Caramelised Cornflake Chocolate Chip Cookies (Marshmallow Stuffed)

Move over M&S, there’s a new cornflake cookie in town! You can’t beat a Marks & Spencers cookie and they’ve basically taken over the internet at this point thanks to Kathryn Turner but sometimes it better to make things yourself, you know?!

So this batch of chocolate chips cookies takes my classic brown butter cookie dough and packs it full of caramelised cornflake clusters and gooey marshmallows. Plus a load of chocolate chunks of course! The cornflakes are coated in caramel so they stay perfectly crunchy and the marshmallows toast & caramelise as they bake, where they peak through the cookie dough. Topped with a sprinkle of sea salt, these are a real winner!

These chocolate chip cookies have a fantastically chewy texture, crisp edges and fudgy middles. And you can use whatever chocolate you like best, whether it’s milk, white or dark. I’ve included some handy baking techniques too, which you can use to make a perfect batch of chocolate chip cookies with molten pools of chocolate, every single time.

For more cookie flavours, check out our ever growing collection of cookie recipes! There’s a whole load of flavours here, from banana bread, to brown butter oreo & black sesame cheesecake. If there’s a cookie that you’d like to see on the blog, feel free to leave us a comment at the bottom of this post!

Ingredients For Caramelised Cornflake Cookies

• Cornflakes – I use Kellogg’s cornflakes but other brands will work too.
• Chocolate – With all of my cookie recipes, I always recommend using chopped up bars of chocolate instead of chips, as it melts better. This is how you get those molten pools of chocolate! For this batch of cookies, you can use dark, milk or white chocolate.
• Marshmallows – I’d recommend using larger marshmallows then chopping them into pieces, as appose to using mini marshmallows.
• Butter – This cookie recipe uses unsalted butter, as we’re adding salt in ourself.
• Sugar – You’ll need dark brown sugar and caster sugar for the cookie dough. Caster sugar is also used to make the caramelised cornflakes.
• Golden Syrup – These cookies are inspired by a golden syrup cornflake cake, so I’ve added some golden syrup into the cookie dough, to add a buttery, caramel flavour.
• Eggs – You’ll need a large egg, plus 2 additional yolks for the cookie dough. The yolks help give the cookies a fudgy texture inside.
• Vanilla – Using a good quality vanilla extract makes all the difference when making cookies.
• Flour – I always opt to add raising agents in myself with my bakes, so you’ll need plain flour (all purpose flour) for these cookies.
• Cornflour (Cornstarch) – Adding a small amount of cornflour to cookie dough, gives the cookies a chewy texture.
• Raising Agents – These cookies use both baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
• Salt – I add fine table salt to the cookie dough as it mixes in more evenly then I sprinkle sea salt on top, to finish.

Caramelised Cornflakes (Cornflake Brittle)

I wanted the cornflakes to stay nice and crunchy in the cookie, so I’ve borrowed a technique used for feuilletine in cakes, where you coat the the crispy flakes in either melted chocolate or caramelised sugar, to ensure they keep their crunch.

I make my caramelised cornflakes the same way as you make a nut brittle. Simply by making a dry caramel (just sugar) then stirring in cornflakes before spreading the mix onto a lined tray and letting it cool and set. Then to use for cookies, you roughly chop (or break up) the cornflake brittle into pieces, reserving 13 of the neatest cluster to press into the top of each cookie.

Just to say, these caramelised cornflakes can be quite sharp if you break it up by hand so be careful when doing it! The best way is to roughly chop the brittle or give it a good whack with a rolling pin.

How To Make Caramelised Cornflake Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’ve taken my classic brown butter cookie dough and mixed in a load of extra marshmallows and caramelised cornflake clusters. Once baked, the cornflakes stay crunchy and the marshmallows turn squidgy and toasted where they poke out of the cookies.

1. Brown Butter

Like with most of my chocolate chip cookies, this batch starts by browning some butter which is then left to cool to room temperature. If you’ve never made brown butter, I’d highly recommend checking out my brown butter guide! It’s super easy to make; you cook butter in a pan over a medium heat until it starts to foam, the milk solids have turned a deep golden brown & the butter smells nutty.

