea salt, and enjoy.
Notes
- Pay attention to the different amounts of cereal and marshmallow. We’re using marshmallows in three different places! It’s a lot of picking through cereal. Sorry, but it is worth it.
- Mise en place’ is a French phrase with the idea of putting everything in its place before beginning to make a recipe. It helps everything to go smoothly and eliminates so much possible stress. Getting all of your supplies and ingredients together before ever starting the recipe will help tremendously.
- Weigh your ingredients, particularly the flour. It is the most important measurement in this recipe to weigh. Flour can be off in volume measurements by up to 30g, which is a quarter cup! Having incorrect flour measurements can cause your cookies to spread too much or, alternatively, be dry and crumbly. Weighing your ingredients makes everything so much easier, as you don’t have to wash all the measuring cups at the end. However, I do not use the scale to weigh out teaspoon or tablespoon measurements for things like baking powder, salt, vanilla, or cornstarch, for example.
- Be careful not to burn the brown butter. It should be warm golden brown, not black brown. Your nose will be your guide. If it burns, best to toss it and try again than risk making cookies that taste burnt from the get-go.
- For perfectly round cookies, use a large metal cookie cutter to scoot the hot cookies into shape. I’m addicted to doing this.
- How much Lucky Charms do I need? I used a single 10.5 oz. box of Lucky Charms. There was a lot of cereal left, so be prepared to eat boring marshmallow-less Lucky Charms for a bit. Or grab a bag of just the marshmallows.
- Do I need to refrigerate this dough? No, this is a no-fridge cookie dough.
- How many cookies does this make? When using a #20 scoop (nearly 4 Tbsp), you can get about 12-13 cookies.
- Can I use a smaller scoop? Yes, feel free to make more average sized cookies by using a #30 scoop, which is about 2 Tbsp. Using the smaller scoop will yield about 22-24 cookies.
- What should I do if I want to make these ahead and need to refrigerate the dough? I recommend scooping the dough right away before chilling so it’s easier to scoop. Store airtight in the fridge for up to three days before baking. Let the dough balls come to room temperature for a while (about 30 minutes to an hour) before baking so the dough spreads properly.
- Can I freeze the dough? To freeze, scoop dough balls as usual and top with desired toppings. Place dough balls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze until solid. Once frozen, transfer the dough balls to a freezer ziplock bag and label with the date and name of the cookie. For additional protection against freezer burn, place the bag in an airtight container. Frozen dough will last about three months. (Once frozen, do not re-freeze.) When it’s time to bake, bake as usual and at the same temperature, but for a minute or two longer depending on your preference of done-ness.
Find it online: https://linenandgray.com/lucky-charms-bakery-style-cookies/