Sugar cookie meets Coconut Rice Krispie Treat in these delectable tender-crisp Rice Krispie Cookies with coconut flakes. Bet you didn't know that adding Rice Krispies to cookies is a fun and crisp textural addition that pairs well with chewy coconut.
This cookie is a textural Bombshell with a capital B. It's like a sugar cookie met a Coconut Rice Krispie Treat. It's tender-crisp with layers of texture that make it an enjoyable eat beyond the bangin' flavor of the cookie itself. The exterior provides a delightful crunch that yields to a tender-flaky-airy interior. The taste is sugary heaven with a pronounced coconut flavor. I consider my willpower strong if I can manage to eat no more than three of these in a day.
Cookies with Rice Krispies in them, who knew such a thing would be so good?
My Mom and I discovered a Rice Krispie cookie recipe in an old church cookbook. We had to make a few interpretations and added some preferential tweaks, but the results were amazing. And worth repeating. These are the best Rice Krispie cookies.
If you're a coconut fiend like I am, you have to try these Saltine Toffee Squares topped with coconut or these Coconut Rice Krispie Treats. If you like these cookies, something tells me you would also appreciate a Pistachio Snowball.
Jump to:
- Why You Will Love This Rice Krispie Cookie Recipe
- Ingredients - How to Make Rice Krispie Cookies
- Shortening... or bust?
- What is shortening?
- Instructions - How to Make Rice Krispie Cookies
- Top Tips
- Recipe FAQs
- If you like these Rice Krispie Cookies, check out these smashing dessert recipes
- Rice Krispie Cookies (with Coconut)
Why You Will Love This Rice Krispie Cookie Recipe
- GREAT Texture. My favorite thing about this cookie may just be the texture; yes, even above the flavor! Each bite is tender-crisp (thanks Rice Krispies and coconut flakes!) and buttery and the cookie just melts in your mouth. It's such a satisfying cookie to eat, because it lets you have all this textural contrast in one bite.
- Great Flavor. The flavor of this cookie is sort of like sugar cookie meets Rice Krispies and the coconut brings this delicate flavor that feels right. Plus the subtle chew from the coconut flakes in the cookie is everything! See, I can't stop talking about the texture.
- Easy to Make. I am not a baker. And as a non-baker I feel strongly that this is a super approachable cookie. Repeat batches of these cookies has consistently yielded delicious results. The only thing that occasionally trips me up on this recipe is the bake time; sometimes I fail to pay close attention and get the edges of the cookies a little darker than I'd like.
If you like this cookie, I think you should try these Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cookies.
"This is such a good cookie! I used margarine and they were delicious! Will make again for sure! The cookies spread a bit so don't crowd them on the sheet! May add some mini chocolate chips next time!" - Karen (a Rice Krispie Cookie aficionado!)
Ingredients - How to Make Rice Krispie Cookies
You will need the usual suspects - baking powder, baking soda, flour, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs - plus a few extras to make these bomb @$$ cookies with Rice Krispies in them.
- Shortening (Crisco) - Using shortening aids in getting that tender-crisp result upon baking.
- Vanilla extract - A classic, vanilla is great here but you can also use almond or coconut.
- Shredded coconut - This recipe calls for unsweetened shredded coconut, but you could also use sweetened or use coconut flakes.
- Rice Krispies cereal - A fun variation of this cookie is to use cocoa-flavored Rice Krispies.
- White sugar - Additional white sugar is optional, but I like to top the cookie dough with a sprinkle of sugar before baking. It makes the finished product even better texturally.
Shortening... or bust?
Note: I have not tried this recipe with butter or margarine (but as you can see from the comment above, these have reportedly been made with margarine with great success!). If you would like to substitute butter or margarine, I suggest chilling the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour or two before baking. I suspect the cookie dough may spread out too much on you during baking if you don't chill out a batch of Rice Krispie Cookies made with butter or margarine beforehand.
What is shortening?
By definition, shortening is any fat that is solid at room temperature and used in baking. In my novice baker's mind, shortening = Crisco. But it's a little more complex than that. The term shortening also includes things like lard, margarine, and hydrogenated vegetable oils. Using shortening in baked goods imparts a delicate, crumbly texture to the finished product.
While technically using shortening and Crisco interchangeably isn't completely correct, when I say shortening for this Rice Krispie Cookie recipe I mean Crisco. Using Crisco here results in a cookie with a lovely tender-crisp texture.
Instructions - How to Make Rice Krispie Cookies
The process for making this Rice Krispie cookie recipe is fairly similar to making an OG batch of chocolate chip cookies. Here's what you'll need to do:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, and 1 cup shortening to a mixing bowl. Beat with a hand mixer until incorporated.
- Add 2 large eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat with a hand mixer until incorporated.
- Combine 2 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon baking soda to a separate bowl.
- Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl, a bit at a time, beating after each addition until completely incorporated. I add about ⅓ of the flour mixture at one time.
