These School Day Cereal Cookies are the perfect Back to School Cookies! They taste like a bowl of cereal with milk, loaded with yummy stuff like chocolate chips, oats, and coconut!
These easy drop cookies are popular in late summer or early fall during back-to-school time, but delicious any time of year. They are the best cookies for a lunch box dessert, a school snack, or an after-school treat. You could even eat them for breakfast! And they pair perfectly with a tall glass of milk.
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It's the start of another new school year and it's hard to believe my son is off to University! Even though he's an adult, he still loves when Mom makes a big batch of cookies 🙂 I mean, who doesn't? My Mom wasn't much of a baker, but I loved it when she made cookies.
But my Auntie Sue was a big baker! And I've got a lot of great baking recipes from her over the years, like these Easy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. And I actually adapted this cookie from a recipe my Auntie Sue gave me. It's an oldie but a goodie.
In fact, my whole family loved these cookies so much, they begged me to make more! They are definitely a family favorite, not to mention the perfect treat for school days.
My Chocolate Cereal Clusters (made with Chex cereal) are another favorite cereal snack around here! And they are a little healthier than the chocolate squares.
🥘Ingredients
You will need the following ingredients for this delicious crunchy and chewy cookie, using your favorite breakfast cereals:
- 2 cups margarine *I use Becel
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 ½ cups rolled oats * I use quick oats because they absorb more water, they make cookies that spread less than those made with old-fashioned oats. They are also smaller and create a less 'chewy' texture
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup coconut *I use coconut flakes (sweetened)
- 3 cups uncrushed Corn Flakes
- 1 ½ cups Rice Krispies (crispy rice cereal)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips *I use milk chocolate chips
🔪Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/ 176 degrees C
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream margarine and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed and until fluffy and creamy (about 2 minutes) Or use a paddle attachment on a stand mixer for 30 seconds to 1 minute on medium speed.
Add eggs
Beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 1 minute).
Add the remainder of the ingredients.
Stir cookie mix by hand with a large mixing spoon.
*If the cookies are still 'too wet' and not the right texture (as shown) add a little more flour.
Drop by teaspoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. You could also use parchment paper.
Alternatively, if you want them uniform size, you can use a cookie scoop.
* These do not spread very much, so you can get up to 16 cookies on a 9x13 baking sheet.
Bake cereal cookies at 350 degrees F / 176 degrees C on prepared baking sheet, for 10-12 minutes or until they are golden brown on the bottom.
*12 minutes was perfect for me!
*If you want to make bigger cookies, you'll need to bake them for about 15 minutes.
Allow baked cookies to rest on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then move to a cooling rack.
Hint: Crack the eggs into a separate small bowl before you add them to the main mixture. That way, if you end up getting a piece of shell in the bowl, it's much easier to fish it out!
📖Variations & Substitutions
- Margarine - you can use butter instead of margarine
- Diary-free - use vegan margarine and dairy-free chocolate chips
- Chocolate Chips- you can use dark chocolate chips or even white chocolate chips instead
- Oats - you can use old fashioned rolled oats instead of quick rolled oats, but they will spread more and make the cookies chewier. You could also grind your old-fashioned oats up in the food processor to make them smaller.
- Sugar - you could substitute white sugar for brown sugar
- Coconut - you can use coconut flakes or fine or medium coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
🍽Equipment
You will need an electric mixer for these cereal cookies. You can use a stand mixer or a hand mixer. You will also need a baking sheet. You can simply use a teaspoon, but if you want perfectly uniform cookies, I recommend you use a cookie scoop. (affiliate links)
🌡️Storage
Store these breakfast cereal cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Freeze these cookies in a sealed container for up to 3 months.
You can also freeze this cookie dough in an airtight container or Ziploc freezer bag for up to 3 months. When ready to use, simply defrost in the fridge overnight.
👪 Serving Size
This delicious cookie recipe makes a very large batch - about 100 cookies! However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.
If you are cutting the recipe in half, just do your best to divide the 3rd egg in half!
🦺Food safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw egg
- Do NOT eat raw cookie dough, as it contains raw eggs and could make you sick. You can make edible cookie dough if you enjoying eating it.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
- Never leave cooking food unattended
So if you're looking for back-to-school cookie ideas, the first day of school cookies, or bake sale cookies, cereal lovers will adore these delicious cookies!
And if you're looking for back-to-school lunch ideas, be sure to check out my Healthy Lunch Ideas. They are great for kids of any age!
📋 School Days Cereal Cookies recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups margarine
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 ½ cups quick rolled oats
- 3 cups flour
- 1 cup coconut flakes (sweetened)
- 3 cups uncrushed corn flakes
- 1 ½ cups Rice krispies
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cup milk chocolate chips
Instructions
*NOTE: The photos in this recipe card will NOT print unless you set them to print by selecting "recipe image"
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/ 176 degrees C.
- Cream margarine and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed and until fluffy and creamy (about 2 minutes)
- Add eggs.
- Beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 1 minute).
- Add the remainder of the ingredients.
- Mix in by hand with a large mixing spoon.*If the cookies are still 'too wet' and not the right texture (as shown) add a little more flour.
- Drop by teaspoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. You could also use parchment paper.* These do not spread very much, so you can get up to 16 cookies on a 9x13 baking sheet.
- Bake cookies at 350 degrees F / 176 degrees C for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.*12 minutes was perfect for me!
- Let them sit on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool.
Julie
Can I use butter in place of the margarine?
Terri Gilson
Hi Julie,
Yes you can!
Enjoy...
Terri