These cornflake cookies are light, tender, and easy to make. They can be ready in less than 40 minutes and offer a delightful contrast of crunchy cornflake texture in each bite. This simple recipe is perfect for making with kids!
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Why This Recipe Works
This cornflake cookie recipe is famous in Malaysia and Singapore, and I've been eating the cookies since childhood. Every time we celebrated Eid al-Fitr, they were always in a cookie jar on the table, along with pineapple tart cookies, almond chocolate cookies, and cashew cookies, to name a few. Here's why I keep making them even decades after!
Fantastic—These cornflake cookies are amazingly delicious despite their simplicity. They are light and tender and almost melt in your mouth. The crunchy cornflakes give an excellent contrast to every bite. They're buttery and amazing!
Secret ingredient—Powdered milk is my secret to a surprisingly delicious layer of flavor! It makes the cookies taste creamier, and trust me, it takes these cookies to another level.
Easy—This is one of the easiest cookies to make. This old-fashioned cornflake cookie recipe is straightforward, with no hassles or fancy devices. You'll also need only a handful of ingredients.
Not overly sweet—Asians, including me, obviously, are typically known for enjoying less sweet desserts or baked goods. If you're trying to cut back on sugar in cookies, these cornflake cookies are perfect! Our healthy Linzer cookies are made with honey if you haven't tried cookies with honey.
Ingredients For This Recipe
Corn starch—It's the secret to light and tender cookies. It's a very common ingredient in Southeast Asian cookies. If you haven't tried baking with it, you should. We promise that the difference is noticeable.
Powdered milk—It's also a very common ingredient in Southeast Asian cookies. It adds another deliciously fantastic layer of flavor and retains moisture, like in my snowball cookies or Arabic cookies, which helps make cookies more tender and light!
Powdered sugar—Another common ingredient in Southeast Asian cookies! It gives these cornflake cookies a chewier and soft texture without making them flat. Granulated sugar will result in crispier and flatter cookies.
Egg yolks—They make the dough even creamier. Using only egg yolks in the cookie dough will produce lighter and chewier cookies than whole eggs.
Cornflakes—I use plain, unsweetened cornflakes to balance all the beautiful flavors in these fantastic cornflake cookies.
See the recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-By-Step Instructions
1. Prepare the dry ingredients—Preheat the oven to 285ºF (140ºC) without the fan. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Add all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Mix well with a spoon, and set aside.
2. Prepare the wet ingredients—Add softened butter and powdered sugar to a large bowl. Whisk with a handheld mixer until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and mix well. Whisk in the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Finally, add in the dry ingredients and mix wel.
3. Add cornflakes—Pour in the cornflakes. Using a wooden spatula, mix everything well and break the cornflakes into smaller pieces as you go. The dough will be soft and not stick to your hands.
4. Bake—Form 1-inch balls (2.5cm) and place them on the baking tray. They don't spread; you can put them near each other. Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Enjoy your freshly baked, fantastic cornflake cookies!
Recipe Expert Tips
If you're going to make this easy cornflake cookie recipe, make sure to follow these top tips!
- Use the spoon and level method for cup measurements. This will avoid using excess ingredients than the recipe calls for.
- Use softened butter. It's when it's softer than room-temperature butter but still maintains its form, meaning it's not melting. It blends better with the other ingredients for these cornflake cookies.
- Break the cornflakes into smaller pieces. Do this with a wooden spatula when mixing them into the dough. You'll get a better contrasting texture throughout the cookies.
How To Store And Freeze
Store—These cornflake cookies last 7-10 days in an airtight container at room temperature. The texture changes naturally as the days pass. Nothing beats freshly baked cookies.
Freeze—I highly recommend freezing them in an air-tight container if you want them to last longer. They last up to 6 months. Thaw at room temperature.
Recipe FAQs
I strongly recommend against it if you want to experience how delicious these cornflake cookies are. Powdered milk lasts long, is cheap, and can be used in many ways, like in our amazing Japanese bread rolls, Nutella babka buns, or Chinese sausage bread. It's worth to have.
If you don't mind your cookies being sweeter, then yes, of course. It's no problem at all.
Yes. You can make the dough without the cornflakes up to 2-3 days in advance. Bring the dough to room temperature, mix the cornflakes according to the instructions, and bake.
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📖 Recipe
Cornflake Cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup (130 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (30 g) corn starch
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- ⅔ cup (150 g) unsalted butter soften
- ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar sifted
- ½ cup (60 g) powdered milk
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups (100 g) plain, unsweetened cornflakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 285ºF (140ºC) without the fan. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Dry Ingredients
- Add all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Mix well with a spoon, and set aside.
Wet Ingredients
- Add softened butter and powdered sugar to a large bowl. Whisk with a handheld mixer until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and mix well. Whisk in the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Finally, add in the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Pour in the cornflakes. Using a wooden spatula, mix everything well and break the cornflakes into smaller pieces as you go. The dough will be soft and not stick to your hands.
Bake
- Form 1-inch balls (2.5cm) and place them on the baking tray. They don't spread; you can put them near each other. Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Enjoy your freshly baked, fantastic cornflake cookies!
Notes
- Use the spoon and level method for cup measurements. This will avoid using excess ingredients than the recipe calls for.
- Use softened butter. It's when it's softer than room-temperature butter but still maintains its form, meaning it's not melting. It blends better with the other ingredients for these cornflake cookies.
- Break the cornflakes into smaller pieces. Do this with a wooden spatula when mixing them into the dough. You'll get a better contrasting texture throughout the cookies.
- Use a portable oven thermometer (like this one) for a more precise temperature reading.
Nutrition Facts
The nutrition facts provided are an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Originally published on Jun 10, 2018. Updated with improved text and pictures on Apr 6, 2024.
Anna says
Hi Bea,
I made this recipe and it was amazing. Glad I came across your website. However, just want to clarify. When I used the scoop and level and weighed 1.5 cups of flour, it wasn’t 195 g of flour but 295 g. So not sure if I’m wrong?
Bea & Marco says
Hi Anna! I'm happy to hear that you liked it, thanks for your feedback! In regards to the weight of the flour: Using a spoon, you spoon the flour into the cup (don't use the cup itself), without pressing at all, and let the flour fall in naturally. Once it's full, level it with the back of a knife. You should have 195g, more or less, but the difference is very minor, not until 100g. Personally, I prefer using a kitchen scale, especially in baking as it's more precise. Hope it helps!
Ginny says
Just wanted to say thank you for this wonderful recipe. It's indeed not overly sweet, I love it! 🙂
Bea says
Right? I’m happy to hear that you enjoy them as much as I do. Thanks!
Meizhen Lu says
Can i omit corn starch and replace with flour so that it will be crunchy?
Bea says
I haven't tried it but why not? 😁
Vivian Semeraro says
Hi, may I use regular flour instead? If yes, what would the ratio be to baking powder? Many thanks in advance!!!
Bea says
Hi Vivian, sorry I haven't tried so I cannot say for sure. Let me know how it goes if you try it.
Eileen says
Hi, may I know how long can we keep this cookies?
KY says
Hi Bea,
Can the self rising flour change to all-purpose flour ?
Bea says
Hi! Yes you can but you need to add leavening agent. Refer to my post on how to make your own self-rising flour at home using all purpose flour.
Min says
Hello! I have just tried making these. I doubled the recipe and substituted the corn starch with potato starch. The cookies were crunchy on initial bite but a little chewy on the inside. Is this how they should be? I do find my batter looking slightly more watery than the one in your video. Thank you 🙂
Bea says
Hi Min! These cookies are not supposed to be crunchy all the way like when biting into a biscuit/cracker. You could add a few more minutes of baking time to adjust them to you liking. Hope it helps 🙂
Kana says
Bea...do u have jam tart recipe..to share with 🙏
Bea says
I have strawberry cheese tart recipe, do check it out 😉
sameeha says
hi bea. can i make cookies without candied cherries??? i've got all the ingredients excpt em. will it make any differance wth the flavour??
Bea says
Yes you can Sameeha, skip the candied cherries. No problem at all. Let me know how it goes 🙂
sameeha says
thank you bea for the quick reply😊, of ourse i'm gonna try today. sorry for posting the same question twice.
Bea says
No problem Sameeha, I don't mind at all. 🙂
sameeha says
woww you are soo sweet😍😍. and i made the cookies and they came out perfectly. it was crunchy as well as soft enough to melt in my mouth. kudos for u for teaching a lovely recipe.
Bea says
I'm so happy to know that you loved them Sameeha! They are the simplest cookies to make, right? And they are yummy! Thank you for trying my recipe and putting your kind words here Sameeha! 🙂
Sameeha says
Hi bea. Can i skip the candied cherries? Bcoz ryt now i gt everything in my hnd except cherries.
Bea says
Hi Sameeha. Yes of course you can. The candied cherries are just for a red touch on top. No problem at all. I hope you'll like the cookies 🙂