Chewy, gooey, crispy-edged brown butter marshmallow crispy cookies taste like a brown-butter-infused rice krispie treat in cookie form. It’s all the nostalgia of a marshmallow cereal bar, wrapped up in the comfort of a bakery-style cookie. If you love the marshmallow crispy cookies from Costco, these have a similar chewy, crispy texture—just made from scratch and boosted with brown butter.
Then there’s the excitement of something new and different. A cookie recipe that gets people talking. “What is in this?” they’ll say. And then, more urgently: “Can you send me the recipe??”
These brown butter marshmallow crispy cookies are THAT type of cookie. The brown butter brings deep, toffee-like flavor, the mini marshmallows melt into caramelized pockets of gooey magic, and the crispy cereal adds that light, crisp-crackle texture in every bite, especially with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top.
Brown butter sometimes gets lost in busy cookie doughs, but not here. These are unapologetically brown-butter-forward, and we’re not mad about it!
Why You’ll Love These Brown Butter Marshmallow Crispy Cookies
Crispy Rice Cereal: Fold them in gently to keep from crushing them.
Mini Marshmallows: They melt into gooey pockets that caramelize on the edges—YUM.
Brown & Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar helps the cookies spread and the edges crisp. Brown sugar adds moisture and chewiness, plus extra caramel flavor to complement the brown butter.
Brown butter is melted butter with a delicately nutty and toasted flavor brought on by gently cooking it on the stove. This one-ingredient wonder adds so much depth of flavor to these marshmallow crispy cookies.
Browning butter takes less than 10 minutes and is a kitchen skill every baker can—and should!—learn. Here’s exactly how to brown butter with a video tutorial and lots of tips to help you begin. Once you’ve mastered browning butter, the possibilities are endless. Think brown butter chocolate chip cookies, brown butter apple blondies… and have you tried these pecan sugar cookies before? You MUST.
Overview: How to Make Marshmallow Crispy Cookies
Once you have browned the butter and transferred it to a bowl to slightly cool, combine your dry ingredients, including the rice krispies and marshmallows. (Something we learned in testing: if you wait to fold in the cereal and marshmallows at the end, you’ll have trouble incorporating them because the brown butter makes the dough quite slick.)
Whisk the sugars and remaining wet ingredients into the slightly cooled brown butter, then combine it with the dry ingredients. The dough looks like this:
Now, rather than the typical order of steps (chilling the dough before shaping the cookies), we’re going to shape the cookie dough balls first and then chill. The dough is a little greasy, so the best method my team and I found for shaping these cookies is to simply use your hands to squeeze the dough together to form a ball.
Freeze the cookie dough balls for 1 hour before baking to keep the cookies from overspreading. Why freeze? Freezing the shaped dough firms up the butter and the marshmallows, helping the cookies hold their shape in the oven and preventing the marshmallows from dissolving.
When you bake them, expect these marshmallow crispy cookies to have some irregular edges… each cookie will end up looking unique, and that is part of their charm!
Add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt as soon as they come out of the oven for the perfect sweet-salty contrast.
Tips for Success
Watch the marshmallows: A few on the edges are great—they caramelize!—but if too many hit the baking sheet directly, they melt out. Tuck stray marshmallows back into the dough balls when shaping.
Chill the dough: Because of the brown butter and marshmallows, these cookies benefit from a quick freeze so they don’t overspread.
If you’re looking for a cookie that’s part childhood nostalgia, part grown-up flavor magic, and 100% irresistible, this is the one!
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page.
Chewy, gooey, and full of crispy cereal bits, these marshmallow crispy cookies taste like a brown butter-infused Rice Krispie treat in cookie form. The brown butter adds deep flavor, the marshmallows partially melt into caramelized pockets, and the rice cereal brings that light, crisp-crackle texture. For best results, freeze the dough balls before baking so the marshmallows stay intact and the cookies don’t overspread.
Brown the butter: Place the sliced butter in a light-colored skillet or saucepan over medium heat. (Light-colored helps you determine when the butter begins browning.) Stir or whisk the butter constantly as it melts. Once melted, the butter will begin to foam. Keep stirring. After 5–8 minutes, the butter will begin browning—you’ll notice lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan and it will have a nutty aroma. As soon as the butter has browned, immediately remove from heat and pour it into a medium heat-safe bowl. Scrape up the browned solids at the bottom of the skillet and add them as well. Set aside to slightly cool. After browning, you should have around 185-190g butter.
Make the cookies: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the rice cereal and mini marshmallows.
Whisk the brown butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla together until combined. Pour into the flour mixture and stir with a silicone spatula until fully incorporated. The dough will be greasy and a bit crumbly; that’s ok.
Scoop the dough, about 2 Tablespoons (40g) per cookie, and use your hands to form it into a ball. Squeeze firmly to help it hold its shape. Place the dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze, uncovered, for 1 hour. If freezing for longer (up to 1 day), transfer the firm dough balls to an airtight container or zip-top bag.
Arrange the frozen dough balls 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 14-15 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned on top, the edges look crisp, and the centers still look soft. (If the cookies haven’t begun to spread by the 10-minute mark, remove the baking sheet from the oven, give it a few firm taps on the counter, then return it to the oven.) Some edges may over-spread if a marshmallow is on the outside. This is normal and expected.
Sprinkle sea salt, if using, on top of the warm cookies right after you remove them from the oven. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Cover cooled cookies tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
Make-Ahead & Freezing Instructions: In step 4, you can freeze the shaped cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 1 hour, then transfer to a container or zip-top bag and freeze for up to 1 day before baking. This short freeze helps the marshmallows stay intact and keeps the cookies from overspreading. For longer storage, unbaked cookie dough balls can be frozen for up to 3 months. Keep in mind that the longer they’re frozen, the less they tend to spread in the oven. If you prefer a slightly wider cookie, let the frozen dough balls sit at room temperature for 10–15 minutes before baking. However, don’t thaw them fully because marshmallows soften as they warm up and can begin to dissolve into the dough when it hits the oven. Baked cookies also freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
Do I Have to Brown the Butter? Yes, browning the butter adds deep, toffee-like flavor and really elevates these cookies. You can use regular melted butter, but the flavor won’t be as rich, and the texture may be slightly different. Because browning evaporates some moisture, you may need to add a little extra flour if using un-browned melted butter.
Can I Use Regular Marshmallows Instead of Mini? Mini marshmallows work best here because they distribute evenly and melt into smaller pockets. Large marshmallows tend to melt out too much or create big empty tunnels.
My Dough is Greasy, Is That Normal? Yes! Brown butter cookies often start out looking a bit greasy and especially since some of the dry ingredients don’t really soak up moisture (marshmallows and rice cereal). Once you squeeze the dough together to form a ball, it holds its shape beautifully.
Can I Double the Recipe? Yes, this recipe doubles easily. You can brown the butter all at once; just use a large enough pan to prevent burning.
