These deliciously crunchy Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cookies are topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting. They're a perfect blend of sweet, spice, and everything nice, topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting!
Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal was one of my boys' favorite cereals growing up. And of course still is for it's sweet cinnamon flavors and the best crunch when it comes to cereal.
Ok, I loved it too—you got me! I personally think this cereal holds up well providing a fun crunch texture that is out of this world when combined in desserts.
That sweetly spiced flavor with its expert crunchy texture is second to none. So, of course, I've made a cookie version of the breakfast cereal!
Bring this cookie up a notch by adding cinnamon chips to the cookie dough. Mmm, these chewy cookies are loaded with crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and cinnamon chips for extra cinnamon flavor you are going to LOVE!
Topped with a cream cheese frosting, these fabulous cookies are perfect for movie nights, parties, or your holiday cookie tray!
For more amazing frosted cookies, check out my colorful Watermelon Cookies, Hot Chocolate Cookies, Pink Velvet Cookies, or these Oreo Chocolate Sugar Cookies.
Shopping List
Wet Ingredients. Butter, Vanilla Extract, Egg, Cream Cheese, Milk
Dry Ingredients. All Purpose Flour, Granulated Sugar, Brown Sugar, Powdered Sugar, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Cornstarch, Salt
Extras. Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal, Cinnamon Chips
How to Make Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cookies
Preheat oven to 350F Degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat and set aside.
Crush 1½ cups of cinnamon toast crunch cereal (75g) using a food processor into fine crumbs. Divide the crumbs in half and set them aside. Leave the remaining ½ cup of cereal whole for garnishing on top.
Cut cold Butter into cubes, and cream together Butter and Granulated Sugar in a large mixing bowl until fluffy. This will take about 2-3 minutes on medium/high speed with a hand mixer or stand mixer.
Add the Large Egg and Vanilla Extract and cream until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed to include all ingredients together.
Mix in Brown Sugar and continue to cream for 2-3 additional minutes.
Gradually add All Purpose Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Salt to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
Add 1 portion of Cookie Crumbs to the cookie dough along with 1 cup of Cinnamon Chips and mix to combine. Do not overmix.
Scoop cookie dough into cookie dough balls using a #24 cookie scoop.
Roll the cookie dough balls in the remaining portion of Cookie Crumbs. Just like you would for a Snickerdoodle Cookie. The added flavor is wonderful.
Place them on a prepared baking sheet, spacing them at least 2 inches apart.
Bake at 350F Degrees for 8-10 minutes or until edges are set. The center will still be soft.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the softened Cream Cheese, softened Butter, Vanilla Extract, and Powdered Sugar.
Cream cheese is much easier to use in frostings when it's at room temperature. To avoid having tiny bits of cream cheese the trick is to using room temperature cream cheese before trying to mix it with other ingredients.
Put your mixer on low speed to combine the ingredients. Gradually, the ingredients will come together to form a thick frosting. You will thin it down a bit with milk. Or try substituting Heavy Whipping Cream.
Gradually add 1-2 tablespoons of milk to the frosting to reach the desired thickness.
Frost each cookie with a thick layer of frosting, topped with reserved whole cereal pieces. Or break up a few pieces into large chunks.
Crumble some cereal pieces on top of the fresh frosting for decoration.
Storage & Freezing
Store: Allow the frosting to set and harden before storing these cookies. Place parchment paper between the layers when stacking the cookies for storage. Store cookies in a sealed container or ZipLoc bag. They are best enjoyed within 4-5 days.
Freeze: Flash-freeze these cookies on a tray, then store them in a Ziploc bag or freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Place a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap between each cookie to prevent them from sticking together.
Substitutions & Variations
- Salted Butter. I always use salted butter in baking, but if you only have access to unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to the cookie dough and a pinch of salt to the frosting.
- Change the cookie base. Use a Peanut Butter Cookie base or a Biscoff Cookie Butter base to add some different flavor here.
- Use a different topping. Drizzle some melted Biscoff cookie butter, melted white chocolate, or milk chocolate on top instead of the cream cheese frosting. Or use a buttercream frosting like in these Sugar Bars.
- Fillings. Add some white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or even crushed Red Hots candy into the mix for added flavor and texture!
- Colors. You can change the color of the cookie dough or the frosting by adding a few drops of food coloring to the mixes to match them for a Baby Shower, holiday, or special occasion.
- Cereal. Use different types of cinnamon cereal for different cereal cookies, whether it's to add to the cookie dough or just to display on top. Try Cinnamon Chex, Cinnamon Oat Crunch, or Apple Cinnamon Cheerios! Try my Lucky Charms Cookies too!
Pro Tips
Do you manage to make soft and chewy cookies every time? To ensure you always get delicious cookies, follow my pro tips.
Room Temperature Ingredients.
Leave the butter and cream cheese at room temperature before mixing them together for the frosting. You'll want to keep the butter for the cookie dough in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.
Weighing Ingredients.
Baking is a science, and adding too much or too little of any of the ingredients will alter the recipe. Weighing and measuring dry ingredients properly makes a world of difference. Investing in a kitchen scale is ideal. When a kitchen scale is not available, make sure to stir and lift ingredients before scooping them into a measuring cup.
| Volume | Ounces | Grams | |
| All Purpose Flour | 1 Cup | 4½ Ounces | 120 Grams |
| Bread Flour | 1 Cup | 4½ Ounces | 120 Grams |
| Granulated Sugar | 1 Cup | 7 Ounces | 200 Grams |
| Brown Sugar | 1 Cup | 7½ Ounces | 213 Grams |
| Confectionary Sugar | 1 Cup | 4 Ounces | 113 Grams |
Mixer.
