Cornflake Holly Leaf Cookies

Holly leaf cookies made with marshmallows, cornflakes, and green food coloring, plus cinnamon red hot “holly berries” on top. The easiest no bake cornflake holly cookies for Christmas!

What Inspired These Holly Leaf Cookies?

Growing up in a close-knit neighborhood in Central Pennsylvania, I logged as many hours at the next door neighbors’ house as I did at my own. And some of my strongest memories of this friendship are connected to food—picking blueberries from the bushes in their backyard, popping popcorn for the neighborhood circus, making ‘snow’ ice cream in a coffee can.

At Christmas, my neighbors created an elaborate holiday cookie assortment that bore absolutely no resemblance to the gingerbread men and cinnamon-sugar sand tarts on my own family’s tray of holiday goodies. There were frosted, stocking-shaped sugar cookies, marmalade sandwiches, hermit cookies, and lemon bars, but the holly leaves were the best of all.

Some 40 years later, no Christmas season would be complete without a batch of holly leaf cookies. Made with cornflakes, marshmallows, butter, cinnamon red hot candies, and bright green food coloring, these no-bake drop cookies are easy for anyone with basic kitchen skills to prepare, and absolutely impossible to resist!

Ingredients for Making Holly Leaf Christmas Cookies

To make these holly leaf cookies, you’ll need the following:

• Butter – Unsalted butter works best. And don’t worry about softening, since you’ll start by melting it on the stovetop.
• Marshmallows – You’ll need 200 grams, or 7 ounces, of marshmallows. This should equal roughly 28 US-sized “large” marshmallows, but I suggest working by weight rather than volume, since marshmallow sizes vary from brand to brand, and UK marshmallows run smaller than their US counterparts.

• Vanilla Extract – I recommend a good-quality vanilla extract from a brand such as Nielsen-Massey.
• Green Gel Food Coloring – I tinted my cereal mixture with Chefmaster’s Leaf Green gel coloring.
• Cornflakes – You can use any kind of generic cornflakes cereal; no need to stick to a specific brand. And save the rest—they’re great for making these cornflake Christmas wreaths, too!
• Cinnamon Red Hots – I recommend using classic cinnamon red hot candies to form the “berries,” but other types of red candy will work, too. See my suggestions below.

Shaping and Garnishing Cornflake Holly Cookies

To create the holly leaf shapes, use a tablespoon or dessert spoon to spoon the warm cornflake-marshmallow mixture onto a tray lined with a silicone mat:

Then, press a few red candies on top of each mound. (Work quickly! Once the marshmallow cools, the candies won’t adhere to the cereal.)

I prefer to use classic cinnamon red hot candies (sometimes also sold as “cinnamon imperials” or “cinnamon imperial hearts”) for the “berries.” If you can’t find these, or don’t care for cinnamon, replace the red hots with red M&Ms, red Skittles, red jelly beans, or red pearl sprinkles instead.

Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions

Layer cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Other Christmas cookie recipes you might enjoy:

Gingerbread Cookies
Peppermint Meringues
Pennsylvania Dutch Sand Tarts
Snowflake Sugar Cookies
Candy Cane Cookies

And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!

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