I have been a fan of Christina Tosi‘s for a few years now. I’ve had some treats from the original Milk Bar and have two of her cookbooks, but hadn’t yet tried one of her recipes. I really wanted to try at least one before 2018 was over. I opted for the cornflake-chocolate-chip-marshmallow cookie. This recipe is from her book, Milk, and she’s also shared it online as well.

Tosi includes various types of measurements for her recipes, so you can bake by volume or mass or recipe percentage. Typically, I like to write out recipes before I try them so that I can catch any points of confusion before I dive in. I did not do that this time and the result was using the entire box of cornflakes instead of only half of the box. The crunch still came out tasty, just not as clustered as it is intended to be.

My second mistake was not flattening out the portions of dough before placing 4″ apart on the sheet and baking. These cookies are huge and they spread! Unfortunately, this meant that I sacrificed some cookie dough to the burner on the bottom of the oven.
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Cornflake crunch (makes 4 cups)

1/2 box (5 cups or 170 g) of cornflakes
1/2 cup (40 g) milk powder
3 Tbsp (40 g) sugar
9 Tbsp (130 g) butter, melted

Heat oven to 275°F.

Pour the cornflakes in a medium bowl and crush them with your hands to one-quarter their original size. Add the milk powder and sugar and toss into the mix. Add the butter and toss to coat. As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the cereal and creating small clusters.

Spread the clusters on a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 20 mins, at which point they should look toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently when cooled slightly and chewed.

Cool the cornflake crunch completely before storing or using in a recipe. Stored in an airtight container at room temp, the crunch will keep fresh for 1 week; in the fridge or freezer, it will keep for 1 month.

 

Cornflake-chocolate-chip-marshmallow cookies

16 Tbsp (2 sticks or 225 g) butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups (250 g) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (150 g) tightly packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp (2 g) vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (240 g) flour
1/2 tsp (2 g) baking powder
1/4 tsp (1.5 g) baking soda
3/4 recipe (3 cups or 270 g) of cornflake crunch
2/3 cup (125 g) mini chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups (65 g) mini marshmallows

Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2-3 mins. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla and beat for 7-8 mins.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flower, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix just until the the dough comes together, no longer than 1 min. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Still on low speed, paddle in the cornflake crunch and mini chocolate chips just until they’re incorporated, more than 30-45 secs. Paddle in the mini marshmallows just until incorporated.

Using a 2 3/4 ounce ice cream scoop or a 1/3 cup measure, portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookies down flat (flatten cookies a bit). Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. Do not bake from room temp as they will not hold their shape.

Heat oven to 375°F.

Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4″ apart on parchment-lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 mins. The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. At the 18 min mark, the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown toward the center. Leave them in the oven for an additional minute or so if they aren’t and they still seem pale and doughy on the surface.

Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring them to a plate or to an airtight container for storage. At room temp, the cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.