Fruity Pebbles Cookies

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

Some recipes really frustrate me, and this one one seemed like it should've been pretty straight forward but I had to make so many versions of these fruity pebble cookies before I was satisfied with the recipe. I tried versions of them with white chocolate, marshmallows, pudding mix, cornstarch, and all white sugar. None of them were quite right. But this recipe is perfection.

Here’s why you’ll love these cookies:

• Fast and easy—under 20 minutes to make
• No chilling required
• Crispy exterior with soft and chewy centers
• Loaded and coated in fruity pebbles
• Smaller batch—just a dozen cookies—double the recipe to make more!

These fruity pebbles cookies have sugar cookie base with a hint of lemon zest and cream cheese. The lemon zest amplifies the fruity flavor and the cream cheese in the dough keeps these soft and adds a subtle tang that helps cut through the sweetness.

I originally loved the idea of adding white chocolate chips and marshmallows into the dough but found them to be overwhelmingly sweet. By leaving them out it really lets the fruity pebbles shine in these sugar cookies. These fruity pebbles cookies are rolled in extra fruity pebbles and sugar you end up with a crisp outer shell  that protects the soft, chewy center of these cookies.

Ingredient Notes

• Butter. Butter adds a great flavor and keeps the fruity pebbles cookies tender. You can use salted or unsalted butter.
• Cream Cheese. Cream cheese keeps the cookies soft and adds a subtle tang that helps balance out the sweetness of these cookies.
• Sugar. We use mostly white sugar for a classic sugar cookie flavor.
• Lemon Zest. A little lemon zest helps bump up the fruity flavor that the fruity pebbles cereal brings to the cookies.
• Brown Sugar. A little bit of brown sugar adds moisture, and the molasses in the brown sugar adds depth to the flavor profile. We used light brown sugar.
• Vanilla. A little vanilla adds bakery flavor.
• Egg. Egg works as binder. We used large eggs.
• Salt. Salt helps enhance flavors and balance out the sweetness.
• Baking Soda. Baking soda helps the cookies crisp, brown, and rise.
• Flour. We used all-purpose flour for the body of our cookie dough.
• Fruity Pebbles. Fruity pebbles add a crisp fruity flavors. We used Post Fruity Pebbles, but feel free to use an off brand.

How to Make this Recipe

1. Rub zest into sugar. in a medium-sized bowl, add the granulated sugar and lemon zest. Rub the zest into the sugar. This will help the oils release better.
2. Cream until light. Add the (lemon-zested) sugar, butter, and cream cheese into a mixing bowl and beat together for 1 minute until smooth. Then add in the vanilla, egg, and brown sugar. Beat on high for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

3. Add dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to your creamed mixture. Mix on low until just barely incorporated.
4. Add fruity pebbles. Stir in the fruity pebbles cereal until it’s evenly dispersed. You should have a soft dough.

5. Roll dough. Scoop ¼ cup of dough shape into a ball. Roll the cookie dough in fruity pebbles (picture 5a) and then roll it in sugar (picture 5b).

6. Bake. Place cookie dough on a baking sheet. Leave plenty of room for the cookies to spread. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 9-11 minutes. Cool completely before eating.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Expert Tips

• Use room temperature ingredients. It’s best to use room temperature butter, cream cheese, and eggs. They’ll incorporate best with the other ingredients at room temperature.
• Measure ingredients carefully. Measure the ingredients carefully before you add them. I’ve included the weights of the ingredients because that’s how I prefer to measure my ingredients for accuracy. If you’re not using a scale, spoon and level the flour, refer to our guide on how to measure flour if you need more guidance. Make sure the brown sugar is packed.
• Don’t over mix the dough. Once you add in the flour do not over mix the dough. Gluten can start to develop and make the cookies tough. When you add in the cereal, stir it in gently.
• Cool completely. These cookies are best when completely cool. The fruity pebbles cereal kind of tastes stale to me if you eat these while warm. The cereal crisps back up as it cools, for a perfect crisp exterior.

Recipe Variations

Feel free to try out some variations of these fruity pebbles cookie recipe! You can swap the lemon zest for orange zest, add in white chocolate or mini marshmallows. Stuff the center with a large marshmallow like my marshmallow chocolate chip cookies.

You can also try swapping out the cereal in this recipe. If you’re using an non-fruity flavored cereal I would omit the lemon zest. If you use a larger cereal, like cinnamon toast crunch, crush up the cereal into smaller pieces before measuring and adding.

How to Store this Recipe

These fruity pebbles cookies are best stored at room temperature and eaten within 3 days.

Freezer

You can freeze the cookie dough and the cookies. To freeze the cookie dough, roll the cookie dough into balls and then in the fruity pebbles and sugar. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze for 1 hour. Then transfer to a freezer gallon bag or an airtight container. To bake the cookie dough, thaw the cookie dough to room temperature, then bake according to normal instructions. Use within 3 months.

To freeze these fruity pebbles cookies, cool the cookies completely, then place in a freezer gallon bag or an airtight container. Store in the freezer for up to three months. Thaw completely before eating.

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