2. Cookie Dough

Once your brown butter is cool, add it into the bowl of a stand mixer, along with softened butter, dark brown & caster sugar and golden syrup then mix on a medium-low speed until just combined. Be careful not to over mix at this point.

Next, gradually mix in an egg plus 2 additional yolks and some vanilla extract then gently mix in plain flour, cornflour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and table salt, until just incorporated. To ensure that the raising agents are evenly distributed, I like to sieve the dry ingredients into a separate bowl first then whisk to combine.

3. Mix Ins

There’s 3 different mix ins for this cookie dough; roughly chopped chocolate, chunks of marshmallow and caramelised cornflake clusters. You simply add all of these into the cookie dough then fold in with a spatula.

4. Chill To Firm Up Cookie Dough

Once your cookie dough has been mixed, you’ll need to chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes – 1 hour, just until it’s firmed up enough to scoop and shape.

5. Scooping And Rolling

Before scooping and rolling the cookie dough, you’ll need 13 chocolate chunks and the 13 clusters of the caramelised cornflakes that you reserved earlier. This recipe makes 13 cookies (a baker’s dozen!) and each one gets a cornflake cluster and a chunk of chocolate pressed on top.

To divide, use a cookie scoop or a spoon to divide the cookie dough into 13 equally sized portions. Each should weigh around 85 grams. Make sure to get plenty of chocolate, marshmallow and cornflakes in each ball of cookie dough. Then use your hands to roll each portion into a ball, before pressing a chocolate chunk and a cornflake cluster on top.

6. Overnight Chill

At this point, the cookies need to chill in the fridge overnight before you bake them, otherwise they will spread out too much as they bake. If you’re short on time, at least 4 hours is fine but generally, I like to make the cookie dough, chill overnight then bake the following morning.

7. Baking

These cookies bake at 180°c/356°f for 14 minutes, until the edges are golden brown but the centres are still soft. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, use a large cookie cutter to scoot each one into a perfectly round shape then sprinkle with sea salt and leave to cool on the tray. We’re using the “Pan Banging” technique for these cookies but more on that below.

The Pan Banging Technique For Baking Cookies

I’m a huge fan of the pan banging technique for baking cookies, as it gives them crispier edges, molten pools of chocolate & a fantastic crinkled texture. This technique is perfect for cookies with lots of mix ins like these ones, as it helps them spread out more as they bake.

This technique was developed by Sarah Kieffer from The Vanilla Bean Blog and involves banging the tray of cookies onto your oven rack towards the end of the cooking process. It’s super easy to do & I use it for most of my cookie recipes!

Here’s how to bake caramelised cornflake chocolate chip cookies cookies using the pan banging technique.

1. Bake the cookies at 180°c/356°f for 10 minutes (undisturbed).
2. Next, open your oven door, lift up the baking tray inside the oven by a few inches then let it drop down against the oven rack. Use enough force so that the cookie starts to deflate.
3. Bake for another 2 minutes then repeat the pan banging process.
4. Bake for another 2 minutes (bringing the total bake time to 14 minutes) then take the cookies out of the oven.
5. Give the tray a firm tap on the counter as you take it out of the oven then leave to cool.

The Cookie Scoot

The cookie scoot is a technique used to shape cookies into a perfect circle as soon as they come out of the oven. To do this, take a large circular cutter & use it to move (or scoot) the edges of the cookies, to make a perfect circle. This is the secret to making a batch of uniform cookies.

As these chocolate chip cookies are packed full of mix ins, they don’t tend to bake perfectly round, so I’d highly advise using the cookie scoot to make them a bit neater. The cookie cutter that I use to scoot my cookies is 5 inches wide, which is the ideal size for most cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Tips and Tricks

• Brown the butter for your cookie dough to give it a nutty, caramelised flavour.
• Add a small amount of cornflour (cornstarch) to the dough, to give your cookies that perfectly chewy texture.
• Use roughly chopped chocolate bars instead of chocolate chips as they melt better and lets you control the size of the chocolate chunks.
• Chill your balls of cookie dough overnight before baking, so they don’t spread out too much in the oven.
• Use a large round cookie cutter to “scoot” the baked cookies into perfect circles as soon as they come out of the oven.
• Top each cookie with a sprinkle of sea salt. This brings out the flavours from the chocolate.

Frequently Asked Questions