Roommate Cookies (aka Momofuku Milk Bar Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies)

After three tedious mornings of taking the SAT, weeks of college essay revision, and months of waiting for college acceptance letters, I am finally a university student at my dream school. For the past week I’ve been living in the arts and humanities building with my incredible suite mates, and I’m loving every minute of it.

What did I do my first weekend of college? Bake cookies of course!

When I went home for the weekend, I wanted to bring a nice big batch of cookies for the dorm. These couldn’t just be any cookies, they had to be knock your socks off cookies to introduce my constant baking. So I turned to the brilliance of Christina Tossi’s Momofuku cookies.

They turned out even better then I had expected. They were so delicious that my floor mates and I eagerly devoured them within a day. They integrated the staples of a college student’s diet: cookies, chocolate, marshmallows, milk, and cereal.

The crunchy cornflake crumb and gooey marshmallows are reminiscent of rice krispy treats, while the buttery dough and chocolate chips are similar to traditional chocolate chip cookies.

The cookies take a lot of prep time between making the cornflake crunch, creaming the butter and sugar for 10 minutes, and allowing the dough rounds to chill for over an hour, but they are worth it!

By making the cookies smaller, reducing the butter by half a cup and substituting half of the mini chocolate chips for higher quality dark chocolate chips, I made the cookies slightly lighter so that you can eat two or three of them without a terrible stomach ache or sugar rush. Trust me, there’s no way to stop after just one.

Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies

Adapted from Momofuku Milk Bar via Daily Candy

Yield: 15-20 cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup ( 1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 1¼ cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
• 1 egg, room temperature
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
• 1¼ cup mini marshmallows
• 3 cups Cornflake Crunch
  • 3 3/4 cup cornflakes
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk powder
  • 1/4 cup plus 3/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 6 tablespoons plus 2 1/4 teaspoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 275° and line 4 large baking trays with parchment.
2. Prepare the cornflake crunch by crushing the cornflakes with your hands in a medium bowl to 1/4 their original size. Add milk powder, sugar, and salt, then toss to mix. Add butter, then toss to coat. The butter will act as a binding agent to combine the dry ingredients with the cereal, creating small clusters. On a lined sheet pan, spread the clusters and bake for 20 minutes, until they are toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently when cooled slightly and chewed. Allow them to cool completely.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Using a spatula, scrape down sides of bowl, then add egg and vanilla and beat 7-8 more minutes.
4. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. Mix just until dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. (Do not walk away from the machine during this step or risk overmixing.) Scrape down sides of bowl. Still on low speed, paddle in cornflakes and chips until just incorporated, about 30-45 seconds. Then paddle in marshmallows.
5. Using a 1/4 cup scoop to plop the dough onto the remaining lined pans, leaving 3 inches between cookies. Pat tops of dough domes flat. Wrap pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. Do not bake room-temperature disks — they will not hold their shape.
6. Once again preheat the oven. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, until cookies are browned on edges and just beginning to brown toward the center. Cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. Leave them in oven for another minute or so if they still seem pale and doughy on the surface.
7. Cool the cookies completely on pan before moving them to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temperature, cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

Cleaning Out the Pantry with Peanut Butter M&M Rice Krispy Treats

I know that I just posted about rice krispy treats a few days ago, but they are so simple to make that it inspired me to whip up another batch. I wanted to make artistic rice crispy treats to go along with my art history presentation to make the 13-straight days of presentations less boring, and I decided that as long as I included colorful m&ms, that these would fit the bill.

I had a 3/4 full bag of marshmallows, a nearly empty jar of peanut butter, left over Easter m&ms. To eliminate all of these baking odds and ends in one swoop, I decided to do a variation on my favorite snack. When the sugar pangs strike and we are out of candy, I always throw a few mini marshmallows, some peanut butter, and a few chocolate chips in the microwave for 12 seconds (this really is the perfect amount of time). Hence the inspiration for this delicious treat.

Peanut butter+butter+marshmallows

Stir until smooth

Add in cereal like usual

Think of these treats as fluffernutters with Rice Krispy cereal instead of bread and with m&ms added. Hungry yet?

Peanut Butter M&M Rice Crispy Treats

Ingredients 

• 3 tablespoons salted butter
• 4 cups of mini marshmallows or a bag of large marshmallows
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 5 cups Rice Krispy cereal
• 1 1/2 cups M&M’s (or equal parts m&ms and chocolate chips)

Directions

1. Butter a 9×13 pan and set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a large non-stick saucepan over low heat until melted, then stir in the peanut butter and stir until combined. Add the marshmallows and continue to stir them until fully melted.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Rice Krispies. Once the cereal is fully mixed in, stir in one cup of the m&ms.
4. Use a buttered spatula to evenly press the mixture into the buttered pan. Press the remaining m&ms into the top of the rice krispies.
5. Allow the rice krispy treats to cool for bout 20 minutes, then cut them into bars. Bon appetit!

Lets Play Ball….With Some Rice Krispy Treats That Is!

The best way to judge the character of a friend or boyfriend is by how they treat your family. Anyone can be nice to you, but it takes someone really wonderful to be good to your entire family. That is how you can tell that he or she is in it for the long haul. After the initial honeymoon phase wares off, it is the person who will hold your hand at family functions and help your family out in times of need that you truly want to be with. If someone bothers to invest him or herself in your family, it proves that he or she is really thinking in terms of the future.

Whether it means taking care of your younger siblings from time to time or spending time with your parent, a boy who cares about more than just getting close to you is one to hold on to.

Melt butter and marshmallows

Mix in cereal and press into the greased pan

I’m incredibly lucky that Goose gets along so well with my sisters and parents that he’s practically part of the family. He babysits with me, goes on trips with my family and I, plays fantasy football with my dad, and tonight he’s even taking my sisters and I to my sisters’ first Dodger game.

Cut out your baseball circles

Dip into white chocolate

Back around Oscar season, when Goose and I were babysitting my little sisters, we made these Baseball Rice Krispy Treats that I thought would be perfect to share with you, as baseball season is now getting started. These are the perfect treat to serve at a baseball tailgate, a birthday party, or as a post-game snack for your little sluggers. What do you do to get into the spirit of baseball season?

Use red icing to draw on your stripes

Rice Krispy Treat Baseballs

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter plus more to grease the pan
• 4 cups mini marshmallows
• 5 cups Rice Krispy cereal
• 1 1/2 cups good-quality white chocolate or white chocolate melting chips
• red icing pen

Directions:

1. Butter a 13 x 9 inch pan.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Once melted stir in the marshmallows, and stir constantly until fully melted.
3. Remove marshmallow goop from heat and stir in cereal.
4. Use a buttered spatula to scoop the rice crispies into the pan and press them down evenly.
5. After the rice krispies are completely cooled, use a medium-sized circular cookie cutter to cut out your baseballs.
6. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler, and once it is completely melted, dip the circular rice krispy treats into the chocolate. Alternatively, you could spoon some of the white chocolate on top of the rice crispy, and then use the spoon to smooth it over the entire top.
7. Once the chocolate has cooled, use your red icing to draw two small C’s facing the opposite sides, and then three stripes on each C to form the baseball stripes. Make sure not to place the stripes too close together, as the icing may spread a bit. Enjoy!