- Add 1 cup of coconut flakes and 2 cups of Rice Krispies cereal. Stir with a spatula until just combined.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop into evenly sized balls.
- Dip each cookie ball into white sugar, then flatten each cookie ball slightly with the bottom of a drinking glass.
- Put 9-12 cookie balls to a baking sheet, evenly spaced. And leave plenty of space because this is the kind of cookie that likes to spread out while baking.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes. But seriously, check them at 9 minutes!
- Remove from oven, let sit for 30-45 seconds, then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Repeat with the remaining cookies.
- Makes 48 cookies.
Top Tips
Tip 1. These cookies really spread out while baking, so make sure you leave plenty of room around them on your baking tray. I recommend no more than 9-12, depending on the size of your baking sheet.
Tip 2. Pay attention to the bake time! The only thing that occasionally trips me up on this recipe is the bake time; sometimes I fail to pay close attention and get the edges of the cookies a little darker than I'd like. And your oven may have hot spots or need a recalibration, which can also throw cook times off.
Tip 3. Dip your cookies in a little white sugar before baking. This is optional, but I recommend it because it adds this lovely little sugar crunch to the finished cookie.
Tip 4. When storing these cookies, try putting a slice of bread in the container or bag to prevent the cookies from hardening and keep 'em nice and moist. It really works! The slice of bread will be a casualty (or become destined for croutons) but keeping your cookies textually perfect is worth the sacrifice.
Recipe FAQs
For best results, devour these Rice Krispie cookies within 1 week (7 days). Store in a lidded container at room temperature. You can also freeze them in plastic storage bags (try to remove as much air as possible). For best results, I recommend using the frozen cookies within 3-6 months.
Not really. I say this because baking is a science, and you really can't just swap things around like you can when cooking on the stovetop. I've never had good luck making "educated" baking swaps. BUT, here are a few minor things you can feel free to safely tweak.
Extract - I recommend good 'ol vanilla, but you can be a little adventurous here. Try almond or coconut extract instead.
Rice Krispies - You could use Cocoa Krispies instead for a chocolatey twist. I've also considered doing a 50/50 of cereal to oats to see how that would turn out; I'm worried it could make the cookie too chewy... but that texture could also work out. If I try the variation, I'll post the results.
If you like these Rice Krispie Cookies, check out these smashing dessert recipes
If you tried this Rice Krispie Cookie recipe (or any other recipe on Midwexican), please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it turned out in the 📝 comments below!
Rice Krispie Cookies (with Coconut)
Equipment
- Cooling rack
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup shortening (Crisco)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
- ¼ cup white sugar (optional, for finishing cookies before baking)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, and 1 cup shortening to a mixing bowl. Beat with a hand mixer until incorporated.1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup shortening
- Add 2 large eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat with a hand mixer until incorporated.2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Combine 2 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon baking soda to a separate bowl.2 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl, a bit at a time, beating after each addition until completely incorporated. I add about ⅓ of the flour mixture at one time.
- Add 1 cup of shredded coconut and 2 cups of Rice Krispies cereal. Stir with a spoon until just combined.1 cup shredded coconut, 2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop into evenly sized balls.
- Add ¼ cup of white sugar to a bowl. Dip each cookie ball into the sugar and put on a baking sheet. Using a drinking glass, slightly flatten the sugar-dipped cookies. Repeat until the baking sheet is full.¼ cup white sugar
- Put 9-12 cookie balls to a cookie sheet, evenly spaced. And leave plenty of space because this is the kind of cookie that likes to spread out while baking.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes. But seriously, check them at 9 minutes!
- Remove from oven, let sit for 30-45 seconds, then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Repeat with remaining cookie dough. Makes 48 cookies.
Karen says
This is such a good cookie! I used margarine and they were delicious! Will make again for sure! The cookies spread a bit so don’t crowd them on the sheet! May add some mini chocolate chips next time!
Marla Lowman says
This is a great recipe it was a hit with all my neighbors
LuAnn says
I have made a nearly identical cookie for DECADES! It is a very unassuming little cookie. People don't expect anything out of the ordinary but it is a VERY special cookie. Similarities in our recipes: most of the recipe is identical and I got it from a church cookbook in the northern suburbs of Chicago in the mid 1980! Differences: my recipe uses a half cup of butter and 3/4 cup oil and yes, the dough is refrigerated 6 hours or overnight before baking. One other difference is my recipe uses 1 cup of rice krispies instead two but has 1 cup of chopped pecans. In any event, it is a very special recipe that almost always comes with requests for the recipe. I think using both brown and white sugar is one of the secrets to its wonderful taste. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe. It was so fun to find it here.
Connie says
I made these with butter instead of Crisco. I refrigerated for about 3 hours. I made half the cookies with the refrigerated dough and let the rest come to room temperature. The cold dough cookies didn’t spread much and took 11-12 minutes. The room temp dough cookies spread a little more and took 9-10 min. Both batches delicious. This recipe is a keeper.