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Peanut Butter-Marshmallow Crackle Cookies
Makes 10 cookies
I’m ashamed to admit that despite having developed dozens and dozens of other cookie recipes over the years, I had never tackled the almighty PB cookie. And then even more embarrassed to share the disturbing fact that it took me no less than 17 rounds of development to perfect the recipe. But when I tell you that where we landed has now become the PBC platonic ideal and only peanut butter cookie I ever want to eat…They are chewy and gooey as all hell, and crispy crackly around the edges due to a generous roll in a bowl of buttered and sugared Special K® Original.. The dough itself is quite soft, but that’s what makes them so buttery and delicious. Lean in, get your hands messy. It’s all in service of PBC greatness. If you can find jumbo marshmallows, get them, they are 3 times as big as a regular marshmallow and spread perfectly when nestled into the dough.
Active Time: 45 Mins
Total Time: 2 hrs, including chilling and baking
PANTRY
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ cup (creamy or crunchy) peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- Kosher salt
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups Special K® Original cereal
- 5 JUMBO marshmallows (or 15 regular sized)
Dairy
- 1 ½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter plus 1 tablespoon, at room temp
- 1 large egg
1. Make the crispy Special K coating:
- Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a large bowl. Add 3 cups Special K. Toss to combine. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and season with ¼ teaspoon salt. Mix and set aside.
2. Make the cookie dough:
- Let 1 stick butter sit on the counter until room temperature, or soften in the microwave in spurts of 5 seconds until a finger leaves an indentation.
- Combine the softened butter, ½ cup brown sugar, and ¼ cup granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream on medium-high speed, scraping down the bowl once or twice, until lightened and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add 1 egg, ½ cup peanut butter, 2 tablespoons vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons water, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Mix on medium, again scraping down the bowl, until combined, 1 minute. Add ¾ cup flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder directly on top of the flour. Use a fork to disperse the baking powder into the flour. Beat on medium-low just until no dry bits remain.
3. Form and CHILL!:
- Working one at a time, scoop ten 2-ounce(ish) portions (about ¼ cup each) of dough and drop it right into the Special K topping. Use your fingers to coat the dough with the topping, pressing it to adhere, gently forming the dough into a ball shape as you do. It is a very soft and sticky dough. That’s okay! The Special K coating will act as a barrier between your hands and the dough to help you form them. Repeat until all 10 cookie dough balls have been formed. Transfer them to a small plate or small baking sheet.
- Tear 5 JUMBO-sized marshmallows in half. Place one half (torn side face up) on top of each dough ball. Using your middle finger, press the marshmallow deep down in the dough ball, like you would a thumbprint cookie. You can re-shape the surrounding dough a bit to make nice tidy little nests. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. If you are using regular marshmallows, place 1 ½ in each nest.
4. Bake:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Once chilled and ready to bake, divide the cookies among 2 parchment lined baking sheets–you can fit 5 on each.
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter however is easiest for you. Brush the tops of each marshmallow lightly with butter.
- Bake until the edges are deeply golden and marshmallows have melted and caramelized, about 18-22 minutes. Repeat with remaining unbaked mounds of dough.
O M G I cannot cannot wait to try this one. your brown butter miso cookies are my all time fave cookie, gotta see where this one lines up!!!
I’m embarrassed to ask this (it’s a peanut butter cookie, what kind of idiot asks to sub the peanut butter) – BUT. For those of us with allergies, how do we feel about making these with almond butter? Worth a try or just pass?
I think you could sub and get away with it! My only advice would be to try to match the general consistency of average peanut butter- maybe sunbutter? I feel like most almond butters might be a little gritty, but these cookies have a lot of texture already, so it might be fine.
This is kind – thank you!
These sound soooo good! Amy ideas what I can substitute Special K with? Just trying to not buy any sugary cereals due to health reasons in the household 🙂
Perhaps you should consider not making these cookies. The cereal only accounts for <5% of the sugar in the recipe.
Holy WOW these are fire. 10/10 flavor and texture!!
My only PSA is that you HAVE to let them cool all the way for them to be structurally sound enough to pick up or move. I tried to dive in to eat one immediately after baking and it totally fell apart… I assumed I messed something up along the way. But once they cooled completely, they looked and held up just like the picture.
This happened to me, too! Agree.
Made these and they turned out not well. Molly can you update this to include weights??
Made these and they turned out not well. Molly can you update this to include weights??
These are so damn good. I took the liberty of writing down the weights, for those who are interested:
1/2c packed brown sugar = ~107g
1/4c granulated sugar = ~50g
1/2c peanut butter = ~135g
1 1/2t salt (Morton’s) = ~8g (careful here, big difference between Morton’s and Diamond Crystal)
3/4c AP flour = 80g
90g for the flour!**
delicious! Thank you. I used frosted flakes mixed with only 1tbsp sugar and they turned out great! I longer freezer time helped the second batch maintain their shape much better.
I wanted to love these…but so sorry to say these were a flop for me! Kind of fussy to make (not surprised it took >15 recipe tests!) and came out cakier than I wanted (maybe use 1/2 the baking powder?). No need to put extra melted butter on top of the mallows, mine came out fine without it. On to the next, love ya Baz!
Can you make with natural peanut butter?
Can you make with natural peanut butter?
Are y’all using natural PB or Skippy-esque PB for these?
skippy over here
WOW. these are some of the best cookies I’ve ever made! They have all kinds of interesting textures and the peanut flavor is so good. I’d recommend putting the cookie balls in the fridge for like 20 minutes and then nesting the marshmallows and then proceed to freeze. I found that it was easier to work with if the dough was chilled a bit in the fridge for a few minutes