These Rice Krispie Cookies are filled with crunchy Rice Krispies. They are ultra crispy and buttery with a slightly chewy center.
They come together quickly in just over 20 minutes with all simple cookie ingredients but with a special technique for extra crispy ripple edges.
These Rice Krispie Cookies have all of the flavor and texture you would expect of Rice Krispie Cookies. They are crispy, chewy, buttery, with that unique Rice Krispies crunch throughout.
These Chocolate Chip Rice Krispie Cookies on the other hand are crunchy and chewy, but more similar to a chocolate chip cookie with an extra crunch. But these Rice Krispie Cookies are similar in style to these Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies but with Rice Krispies instead of Chocolate Chips.
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🌟 Why You'll Love These Cookies
Rice Krispies: They are filled with lots of crispy Rice Krispies for an extra satisfying crunchy texture.
Crispy: They have buttery crispy ripples with a slight chewy center from using the pan-banging technique. For more on baking crispy cookies, see my Guide to Crispy, Cakey, and Small Batch Cookies.
Easy: They are quick and easy taking only 22 minutes and using all pantry staples.
💡 Recipe Development
I made several variations of these cookies to determine what texture and flavor cookie was just right for Rice Krispie Cookies. I started with a sugar cookie with Rice Krispies mixed throughout and extra Rice Krispies on top. A cookie with some heft, buttery, with the potential for a slight crisp. They were great cookies, but just not the perfect match for a cookie made with Rice Krispies.
I tried a gooey chocolate chip style cookie, but replaced the chocolate chips with Rice Krispies. It was too doughy, soft, chewy. Still not the right fit.
I shifted gears and realized that the perfect cookie texture pairing for Rice Krispies is actually a cookie that is crispy throughout, with a slightly chewy center. One that has crispy edges, accentuated by crispy Rice Krispies throughout the dough. This was the winner!
🍪 Pan-Banging Technique
These cookies use the ultra-simple, and satisfying pan-banging technique. All this involves is opening the oven midway through baking, picking up the cookie sheet, and banging it back down on the rack. This creates a crispy ripple on the outer edge of the cookie. The cookies continue to bake and the centers puff up again. Bang the cookies a second time, creating another ripple. They puff up again and bang the cookies one final time before removing them from the oven.
The pan-banging technique was made popular by Sarah Kieffer of the Vanilla Bean Blog.
🛒 Ingredients
Below are the ingredients needed to make Rice Krispie Cookies.
- Butter: Half of the butter is melted to get crispier cookies, but the other half is kept softened to prevent the cookies from being too melty.
- Granulated Sugar: This recipe uses more granulated sugar than brown sugar in order to get a crispier cookie.
- Light Brown Sugar: I use light brown sugar to keep the color of the cookies lighter, but dark brown sugar would work just fine.
- Egg: Use 1 large egg, pasture-raised if possible.
- Vanilla: Use real vanilla extract. You can get a large bottle at Costco for sometimes less than the small bottles at the grocery store.
- Baking Soda: Just ¼ teaspoon to prevent the cookies from puffing up too much.
- Salt: To balance and bring out flavor.
- Flour: Use all-purpose, unbleached flour.
- Rice Krispies: I use name-brand Rice Krispies Cereal. If you have leftover Rice Krispies you can use them to make these Chocolate Dipped Rice Krispie Treats or these Chocolate Chip Rice Krispie Cookies.
To learn more about these cookie ingredients, see my Guide to Cookie Ingredients.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
📝 How to Make Rice Krispie Cookies
Below are the step-by-step photos and instructions for how to make Rice Krispie Cookies including a close look at the pan-banging technique that helps to make crispy cookies.
*Note: The recipe card with instructions, ingredient list, and quantities is included further below these step-by-step photos.
Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Step 1. Melt half of the butter: Place ¼ cup of butter in a small microwaveable bowl and microwave until melted, about 30 seconds. Place it in the fridge to cool down for 5 minutes. Then transfer it to the freezer for 5 more minutes.
Tip: Melting half of the butter, then cooling it down in the fridge and freezer is a quick way to incorporate cool melted butter into the cookie dough. This helps the dough to spread (but not too much) creating crispier cookies.
Step 2. Combine Softened Butter, Sugar, Egg, and Vanilla Extract: In a large mixing bowl combine the remaining ¼ cup softened butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar.
Add the large egg and vanilla extract and combine.
Tip: Light brown sugar helps to keep the color of these cookies lighter. However, dark brown sugar can easily be substituted.
Step 3. Add the Melted Butter: Add the melted butter from the freezer to the cookie dough. The butter should be cool, but still liquid and not frozen.
Step 4. Add Baking Soda, Salt, and Flour: Add the baking soda, salt, and flour and combine. The dough will be quite soft, but not melty.
Step 5. Add the Rice Krispies: Add 1½ cups Rice Krispies cereal to the cookie dough and stir with a spoon to combine. You'll start to hear the "Snap, Crackle, Pop!".
Step 6. Bake the Cookies and Pan Banging (1st round): Portion 2½ tablespoons of dough for each cookie and place them on a baking sheet (6-8 per sheet).
Bake for 8 minutes at 350°F. The cookies will have puffed up. Open the oven and using oven mitts pick up the cookie sheet slightly and bang it back down on the rack in the oven. The cookies should deflate and create a single ripple on the outer edge.
Tip: The size of the cookies makes a big difference in this recipe. Too small and they will get overcooked and not have enough real estate for those crispy ripples. Too large and the cookies spread too thin and are a bit unwieldy. They should be as close to 2½ tablespoons as possible. Consider measuring out the first one to give yourself an idea of how big the cookies should be.
For More Tips and Tricks see my Guide to Making the Best Homemade Cookies.
Step 7. Second and Third Pan Banging:
- Bake for 2 minutes (for 10 minutes thus far) open the oven, and bang the cookie sheet down again, creating another ripple.
- Bake for 2 more minutes (12 minutes total), bang the cookies down one last time, and remove them from the oven.
✏️ Rice Krispie Cookie FAQs
These cookies will last 2-3 days stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
Yes, you can mix in all sorts of different cereals. Special K would be a close substitute, but there are plenty of crunchy cereals that would work well.
Using the pan-banging technique three times gives the optimal amount of ripples for this sized cookie. However, you could definitely get away with two if you want to simplify the process.
For More Cookie Ideas, You May Love These:
If you've tried these Rice Krispie Cookies or any other recipe on my site, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I'd love to hear from you!
Rice Krispie Cookies
Ingredients
- ¼ and ¼ cup butter softened
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups Rice Krispies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Melt ¼ cup butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Place it in the fridge for 5 minutes to cool down. Then move it to the freezer for 5 more minutes to cool down further while you work on the rest of the dough.
- In a medium mixing bowl combine ¼ cup softened butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla extract and combine.
- Add the melted butter from the freezer and combine. The butter should be cool, but not frozen.
- Add the baking soda, salt, and flour and combine. Lastly, add the Rice Krispies and stir with a spoon to incorporate them into the dough.
- Scoop 2 ½ tablespoons of dough for each cookie. Place the dough on a cookie sheet, about 6-8 cookies per sheet.
- Bake the cookies at 350°F as follows:Bake for 8 minutes, open the oven pick up the cookie sheet with oven mitts and bang the cookie sheet down against the rack in the oven. Be careful not to burn yourself on the rack or oven door.Bake for 2 minutes, open the oven and bang the cookies again.Bake for 2 more minutes (for 12 minutes total), open the oven, bang the cookies, and remove the cookies from the oven.
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