I haven’t had homemade cookies in the house for a while. My only explanation is…I eat too many of them. I can’t help it. They caaaalllll to me from their tupperware prison. I’m not making this up.
So I wanted to inject a little bit of health into what I know will turn into a feeding frenzy of cookie love. But before I go on, have I told you all that Kashi Go Lean is my absolute favorite cereal (no one is paying me to say that)? I have loved it forever. I don’t like the crunch one, it’s too sweet for me. But the Go Lean…I love. And here’s the thing, it really is a super-healthy cereal. A crazy amount of protein and fiber in every serving with barely any sugar. Now, if i would just stop enjoying it with whole milk it would be perfect.
Funny thing is, I don’t eat cereal for breakfast. I eat eggs. But I often have Kashi Go Lean as an afternoon snack. It’s satisfying. I even use it in my vanilla Greek yogurt instead of granola. It has the perfect crunch and is far less in calories.
So, I usually use 4 cups of chocolate chips in my chocolate chip cookies. With these I halved my chips and used two cups of Kashi Go Lean instead. My kids said they were one of the best cookies I had ever made. Please know they do not like dark chocolate or healthy cereal. So wow, I certainly surprised them.
The cereal gave the cookies a chewy interior. Without knowing what was in there, you would be under the impression you were eating a chocolate chip cookie with lots of texture and a bit of complexity.
And the sea salt, don’t leave this out. It is an absolute must when it comes to accenting the chocolate and experiencing the whole sweet and salty combo. It’s magical.
I have had to place the cookies on lock-down, from me and the kids. The urge to just go and grab one or ten with a big glass of milk is kind of overwhelming. I think the sea salt kind of adds to the madness. I do love my salt.
The trick to making a cookie that isn’t flat as a pancake is refrigerating the cookie balls for an hour before baking them off. Also, take them out of the oven a couple minutes early to finish cooking on the pan but not in the oven. This leaves the edges perfectly brown and not overdone.
Dark Chocolate-Sea Salt Kashi Cereal Cookies
Ingredients
- 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup packed golden brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, cold
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups dark chocolate chips
- 2 cups Kashi Go Lean cereal
- 1-1/2 Tablespoons sea salt
Directions
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and two sugars until mixed bu not fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix well. Add vanilla and continue to mix.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and Kashi Go Lean until fully incorporated.
- Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Roll cookies into Tablespoon sized balls and place all on one baking sheet. Sprinkle each cookie ball with sea salt. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake 12 cookies at a time on a rimmed baking sheet covered in parchment. (Put the uncooked ones back in the fridge to stay cold.) Bake for about 13-15 minutes or until almost done. Let them finish cooking on the pan out of the oven for 5-7 minutes more. Remove to a cooling rack. Repeat with other cookies.
Enjoy!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
These sound crazy-good!! Yum!
Cathy says
Thanks!
leslie says
Ohhh Yummy. Cookies call me too!
Sea salt is a must on the majority of the cookies I make!
Cathy says
The salt makes it addicting.
Rita says
These look delicious and I’d love to try them. Quick question though: The directions references two sugars and ingredients lists one. I’m guessing there should be 1c. white sugar, too?
Cathy says
Thanks for catching that, just added the other sugar..1/2 cup.
natalie@thesweetslife says
i don’t eat cereal for bfast either but that is one of my fave cereals!! great use of it đŸ™‚
Cathy says
Thanks Natalie!
Terry Covington says
Cathy, these look wonderful. I recently made the granola chocolate chip cookies from the “White on Rice” blog, which have dried apricots and cranberries in them, and they were amazing. But these look just as great. Having been an inveterate cookie baker for many years (especially when we lived on a small post in Germany and I baked cookies for many young soldiers), your tips at the end about refrigerating and then letting the cookies finish baking on the sheet for a couple of minutes out of the oven are really great tips. I also had to smile, because cookies “call to me,” too — so I usually only bake them now if at least two-thirds of them are leaving the house for some reason to be given to somebody. đŸ™‚ Thanks for the great recipe — I was recently looking back over your recipe index and found so very many excellent recipes. I really appreciate your blog.
Cathy says
Thanks Terry, I appreciate it.
Mary Hansen says
Cathy, seriously. You’re either my long lost twin or my soul mate. Kashi is my fav cereal, but I have eggs for breakfast and eat my cereal mixed with my homemade vanilla Greek yogurt. Ok, enough of that, I’m off to bake some of these cookies now!
Cathy says
Mary that is hilarious. You will love these cookies then. Let’s get together soon for all-Kashi themed meal…ha-ha.
Jeremy Norton says
This looks really yummy and super healthy as well. Absolutely perfect for the kids.
K.Young says
These look fabulous. And that is my favorite cereal, too! I don’t like the Crunch type either.
Laura @ Family Spice says
ha! ha! Yeah, the crunchy Kashi kills my jaw! I’ve added pretzels, marshmallows and wheat bran to my cookies, but never Kashi cereal. What a great idea!
Cathy says
Thanks Laura, what’s great is the Kashi remains crunchy so it is a great textural change.
Jackie says
Hi Cathy
Why are you using cold eggs in this recipe, I thought in baking eggs, butter and liquids should be at room temperature.
Cathy says
Room temp is a little too warm for baking ingredients, which is why butter should be “softened” but not brought to room temp. However, for this recipe, it’s all about keeping things cold so your cookies don’t end up flat in the oven. This is why we chill the dough for an hour before baking. There is no reason to warm up the eggs only to make them cold again. However, the butter has to be softened to be able to work with.
Mary Hansen says
Seriously. Made the cookies and now can’t stay out of them!! Dave and Sydney both absolutely LOVE them, too. Great recipe!!
Cathy says
They are so addicting…I think it’s the sea salt. Freeze them…and enjoy one at a time.
danielle says
What a great idea!
Christie says
These are delicious! I bought a box of Go a Lean Crunch at Costco….oops. Too sweet and to hard! I pulsed it the food processor, cut back on white sugar by 1/4 cup and used in this recipe and cookies are delicious! Great use of cereal no one wanted to eat:)
Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen says
I love that I am not the only one who hears Cookies Calling for them to be eaten!!! I think every cookie in the world wants me to eat it!!! These don’t even look healthy, they just look tasty!!!
Janet says
What about nutritional values, I don’t see either he recipe.
I am trying to help my mom who has gastric ulcers, get more fiber, less fat, and enjoy something that is a healthier option.
Cynthia Virtue says
I use the recipe calculator at SparkPeople to do this. You don’t need an account if you don’t plan to save the results for later.
Cynthia Virtue says
Thanks for recipe – I bought the cereal since we like another Kashi type, but it didn’t go over with the family, so I need to use it up (I can’t stand throwing out good food.)
Question: your lovely photo shows about 30 cookies on the baking sheet, but the recipe says 12 at a time. Do they spread a lot? Was the number on the sheet changed after you took the photo?
Thanks!