crunchy nut cookies

inspired by THE cereal

What I’m reading: May We Be Forgiven, by A.M Homes. This book is extremely dark. I spent half of it laughing out loud and half physically shuddering - it’s highly ironic while also being kind of sincere and completely unserious. I recommend but brace yourself :)

What I’m listening to: Alison Roman’s newest podcasts (Solicited Advice)

What I’m eating: a fried chicken sandwich - the latest collab between Ragtag and Beabea’s (below). I picked these up on my day off and delivered them to the girls at Mor. We ate them in the carpark and they were EXCEPTIONALLY good.

This recipe has been a long time coming. My favourite cereal when I was growing up was Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Feast, which I believe has re-branded as Crunchy Nut Clusters. This was the ultimate treat: I distinctly remember eating it from a mug (with milk, of course) while watching Drake and Josh - just to give you an idea of how enduring my affinity for this cereal is.

I was reminded of this cereal the other day while doing my weekly food shop. I spotted the box just after I had picked up a jar of my fave peanut butter (Pic’s crunchy), and the idea landed in my head fully formed - a “Crunchy Nut Feast” cookie, with cornflakes and toasty roasty chopped peanuts.

I started with my current fave choc chip cookie recipe (which you’ll find here, if you missed it). I didn’t brown the butter though, as I didn’t feel it was necessary - I wanted to focus on crunchy, chewy, nutty, salty flavours and textures for this particular cookie. I replaced 20% of the butter with 40% peanut butter (as in, ended up with a greater total amount of butter), and incorporated it at the start with both sugars. I ramped up the brown sugar, but replaced dark with light brown, as I didn’t want to overpower the delicate cornflakes. I replaced around 14% of the dry ingredients with cornflakes and roasted chopped peanuts. I did consider using the actual Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, but I thought that the result would be too sweet - that cereal is yummy but it is also very sugary. I increased the baking soda slightly to encourage more of a spread, which led to a chewier cookie.

I rolled each portioned cookie in lightly crushed cornflakes and nuts before chilling - and of course, kept the Maldon salt sprinkle before baking.

This was one of those rare occasions where the recipe turned out well the first time. I had calculated the substitutions off the top of my head, and was surprised when I didn’t have to make any alterations. The ultimate test was when my flatmate Sophie came into the kitchen: I asked her to tell me the first thing that came to mind when she ate one of the freshly baked cookies, and her immediate response was “Crunchy Nut Clusters”. Full marks, Soph.

Anyway, you’ll find the recipe below. These will keep in the freezer just like the emergency choc chip cookies - and I don’t think you could go too far wrong having some of each in the freezer at all times.

recipe: crunchy nut cookies