These fun Lucky Charms Cookies are the perfect treat for just about any occasion (but especially for St. Patrick's Day). Made with real Lucky Charms cereal, these perfect cookies have lightly crisp edges, and overflow with bright, colorful marshmallows.
When it comes to desserts, who can outshine the humble cookie? It holds enough power to make a child smile, and brings waves of nostalgia to even the grumpiest of adults.
These Lucky Charm cookies possess that same secret power, but it is strengthened by the bright, colorful marshmallows peaking through a buttery and delicious cookie dough. Tasty marshmallow bits (blue moons and rainbows, anyone?) harken back to childhood memories of a huge bowl of your favorite branded cereal (a once a year treat!).
Made with my classic chocolate chip cookie dough, this recipe is easy to make, super versatile, and perfect for all ages and all occasions.
Ingredients
- Lucky Charms marshmallows: I separated the marshmallows by hand from a large family size box, but bulk marshmallows can be purchased on Amazon if you want to save some time.
- Butter: You can use either unsalted butter or salted butter. I like to make mine with salted butter, but unsalted works fine (just add a pinch of extra salt).
- Sugar: Both brown sugar and white sugar are used for a balance of sweetness and flavor. The combination also makes for the perfect chewy cookies that don't spread too much, or spread too little.
- Flour: I recommend a standard all-purpose flour - either bleached or unbleached works fine.
- Eggs: You will need 2 large eggs, room temperature if possible (but not necessary).
- Vanilla: Essential to any cookie recipe!
- You'll also need: Salt and baking soda.
Equipment
- Cookie sheet: (I use a half sheet pan, and a quarter sheet pan for the chilled dough)
- Medium cookie scoop: (or heaping tablespoon - about 1 ½-2 tablespoons of dough)
- Parchment paper
- Mixer
Instructions
- Add the softened butter, brown sugar, and white sugar to a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer).
- Cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary (about 2-3 minutes).
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the creamed sugar.
- Mix until smooth and creamy.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (flour, salt, and baking soda).
- Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar mixture and mix on low just until combined (no flour remains).
- Add 1 ¾ cups of Lucky Charms marshmallows to the cookie dough, and gently fold them in until well distributed.
Reserve ½ cup of marshmallows for topping the baked cookies.
- Portion the cookie dough using a medium cookie scoop (or a heaping tablespoon) and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill for 1-3 hours.
Do I have to chill my cookie dough?
Chilling the cookie dough after scooping is a preference, but it isn't 100% necessary.
In tests chilled dough yields cookies that are more consistent, thicker, and slightly chewy. Those that are baked right away tend to spread out more, are thinner, and have crispy edges.
Baking the Cookies
- Place 9 cookie dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving about 2" space between each one.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes in an oven that has been preheated to 375ºF (191ºC), or until the edges brown slightly.
- Press additional Lucky Charms into the hot cookies as they come out of the oven.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire baking rack to cool completely. Repeat, working in batches, until all of the cookies are baked.
Top Tip: Make sure you press the reserved Lucky Charms on top of the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven. The hot cookies cool quickly, and the marshmallows stick best when they are pressed into hot dough.
Want Perfectly Round Cookies?
There is a simple trick for getting nice, round cookies every single time.
- The first step is to use a proper cookie scoop for consistent dough amounts.
- The second step is to use a round biscuit cutter or wide drinking glass to make circles around the cookie, effectively tucking in all of the edges. Try it - you'll love it!
Variations
The cookie dough base is my recipe for classic chocolate chip cookies, only I've swapped out the chocolate chips for Lucky Charms. I've reworked this recipe in SO many ways, and it always turns out well.
The basic formula: 2 ¼ cups of marshmallows = 2 cups of the mix-ins of your choice.
- Chocolate chip cookies - use semi-sweet chocolate chips
- White chocolate macadamia - use 1 cup of white chocolate chips + 1 cup of chopped macadamia nuts
- Triple chocolate chip cookies - Use a mix of milk chocolate, semi-sweet, and white chocolate chips.
- Butterscotch - Use 2 cups of butterscotch chips, or 1 ½ cups + ½ cups of chopped walnuts.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, absolutely! If you chill your cookie dough for longer than a few hours, it can harden quite a bit, so for the best results you should allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before baking.
If you separated the marshmallows from a box of Lucky Charms cereal, you'll have lots of leftovers. That cereal can be used in various ways. I like to use it in place of the Rice Krispies to make cereal treats, but there are lots of other options. You could make your own cereal milk by steeping some in a glass of cold milk, or just enjoy it as a marshmallow-less breakfast cereal/midnight snack.
If you loved this recipe for Lucky Charms cookies, let me know by leaving a 5-star review in the recipe card, OR tag me on Instagram @maritimecountrykitchen!
Lucky Charms Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ cup Lucky Charms marshmallows divided
Instructions
- Add the softened butter, brown sugar, and white sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, OR use a large bowl with an electric mixer.
- Beat the butter and sugar mixture until light, fluffy, and well combined. About 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and beat again until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Set aside.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to a separate medium bowl and whisk until combined.
- Transfer the flour mixture to the sugar and butter mixture, and mix it on low just until combined with no dry flour bits remaining.
- Finally, add 1 ¾ cup of the Lucky Charms marshmallows and fold them in gently with a silicone spatula.
- Use a medium-sized cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon to form portions of dough.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. And repeat with the remaining dough. Don’t worry about spacing the dough apart at this point, as the prepared balls are going into the refrigerator to chill.
- Once all of the dough has been portioned, cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
- About 15 minutes before the chilling time is up, preheat the oven to 375ºF (191ºC) and line a second baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll the portioned cookie dough balls between your hands to give them a smooth surface.
- Place 9 cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 ½ - 2” apart.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes, or until the very edges are turning golden brown but the centers do not quite look set.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately press a few of the reserved lucky charms marshmallows into the hot cookies.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.
- Repeat with the remaining cookie dough until all of the cookies are baked.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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