I use a stand mixer to make cookies, as it mixes ingredients quickly and evenly, with little effort! You can use an electric mixer instead if you have one, or a whisk, a spoon, and a little elbow grease!
Cookie Scoop.
Using a cookie scoop keeps each ball of cookie dough the same size, which is essential for ensuring even baking.
Cinnamon Chips.
Cinnamon Chips are perfect in this recipe, but you can substitute them for White Chocolate Chips if you want to.
Baking Sheets.
You can use an ungreased cookie sheet if you prefer. I like to use Parchment Paper to line baking sheets or a Silicone Mat for easy cleanup.
Baking Time.
Every oven heats a little differently. I recommend doing a test batch of 1-3 cookies to test the baking time for a perfectly baked cookie before baking the remaining dough.
Cooling Rack.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a minute or two before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Kitchen Scale. I use this for accuracy in measuring, and it's a lifesaver when it comes to consistent baking.
- Wire Rack for cooling cookies. I like to have at least two cooling racks.
- Mixing Bowls. A Large Mixing Bowl for mixing ingredients and small and medium mixing bowls for other ingredients.
- Cookie Sheet. Most recipes will take two batches to bake. It's great to have multiple baking sheets available.
- Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mat. Line the Cookie Sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup and to prevent sticking.
- Cookie Scoop. A small #60 Cookie Scoop or a Medium Cookie Scoop #50 are great choices for uniform drops of cookie dough.
- Storage Container. An Airtight Container to store cookies or a Ziploc bag works great too.
- Additional supplies. Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons along with a silicone spatula, are all helpful.
To find out more, check out my Pro Tips Guide!
Have you tried this Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cookie recipe?
Let me know what you thought of this recipe! Tag @bestcookierecipes on social media so I can see how great your cookies turned out! I would also love to read your comments below. Let me know what you think of these cookies. It really does help!
More Delicious Cinnamon Cookies Recipes
- Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Classic Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Gideon's Bakehouse Coffee Cake Cookies
- Biscoff Cookie Butter Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies
- Soft Molasses Cookies
- Eggnog Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Bars
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- ½ cup Butter Cold
- ½ cup Brown Sugar 106g
- ¼ cup Granulated Sugar 50g
- 1 Egg Large
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 4 teaspoons Cornstarch
- 1 ¼ cups All Purpose Flour 150g
- 2 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal 100g *Divided
- 1 cup Cinnamon Chips 160g
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 5 ounces Cream Cheese Softened
- 2 tablespoons Butter Softened
- 3 cups Powdered Sugar 390g
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1-2 tablespoons Milk
Instructions
Cookie Dough
- Preheat oven to 350F Degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat and set aside
- Crush 1½ cups of cinnamon toast crunch cereal (75g) using a food processor to fine crumbs. Divide the crumbs in half and set them aside. Leave remaining ½ cup of cereal whole for garnish on top.
- Cut cold Butter into cubes, and cream together Butter and Granulated Sugar in a large mixing bowl until fluffly. This will take about 2-3 minutes on medium/high speed with a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Add the Large Egg and Vanilla Extract and cream until light and fluffy. Scrape sides of bowl as needed to include all ingredients together.
- Mix in Brown Sugar and continue to cream for 2-3 additional minutes.
- Gradually add All Purpose Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Salt to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
- Add 1 portion of Cookie Crumbs to the cookie dough along with 1 cup Cinnamon Chips and mix to combine. Do not over mix.
- Scoop cookie dough into cookie dough balls using a #24 cookie scoop.
- Roll the cookie dough balls in the remaining portion of Cookie Crumbs and place them on a prepared baking sheet allowing at least 2 inches apart each one.
- Bake at 350F Degrees for 8-10 minutes or until edges are set. Centers will still be soft.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before moving to wire rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the softened Cream Cheese, softened Butter, Vanilla Extract and Powdered Sugar.
- Put your mixer on low speed to combine the ingredients together. Gradually, the ingredients will come together to form a thick frosting.
- Gradually add 1-2 tablespoons of milk to the frosting to reach the desired thickness.
- Frost each cookie with a thick layer of frosting topped with reserved whole cereal pieces. Crumble some cereal pieces on top of fresh frosting.
Notes
Storage
- Store: Allow the frosting to set and harden before storing these cookies. Place parchment paper between the layers when stacking the cookies for storage. Store cookies in a sealed container or Ziploc bag. They are best enjoyed within 4-5 days.
- Freeze: Flash-freeze these cookies on a tray, then store them in a Ziploc bag or freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Place a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap between each cookie to prevent them from sticking together.
Copycat Cookies
These Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cookies are loosely adapted from Crumbl Cookies a favorite gourmet cookie recipe.Nutrition Disclaimer
All nutrition values are approximate and calculated by a plugin and are provided as a courtesy. Adding or subtracting ingredients will change the nutritional value.
Rebecca Johnston
Made these for my son who loves Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal and he was thrilled. Wants me to make more often just for him!
Jules
This si my hubby's favorite cereal and he was over the moon when I made it into cookies! Thank you for the delicious recipe and making me look like a genius!
Rebecca Johnston
I love this! So thrilled you were able to make a cookie recipe your husband loved!
Lynn April
YUM! My kids and I made these on a rainy day last weekend and we scarfed them down pretty quickly!
Rebecca Johnston
Always a kid favorite cookie!
Mindy S
We loved this yummy cookie recipe! The cream cheese frosting is simply fabulous!
Rebecca Johnston
I can't resist a cookie with Cream Cheese Frosting either. So good!
Kathleen
Secret confession, I love cinnamon toast crunch cereal so had to make these! AMAZING!
Rebecca Johnston
Thanks Kathleen! It's a keeper recipe for sure!