Chewy, gooey, crispy-edged brown butter marshmallow crispy cookies taste like a brown-butter-infused rice krispie treat in cookie form. It’s all the nostalgia of a marshmallow cereal bar, wrapped up in the comfort of a bakery-style cookie. If you love the marshmallow crispy cookies from Costco, these have a similar chewy, crispy texture—just made from scratch and boosted with brown butter.
We all have our favorite go-to cookie recipes—the anytime classics like chocolate chip cookies or oatmeal raisin cookies; and the seasonal traditions like snowball cookies or peanut butter blossoms.
Then there’s the excitement of something new and different. A cookie recipe that gets people talking. “What is in this?” they’ll say. And then, more urgently: “Can you send me the recipe??”
These brown butter marshmallow crispy cookies are THAT type of cookie. The brown butter brings deep, toffee-like flavor, the mini marshmallows melt into caramelized pockets of gooey magic, and the crispy cereal adds that light, crisp-crackle texture in every bite, especially with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top.
Brown butter sometimes gets lost in busy cookie doughs, but not here. These are unapologetically brown-butter-forward, and we’re not mad about it!
Why You’ll Love These Brown Butter Marshmallow Crispy Cookies
- Recipe adapted from my popular chewy chocolate chip cookies!
- Brown butter = ultra-rich flavor with caramel and toasted notes
- Chewy centers + crisp edges, the dream cookie texture!
- Rice Krispies stay crispy, adding a fun contrast in every bite
- Puddles of melty marshmallow (the best kind of puddle)
- No mixer needed, just a saucepan and a bowl
- Perfect for gifting, cookie exchanges, bake sales, or holiday cookie trays
Ingredients You Need & Why:
- Butter: You’ll start by browning the butter. Toasting the milk solids gives the cookies incredible depth.
- All-Purpose Flour + Baking Soda: Our classic cookie structure duo.
- Cornstarch: For added softness.
- Crispy Rice Cereal: Fold them in gently to keep from crushing them.
- Mini Marshmallows: They melt into gooey pockets that caramelize on the edges—YUM.
- Brown & Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar helps the cookies spread and the edges crisp. Brown sugar adds moisture and chewiness, plus extra caramel flavor to complement the brown butter.
- Egg + Egg Yolk: To bind the ingredients, and for extra richness and that coveted bend-and-chew texture. (We use an extra egg yolk in these chocolate chip cookies and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, too.)
- Vanilla + Salt: Flavor!
How to Brown Butter
Brown butter is melted butter with a delicately nutty and toasted flavor brought on by gently cooking it on the stove. This one-ingredient wonder adds so much depth of flavor to these marshmallow crispy cookies.
Browning butter takes less than 10 minutes and is a kitchen skill every baker can—and should!—learn. Here’s exactly how to brown butter with a video tutorial and lots of tips to help you begin. Once you’ve mastered browning butter, the possibilities are endless. Think brown butter chocolate chip cookies, brown butter apple blondies… and have you tried these pecan sugar cookies before? You MUST.
Overview: How to Make Marshmallow Crispy Cookies
Once you have browned the butter and transferred it to a bowl to slightly cool, combine your dry ingredients, including the rice krispies and marshmallows. (Something we learned in testing: if you wait to fold in the cereal and marshmallows at the end, you’ll have trouble incorporating them because the brown butter makes the dough quite slick.)
Whisk the sugars and remaining wet ingredients into the slightly cooled brown butter, then combine it with the dry ingredients. The dough looks like this:
Now, rather than the typical order of steps (chilling the dough before shaping the cookies), we’re going to shape the cookie dough balls first and then chill. The dough is a little greasy, so the best method my team and I found for shaping these cookies is to simply use your hands to squeeze the dough together to form a ball.
Freeze the cookie dough balls for 1 hour before baking to keep the cookies from overspreading. Why freeze? Freezing the shaped dough firms up the butter and the marshmallows, helping the cookies hold their shape in the oven and preventing the marshmallows from dissolving.
