Use 2 Boxed Cereals To Make Cookies Bursting With Fall Flavors In 31 Minutes

If you're only eating cereal with milk, you're missing out. While that's certainly the most traditional way to consume the crispy breakfast food, there are so many other creative ways to use cereal. For starters, it's the iconic base of Rice Krispies Treats. Beyond that, crushed up cereal makes an extra-tasty pie crust and a fun, colorful topping over an ice cream sundae. And if you've got boxes of Apple Jacks and Cinnamon Toast Crunch hanging around, you can use them to make a batch of cookies that are the perfect fall treat. Adding cereal to cookie dough might sound strange, but trust us on this.

Our recipe for Apple Cinnamon Cereal Cookies requires no apples — only Apple Jacks. Mixed with Cinnamon Toast Crunch, the two cereals create the most delicious apple cinnamon flavor combo. One of the best things about these cookies is the texture. The cookies are chewy overall, but the cereal gives them a lovely crispness. The dough is a traditional cookie dough elevated by the crushed cereal pieces. Before adding them to the baking sheet, roll the dough balls in crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and then add a couple of Apple Jacks to the top for a pop of autumn color. It's a kid-friendly baking project that takes only a half-hour, and adults will love them, too.

Apple Jacks and Cinnamon Toast Crunch are excellent ingredients for fall-forward cookies. However, if you have a different cereal favorite, it's worth thinking about ways you can incorporate it into your next batch of cookies. For example, take chocolate chip cookies. Whatever cereal you choose to add is sure to give them a nice crunch, and you can also change the color and overall flavor profile.

For instance, give your favorite chocolate chip recipe a fruity (and colorful) kick with the addition of Fruity Pebbles. Swap white chocolate chips for semi-sweet and enjoy a cookie with a rainbow of flavor, texture, and color. If you'd rather give your classic chocolate chip cookie a double-chocolate crunch, add Cocoa Pebbles along with chocolate chips.

To lean into the colorful look cereal provides, try Lucky Charms. Those hearts, stars, horseshoes, clovers, blue moons, unicorns, rainbows, and red balloons add extra color and texture. Just keep in mind this will take a bit more time, since you'll have to manually sort the marshmallows from the cereal (unless you're lucky enough — get it? — to get your hands on a marshmallow-only box).