If you’re looking for a cute and festive cookie recipe to try this holiday season, these adorable penguin cookies are here to waddle into your kitchen and steal the show!

Made with a chewy base of rice crispy treats and crushed Oreos, these no-bake cookies are decorated to look just like the cutest little penguins using melted chocolate and candy eyes.

They’re the perfect holiday dessert for kids’ parties, school events, or just a fun kitchen project to enjoy on a chilly day. No oven, no stress, just sweet, snowy-day fun!

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Why You’ll Love These Rice Crispy Penguin Cookies

Unique flavor combo: The mix of gooey marshmallow, crunchy cereal, and chocolatey Oreos gives every bite that cookies-and-cream-meets-rice-krispie magic.

A fun Christmas cookie alternative – forget reindeer treats or snowmen snacks, they’re so least season. These penguin cookies are the way to go!

No-bake & kid-friendly – grab a handful of simple ingredients, some edible decorations and you’re good to go! My kids loved making these, the older ones needed no help to assemble them at all.

Perfect for parties: These penguin cookies are a guaranteed hit at holiday gatherings, cookie swaps, or classroom celebrations.

Make-ahead friendly: Prepare them in advance and store until you’re ready to serve.

Penguin Rice Krispie Treat Ingredients

10 ounces mini marshmallows
6 cups rice cereal
5 tablespoons of butter plus extra for dish and spatula
8 Oreo cookies
Vanilla extract

To decorate:

3 ounces white melting chocolate
1 ounces orange melting chocolate
Eyeball sprinkles
Black food gel color

See more holiday recipes here:

How To Make Penguin Rice Krispie Cookies

Spread butter around the sides of your dish and then line it with a sheet of parchment paper. Be sure the parchment paper hangs over both sides of the dish, so it will be easy to lift the rice crispy treats out.

Grind or crush Oreos using a coffee grinder or place them in a Ziplock and mash them with a rolling pin. Set them aside for later.

Melt the butter in the pan over low/medium heat.

Add about 3/4 of the marshmallows, the vanilla extract, and 2-3 drops of black food gel color to the melted butter.

Tip: Don’t use more than 3 drops of black food gel as it can turn your tongue a darker color when eating them. This isn’t harmful, but good to keep in mind for those Christmas photos!

Slowly stir the mixture until it is melted and everything is black.

Next, add in the crushed chocolate sandwich cookies and the rest of the marshmallows into the pan, then stir them into the already melted marshmallow mixture.

Remove the pot from the heat, quickly add in the rice cereal and use a spatula to fold the cereal into the marshmallows mixture until everything in combined.

Pour the rice cereal mixture into the parchment lined dish.

Smooth and even out the rice cereal treats using a buttered spatula to prevent sticking.

Using the round cutter, cut circles out of the rice cereal slab.

Combine leftover rice cereal pieces to make more circles and continue until all of the mixture is used up.

Heat up the white chocolate melts in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, in a microwave safe bowl until it is completely melted. Put the melted chocolate in a piping bag and cut a small hole on the tip.

To decorate the penguin, start by piping a heart shaped outline at the top of the cereal treat and once you reach the bottom of the treat make it round instead of a point. Now fill in the shape with the rest of the chocolate.

Add the eye sprinkles to the to treats while the chocolate is still wet. Place them at the top of the rice cereal treats. Let them sit about 8 minutes to dry.

For extra cuteness, draw eyelashes with a food-grade pen onto the eye sprinkles for “girly” penguin cookies!

Following the same directions as above, melt and bag the orange chocolate melts.

Now pipe a small orange triangle under the eyes to be the penguin’s beak. Let the Penguins sit out for about 3 minutes to dry.

Serve and Enjoy!

Storage Instructions For Penguin Rice Krispie Treats

To keep your penguin cookies fresh and festive, follow these simple storage tips:

Room Temperature

Store these rice crispy cookies at room temperature in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days. Line the container with a sheet of parchment paper to prevent sticking.

In The Fridge

While you could technically refrigerate these rice crispy penguin cookies, I don’t recommend it. The fridge will harden these cute penguin-themed cookies, making them difficult to chew.

Freezing is not advisable!

More no-bake recipes to try this Christmas: