| Cereal Cookies | |
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If you have kids you probably have cereal. And chances are that sometimes you have cereal that ends up being thrown out — bits leftover at the bottom of the bag, or those mistaken purchases that no one will eat. I found an easy way to salvage that old cereal and even get the kids to eat the "yucky" stuff. Make cookies. Mixed with a little cookie dough, cereal takes on a new life. Now I'm no great cook, but even my cereal cookies were acceptable to my kids. I haven't tried every type of cereal yet, but so far the results have all been edible — with some favored more than others. If you have a large box of uneaten cereal I'd recommend making only a small batch of the cookies first to "test the waters." If the kids still won't touch it, maybe that's a box that you need to feed to the birds or the garbage disposal. Here's my basic recipe but you can fiddle around with it to fit your own tastes. I rarely make it the same way twice myself. Jacci's Cereal Cookies Directions Makes 1 1/2 to 2 dozen cookies.
Serving suggestion: Top baked cookie with a dollop of strawberry jam or peach preserves. Heat for 30 seconds in microwave. Yummy! About the author: Jacci Bear is a work-at-home mother of four and is also the About Guide to Austin, Texas where she sometimes writes about traditional Texas foods including chili, iced tea, and pecans. (And the kids serve as the taste-testers/food critics.)
• 1/2 cup sugar*
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1 egg
• 3 Tbls orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups of cereal (or cereal plus**)
* decrease sugar by 1/4 or 1/2 if using a heavily sugar-coated cereal.
** if using plain cereal (such as corn or bran flakes), you might want to add chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds, or raisins. Feel free to combine different cereals in one batch of cookies.