When you bake them, expect these marshmallow crispy cookies to have some irregular edges… each cookie will end up looking unique, and that is part of their charm!
Add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt as soon as they come out of the oven for the perfect sweet-salty contrast.
Tips for Success
- Watch the marshmallows: A few on the edges are great—they caramelize!—but if too many hit the baking sheet directly, they melt out. Tuck stray marshmallows back into the dough balls when shaping.
- Chill the dough: Because of the brown butter and marshmallows, these cookies benefit from a quick freeze so they don’t overspread.
If you’re looking for a cookie that’s part childhood nostalgia, part grown-up flavor magic, and 100% irresistible, this is the one!
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page.
Brown Butter Marshmallow Crispy Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
- Yield: 20-22 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (52g) crispy rice cereal
- 1 cup (60g) mini marshmallows
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- optional: flaky sea salt, for topping
Instructions
- Brown the butter: Place the sliced butter in a light-colored skillet or saucepan over medium heat. (Light-colored helps you determine when the butter begins browning.) Stir or whisk the butter constantly as it melts. Once melted, the butter will begin to foam. Keep stirring. After 5–8 minutes, the butter will begin browning—you’ll notice lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan and it will have a nutty aroma. As soon as the butter has browned, immediately remove from heat and pour it into a medium heat-safe bowl. Scrape up the browned solids at the bottom of the skillet and add them as well. Set aside to slightly cool. After browning, you should have around 185-190g butter.
- Make the cookies: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the rice cereal and mini marshmallows.
- Whisk the brown butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla together until combined. Pour into the flour mixture and stir with a silicone spatula until fully incorporated. The dough will be greasy and a bit crumbly; that’s ok.
- Scoop the dough, about 2 Tablespoons (40g) per cookie, and use your hands to form it into a ball. Squeeze firmly to help it hold its shape. Place the dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze, uncovered, for 1 hour. If freezing for longer (up to 1 day), transfer the firm dough balls to an airtight container or zip-top bag.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Arrange the frozen dough balls 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 14-15 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned on top, the edges look crisp, and the centers still look soft. (If the cookies haven’t begun to spread by the 10-minute mark, remove the baking sheet from the oven, give it a few firm taps on the counter, then return it to the oven.) Some edges may over-spread if a marshmallow is on the outside. This is normal and expected.
- Sprinkle sea salt, if using, on top of the warm cookies right after you remove them from the oven. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Cover cooled cookies tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make-Ahead & Freezing Instructions: In step 4, you can freeze the shaped cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 1 hour, then transfer to a container or zip-top bag and freeze for up to 1 day before baking. This short freeze helps the marshmallows stay intact and keeps the cookies from overspreading. For longer storage, unbaked cookie dough balls can be frozen for up to 3 months. Keep in mind that the longer they’re frozen, the less they tend to spread in the oven. If you prefer a slightly wider cookie, let the frozen dough balls sit at room temperature for 10–15 minutes before baking. However, don’t thaw them fully because marshmallows soften as they warm up and can begin to dissolve into the dough when it hits the oven. Baked cookies also freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Light-Colored Skillet or Stainless Steel Skillet (for browning butter) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Flaky Sea Salt or Coarse Sea Salt | Cooling Rack
- Do I Have to Brown the Butter? Yes, browning the butter adds deep, toffee-like flavor and really elevates these cookies. You can use regular melted butter, but the flavor won’t be as rich, and the texture may be slightly different. Because browning evaporates some moisture, you may need to add a little extra flour if using un-browned melted butter.
- Can I Use Regular Marshmallows Instead of Mini? Mini marshmallows work best here because they distribute evenly and melt into smaller pockets. Large marshmallows tend to melt out too much or create big empty tunnels.
