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No-Bake Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies made with a handful of simple ingredients! Crunchy, rich in peanut flavor, and perfectly sweet, they are the perfect no-bake cookies for those times it’s too hot to bake!
Peanut butter lovers, you’ll get a kick out of these easy no-bake cookies using cornflake cereal! If you had a massive crush on cornflakes as a kid (or have kids who enjoy the cereal), your family will go bonkers over this easy recipe.
It requires hardly any time or effort to prepare and results in the perfect crunchy cookies that are easy enough for kids to help make.
For me, these peanut butter cornflake cookies are the perfect crunchy, salty, sweet balance that drives my own taste buds wild. I can’t possibly stop at one! My peanut butter loving family can’t get enough of them!
If you prefer oats over cornflakes, make my No-Bake Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies. As an alternative, make my Crunchy No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies if you prefer crispy rice cereal.
Ingredient Notes:
Creamy Peanut Butter: The predominant flavor that shines through in these crunchy no-bake cookies. Peanut butter acts as a glue that holds everything together and also adds richness and delicious peanut butter flavor to the cookies.
Honey or Pure Maple Syrup: The sweetener here. Use either pure maple syrup or honey, depending on your personal preference. I use honey because I love the combination of peanut butter and honey, plus I like that honey is a natural sweetener.
If you prefer using brown sugar, feel free to make the swap.
Unsalted Butter: Creaminess and richness comes from unsalted butter. If you are strictly dairy-free, replace the butter with coconut oil for a dairy-free option.
Corn Flakes Cereal: Pick up a box of regular cornflakes from the grocery store, not to be mistaken for frosted flakes. This crunchy cereal brings all of the ingredients together without the need for flour and is responsible for the most epic crunchy texture!
Pure Vanilla Extract: A smooth warms comes from a splash of vanilla extract.
Sea Salt (optional): I typically use unsalted natural peanut butter and unsalted butter, which necessitates the addition of salt. Salt is a big flavor enhancer, bringing the cookies to their full potential. Skip it if your peanut butter or your butter contains salt to avoid salty cookies.
Ways to Customize:
- S’mores Action: Follow the instructions as written, then allow the peanut butter cornflake mixture to cool for 15 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of mini marshmallows and 1 cup of chocolate chips for a peanut butter s’mores kind of adventure!
- Double Chocolate Cookies: Mix in 2 to 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder with the wet ingredients, then add 1 cup of chocolate chips with the cornflakes. This is my recommendation for those who enjoy the peanut butter and chocolate combination.
- Switch the Nut Butter: Use almond butter or cashew butter in place of peanut butter.
- Butterscotch Infusion: If you love butterscotch chips, add 1 to 1.5 cups at the same time as the cereal. You can also add peanut butter chips or white chocolate chips for a very sweet treat.
- Chocolate Drizzle: Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons of butter in a microwave-safe bowl for 20-second intervals, until melted. Once the peanut butter mixture has set up in the freezer, give the cookies a drizzle of melted chocolate for more great flavor.
How to Make Cornflake Cookies:
Heat the peanut butter, unsalted butter, and honey (or pure maple syrup) in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Stir continuously until the ingredients have melted together into a creamy consistency.
Stir in the pure vanilla extract and the corn flakes and sea salt (if adding) and stir well until all of the cereal is coated in the peanut butter and honey mixture.
Line one (or two) large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. Drop mounds of the peanut butter cornflake mixture onto the cookie sheet in a single layer, creating any size cookies you like.
I like to stir the mixture well in between creating mounds of cookie so that each mound gets a roughly equal amount of the liquid too.
Freeze cookies for 1 hour, or refrigerate for 1.5 to 2 hours, until the no-bake cookies have completely set up.
Use a spatula to help peel the cookies off of the parchment paper, and enjoy!
Storage Options:
- Room Temperature: After the initial freezing/refrigeration, these no-bake cookies will keep at room temperature for several hours, provided your home is not super warm.
- Refrigerator: I recommend storing the cookies in the refrigerator to prevent them from melting at room temp during the warm summer months. Store in a zip lock bag or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Freezer: For longer term storage, freeze no-bake cornflake cookies for up to 2 months in a freezer bag or a freezer-safe container.
Recipe Tip
If you prefer using your microwave over heating the ingredients on the stove top, simply microwave the butter, peanut butter, and honey in a large bowl for 30-second intervals, stirring well in between each interval, until melted.
Then, stir the cornflakes into the wet mixture to make this easy dessert.
And that’s it! If you’re looking for a magical no bake recipe to enjoy throughout the warm summer months, whip up this amazing treat!
While I typically make a no bake cookie recipe during the hot months of the year, I see recipes like this as being perfect for the holiday season too for cookie exchanges.
If you’re looking for more no-bake dessert ideas, try some of my other personal favorites.
More No-Bake Dessert Recipes:
- No-Bake Breakfast Cookies
- Lemon Poppy Seed Energy Balls
- No-Bake Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cups
- 3-Ingredient No-Bake Banana Oatmeal Cookies
- No-Bake Cookie Bars
No-Bake Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- ½ cup honey , or pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 6 cups cornflakes
- ¼ to ½ tsp sea salt, to taste*
Instructions
- Heat the peanut butter, unsalted butter, and honey (or pure maple syrup) in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently just until melted. There is no need to bring the mixture to a full boil.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the pure vanilla extract and the corn flakes and sea salt (if adding) and stir well until all of the cereal is coated in the peanut butter and honey mixture.
- Line one (or two) large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. Drop mounds of the peanut butter cornflake mixture onto the cookie sheet in a single layer, creating any size cookies you like. I like to stir the mixture well in between creating mounds of cookie so that each mound gets a roughly equal amount of the liquid too.
- Freeze cookies for 1 hour, or refrigerate for 1.5 to 2 hours, until the no-bake cookies have completely set up.
- Use a spatula to help peel the cookies off of the parchment paper, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Frequently Asked Questions:
No. Most cornflakes cereals contain malt flavoring, which comes from barley. Barley is a gluten-containing grain, so unless your box of cornflakes specifies that the cereal is gluten-free, you can expect that these cookies are not gluten-free.
Any kind of nut butter works, including almond butter, cashew butter, pecan butter, walnut butter, etc. The only caveat is you must enjoy the taste of whatever you use, because the flavor will shine through. Chunky peanut butter works too, provided you like the little crunch of nuts in your no bake desserts.
Yes! In fact, I have a dedicated recipe for that linked above, but you can use 4 to 5 cups of rice krispies cereal if this is the cereal you prefer.
