Every Christmas cookie tray needs a little something special on it, especially if that little something special takes so very little time to make, but still tastes absolutely amazing. These sweet no-bake cookies are made using cereal and peanut butter cups, and they literally take less than ten minutes to make, leaving you more time to spend with your friends and family during the holiday season and less time in the kitchen.
I don’t know about you, but when Christmas time finally rolls around, the last thing I feel like doing is spending every single weekend in my kitchen baking holiday cookies. Now sure, I like to have a few festive Christmas cookies hanging around for when guests come to visit, however, I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to spend hours slaving away next to a hot oven to make that happen.
That’s where these amazing no-bake cereal cookies come in. Y’all, these little guys seriously take about a whole ten minutes to whip up. Oh alright, maybe fifteen if you count the few minutes it takes to actually chop up the frozen mini peanut butter cups and then scoop out the actual cookies. And maybe twenty minutes, if your cat decides that the peanut butter cup that accidentally fell on the floor is something fun to play with. What I’m trying to say, is that it simply doesn’t get any easier than this.
So, the next time you’re at the market this holiday season, grab the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe. After all, having the ingredients on hand in your pantry is probably the hardest part when it comes to making these sweet, little, crunchy, peanut butter and chocolate-loaded cookies. P.S. When your friends and family start to oooh and ahhh over these little cuties, there’s absolutely no need to tell them how little time you spent making them. It can be our little secret.
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 Cups Rice Krispies Cereal
- 1 (8-oz.) Bag Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Minis, Frozen & Roughly Chopped
- 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
- 1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup
- 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
- Coarse White Sugar Crystals
Directions:
- Place the cereal and roughly chopped frozen peanut butter cups in a large glass or metal mixing bowl; set aside.
- In a large saucepan, over medium heat, stir the sugar, corn syrup, and butter together. Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved, stirring constantly. Do not allow to come to a boil. (Approximately 3 to 4 minutes.) Remove from heat.
- Stir in the vanilla and then the peanut butter until well combined.
- Coat the cereal and peanut butter cups with the peanut butter mixture and stir to combine.
- Use a large spoon or a small cookie scoop to place mounds of the coated cereal mixture onto a Silpat or wax paper-lined baking sheet.
- Using the palm of your hand, flatten the top of each cookie mound.
- Immediately top each cookie with a light sprinkling of coarse white sugar crystals.
- Allow the cookies to cool and firm up before storing them in an airtight container between sheets of wax paper.
Suggestions:
- Pre-measure all of your ingredients before beginning to make this recipe. You will need to work fast, especially after adding the warm sugar and peanut butter mixture to the cereal, because it will begin to firm up rather quickly.
- Freezing the peanut butter cups makes them easier to chop and less likely to completely melt into the no-bake cookies.
- I chose to flatten these cookies, however, you can skip this step if you like the way they appear unflattened more.
- Make sure to sprinkle these cookies with coarse sugar crystals. A smaller-grained sugar crystal will disappear into the cookie.
- These cookies will firm up significantly as they set.
- This recipe will yield approximately 18 cookies. The number of cookies may vary depending on how big you make each cookie.
Improvements:
- Replace the peanut butter cups in this recipe with other types of roughly chopped frozen candy.
- Drizzle with additional melted chocolate.
- Use colorful sprinkles in lieu of coarse white sugar crystals.
- CLICK HERE to check out all of our past cookie recipes. Don’t forget to check out our Christmas cookies section.
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 Cups Rice Krispies Cereal
- 1 (8-oz.) Bag Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Minis, Frozen & Roughly Chopped
- 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
- 1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup
- 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
- Coarse White Sugar Crystals
Directions:
- Place the cereal and roughly chopped frozen peanut butter cups in a large glass or metal mixing bowl; set aside.
- In a large saucepan, over medium heat, stir the sugar, corn syrup, and butter together. Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved, stirring constantly. Do not allow to come to a boil. (Approximately 3 to 4 minutes.) Remove from heat.
- Stir in the vanilla and then the peanut butter until well combined.
- Coat the cereal and peanut butter cups with the peanut butter mixture and stir to combine.
- Use a large spoon or a small cookie scoop to place mounds of the coated cereal mixture onto a Silpat or wax paper-lined baking sheet.
- Using the palm of your hand, flatten the top of each cookie mound.
- Immediately top each cookie with a light sprinkling of coarse white sugar crystals.
- Allow the cookies to cool and firm up before storing them in an airtight container between sheets of wax paper.
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MORE GREAT CHRISTMAS COOKIE RECIPES
Lemon Iced Gingerbread Cookies
Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Toffee Cookies
Christmas is a time for family, friends, and delicious holiday cookies. From classic butter cookies to iced gingerbread cookies, this list of ultimate Christmas cookie recipes has something for everyone. Whether you’re looking for festive colors, unique seasonal ingredients, or just a cookie that’s super easy to make, these Christmas cookie recipes will help you find the perfect cookie for the season. CLICK HERE for the recipes.
CHRISTMAS COOKIES WEEK
Please make sure to check out the other great “Christmas Cookies Week” recipes below.
- Celebrating Sinterklaas with Speculaas by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Chocolate Mint Thumbprints by Family Around the Table
- Chocolate Shortbread by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Cinnamon Spice Sugar Cookies by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Fruitcake Cookie Bars by Kate’s Recipe Box
- Cut Out Sugar Cookies by The Freshman Cook
- Empire Cookies by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Iced Peppermint Cookies by Jonesin’ For Taste
- Lemon Shortbread Sandwich Cookies by Palatable Pastime
- Mexican Wedding Cookies by House of Nash Eats
- Mint Chocolate Thumbprints by Family Around the Table
- No Bake Bourbon Balls by Girl Abroad
- No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup Cereal Cookies by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Peppermint Brownie Bites by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Peppermint Patty Bars by Strawberry Blondie Kitchen
- Red and White Pinwheel Cookies by Hardly A Goddess
- Truffle Filled Cookie Tarts by Jolene’s Recipe Journal
- White Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies by The Saucy Fig
CHRISTMAS COOKIES WEEK 2017 RECIPES
Crystallized Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Cookies
Mexican Chocolate Chip Crinkle Cookies
CHRISTMAS COOKIES WEEK 2018 RECIPES
Chocolate Espresso Brown Sugar Cookies
White Christmas Peppermint Holiday Cookies
Chocolate Chip Vanilla Cookies