- My Dough is Greasy, Is That Normal? Yes! Brown butter cookies often start out looking a bit greasy and especially since some of the dry ingredients don’t really soak up moisture (marshmallows and rice cereal). Once you squeeze the dough together to form a ball, it holds its shape beautifully.
- Can I Double the Recipe? Yes, this recipe doubles easily. You can brown the butter all at once; just use a large enough pan to prevent burning.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Made this recipe for cookie exchange. Delicious, followed instructions as written and they turned out great.
These are some of the best cookies I’ve ever made, and I’ve made a lot of cookies! They’re nutty, sweet, salty, crunchy, chewy, AND soft?? All the things. The brown butter gives a ton of depth to the flavor. I made them randomly because I had all the ingredients and am now making a double batch a week later to add to Christmas cookie boxes!
These were awesome! Definitely make sure to freeze for at least 1 hr, and if they’re not in a perfect ball when you put them on the cookie sheet to bake, they’ll spread. I had a few that were flatter and I’m glad I knew the difference. Super flavorful and I browned the butter for 9 minutes- perfect!!
SO good. A real crowd pleaser. Don’t skip the flaky sea salt once they’re out of the oven. These were a “trust the process” cookie for me — some batches were quite round out the oven. I tapped at ten minutes, and then flattened them a bit afterwards with a spoon, while they cooled on the pan. Make em and you won’t regret it.
Recipe turned out great. Shaped the balls and froze then baked just four as a test and left the rest of the balls in the freezer. Turned out great and can’t wait to bake the rest closer to Christmas for guests.
My cookies did not spread as expected, which was frustrating with how much work the recipe was. I made the recipe to a T, and measured the flour correctly. I froze them overnight, and set them out for about 15min before putting them in the oven. I banged them on the counter as hard as I could and they still didn’t spread. With the second sheet, I let them sit out a little longer to warm up more, but with the same result. I ended up smooshing them a bit with a wooden spatula, but then this ruined the marshmallows. Not sure what I did wrong?
Hi Danielle! We’re happy to help. How did you measure the flour? Too much flour will prevent the cookies from spreading. Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
Tried this recipe and it was great. Rich flavor and the guys at work loved it.
So delicious! A wonderful combination of flavors to make a scrumptious cookie. My family gobbled them up and I will be making a 2nd batch for Christmas. Thank you Sally, your recipes are always amazing. Your blog is the first place I look for delicious recipes.
These did not turn out very good, the cereal turned a weird chewy texture and my marshmallows melted even after freezing for an hour.
This happened to us as well. The rice krispies are so weird and chewy. I wonder what happened!
Recipes look wonderful. Can’t wait to try them!
Ah-mazing!
I love cookies; my husband loves rice crispy treats. This cookie makes us both very happy! I put mini chocolate chips and half the batch, which was a fun touch. We’ll probably do full-size chocolate chips the next time. (I always want chocolate in everything…)
Loved these! Gooey and chewy, just as expected. Thank you for sharing!
Very much loved the flavour and texture, crispy chewy, brown-buttery goodness.
But, important note: the 1 hour freeze is absolutely necessary, don’t skip it. Without it, they overspread and burned. With freezing, they were okay. Marshmallows still mostly melted but we didn’t care, they were delish!
For me personally, there are too much steps with browning butter, cooling it down, making dough, forming, freezing… guess I’m just a little impatient when it comes to cookies, so not too keen on long cooling or freezing times. Not the recipe’s fault however! 🙂
These were divine!!! I’m thinking that I’d like to try them in an 8×8 pan. If that’s a doable, how long at 350F should I bake them? Thanks so much Sally and crew. Y’all are the BEST !!
Hi Jennifer, we haven’t tested this recipe as cookie bars, but it’s a delicious idea! It would take some testing for us to determine what size pan to use and how long to bake them, so unfortunately we don’t have an answer for you today. But take a look at this recipe for snickerdoodle blondies. It calls for a 9-inch pan, so an 8-inch pan would require a longer bake time. If you decide to try it, please report back!
This is officially my favorite cookie ever. Salty/sweet/buttery perfection with little caramelized bits of goodness. I followed directions exactly and they came out great. Next time I might try the “cookie scoot” that others mention for a more consistent shape, but a slightly irregular shape isn’t going to hold anyone back from eating these!
Hi! Would this work if I made them mini for double the quantity and formed them with one scoop instead of two?
Hi Stephanie, that *should* work, but you may find the cookies spread a bit more that way. Keep a close eye on them for bake time, too, as it will be shorter.
These are so gooooood. Crispy yet chewy, buttery and carmelly (is that a word?) They were the first eaten from my cookie boxes and got raves.
Make several batches so you get a couple cookies for yourself.
Made these as part of the Christmas cookie days. Easy to put together and quite tasty, although mine spread more than your photo, even after freezing. I will make these again but next time I think I am going to add the marshmallows as I roll the dough so that the marshmallows are inside. I could put three or four marshmallows inside each cookie ball.
Just pulled these out of the oven and I think they are delicious! Tastes exactly like a brown butter rice krispie treat. I followed the directions exactly except that I stirred the hot browned butter into the brown sugar mixture and mixed well. Then I added it to the flour mixture and although it was greasy it was not dry and crumbly at all. My guess is that a bit of the brown sugar melted. I then had no problem making the balls. They turned out approximately 30g each. Thanks for this new recipe!
Just made this recipe and they are so tasty! But when it came to the rice crispy cereal, I weighed out what the recipe called for, but there was no way it equated to 2 cups. I went by weight, but I want to know if I should have added more to get the volume of 2 cups. Not sure it would make a difference but it stood out what a difference it was.
Hi Nicole, you’re not wrong to notice that. Many Rice Krispies boxes list 1.5 cups as 40g, which does seem like it should scale differently. Cereal volume measurements can be inconsistent because they depend on how much air is between the pieces, how crushed the cereal is, and even the brand. For this recipe, 2 cups = 52g, which is the amount we tested and developed the cookies with. No need to add more; go with the weight when possible.
I made these last night and they are delicious! I would have thought they were a flop when I took them out of the oven because they looked a mess and not like the picture. I’m glad a read reviews and saw another post about doing the “cookie scoot.” This shaped them out so they taste and look good too!
Hi Sally, can you use dehydrated marshmallows?
Hi Lori, dehydrated marshmallows will technically work, but the cookies won’t have the same gooey, melty pockets that regular mini marshmallows create. The dehydrated kind tend to stay firm and can even dissolve a bit into the dough rather than giving you those soft, caramelized spots. If that’s what you have on hand, you can certainly try them, but just expect a slightly different texture!
I wanted to love these, but the dough was so dry and crumbly the cookies were very difficult to shape. I’ll probably stick to making regular rice crispy treat with brown butter.
Me again….just out of the oven. These are simply amazing. Bake them now
Recipe turned out great! Wait for the cookies to fully cool before eating as they are even better. I weighed the cookies out as I wasn’t sure with sizing due to the marshmallows and everything turned out perfect. Will repeat again.
I baked these exactly as written (by weight) and they were perfection. Depending on where the marshmallows are distributed in the dough, they can spread unevenly. I used the cookie scoot hack (google it!) to get them back to a perfect circle.
Premature rating as I have just popped the cookies into the freezer, but the aroma as you mix the brown butter into the sugar mixture is swoon worthy!!
Can’t wait to taste the end product!
Oh my! These are beyond delicious. I thought you could not top the Andes mint chocolate cookies. This new recipe will have to go on the rotation. Thank you.
Cookies did not spread at all! Followed the recipe exactly. I must have printed the recipe before the tip about tapping the baking sheet on the counter was added, but even after doing that at minute 12, it didn’t work. Came out as hard misshapen balls. Too bad because flavor was good. May try again but fairly time intensive.
I wonder if you should eliminate the cornstarch??
Perfect. A new family favorite.