13 Easy Cookies You Can Make with Pantry Staples You Have On Hand

When you want a fast, homemade treat without having to run to the store, these cookies are a lifesaver. They come together easily, and you probably have everything you need right in your own pantry. I keep these recipes on hand for those lazy rainy weekends when I want to do a fun project with the kids, or for a last-minute treat to serve company. 

1. Sugar Sprinkle Cookies

These rainbow-colored cookies are the ideal treat for the kids, and will appeal to your inner child too. Plus, you only need to walk to your pantry, not the supermarket, to get all of the ingredients you need. Each delicious morsel has a soft, sugar cookie base with plenty of butter, vanilla, and brown sugar, and a colorful crown of multi-colored sprinkles. If you have smaller sprinkles, feel free to mix them into the batter for an even more festive touch.

2. Mint Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

A sophisticated and simple cookie? Sign me up! These mint-green marvels are excellent for company or a nice self-care treat anytime. With a decadent, buttery shortbread base and delicate mint and chocolate flavors, they’re absolutely scrumptious. You’ll need just a handful of ingredients, including softened butter, flour, powdered sugar, chocolate chips, and a touch of mint extract and green food coloring. If you don’t have the green food coloring, don’t worry; the cookies will taste just as good without the subtle green coloring.

3. Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut butter cookies have the unique power to transport me directly back to childhood, and these nostalgic morsels are some of the best that I’ve ever made. With a beautiful balance of smooth peanut butter and warm brown sugar, marked with the standard crosshatch pattern of fork marks, these cookies are a family favorite. Plus, you only need to bake them for ten minutes, and your home will be full of the sweet aroma of fresh cookies. 

4. Sheet Pan Sugar Cookie Bars

These sheet pan bars hit a lot of high notes for me. They’re portable, store well, are full of rich sugar cookie flavor, and I can make them anytime from common kitchen ingredients. The base is vanilla-scented and buttery, with the slightest sprinkle of sea salt for a bit of contrast. I spread a thick layer of frosting on top, and finish up with some cheery sprinkles for a treat with tons of textural contrast and flavor. Use homemade or store-bought frosting for these final touches.

5. Overnight Oats Cookies

You can enjoy these decadent cookies if you have seven common ingredients and a bit of time. You’ll need just a few minutes of actual hands-on time, because your refrigerator does the rest. Combine quick oats, brown sugar, and oil in a bowl and let them sit overnight, then add an egg, vanilla extract, salt, and cinnamon the following day. Bake 15 minutes and enjoy moist and delicious oatmeal cookies with very little effort required.

6. 4-Ingredient Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies

Four pantry-staple ingredients and about 15 minutes are all you need to turn out luscious, fudgy cookies studded with melted chocolate pieces. I love this recipe because it makes clever use of shortcut ingredients, like chocolate cake mix, and kitchen mainstays like butter and eggs. Add in chopped chocolate for a gooey surprise in every bite, and you have a better-than-the-bakery treat.

7. Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

These cookies celebrate that classic combination of peanut butter and banana in a sweet and light treat laced with notes of brown sugar and vanilla. It’s also an excellent way to use up ripe bananas and sneak a little Vitamin B6 and potassium into your dessert. You’ll need standard ingredients like brown sugar, butter, eggs, flour, baking soda, and salt, some mashed banana, a bit of creamy peanut butter, and vanilla extract. I like to sprinkle in some extra salt to offset the sweetness and add flavor layers.

8. M&M Cookies

M&Ms give your standard chocolate chip cookies a fun glow-up, and the combination of sweet candy shell and warm milk chocolate pairs perfectly with the tasty sugar cookie base. You’ll just need flour, baking powder and baking soda, salt, brown and white sugars, eggs, vanilla, and a sprinkle of salt for the base. Then comes the fun part. Stir in your M&M candies so that each cookie is full of sweet chocolate morsels. If you don’t have M&Ms, regular chocolate chips will certainly do in a pinch.

9. Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

This cookie is another example of how shortcut ingredients can cut down on your kitchen time and save you from having to head to the grocery store. You’ll need strawberry cake mix and any kind of vanilla icing for these cookies, plus vegetable oil and two eggs. Sprinkles amp up the presentation and give you whimsical treats bursting with sweet strawberry and vanilla flavors. 

10. Quick and Easy Nutella Cookies

You’ll need six ingredients for these chocolatey, hazelnut-scented cookies that are full of creamy Nutella. They’re a fun riff on your more standard chocolate cookies, and they go from pantry to plate in roughly half an hour. Combine a cup of Nutella with flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and an egg, roll into uniform-sized balls, and bake for ten to twelve minutes until done. I love making a batch of these on the weekend and enjoying them all week.

11. Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies

Sometimes the simple classics are the best, as these easy, soft, and chewy sugar cookies prove. You can transform the seven standard ingredients: flour, butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt, into decadent morsels that melt in your mouth. I add an extra egg yolk to make them extra soft and delicious, and roll them in a bit of white sugar for a crispy outside. 

12. Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie Bars

These PB&J cookie bars are some of the most-requested treats in my house, and I love that I can whip them up with the ingredients that I have on hand. You can use any kind of jelly that you’d like. The base is a simple brown sugar and peanut butter mixture with a touch of vanilla and salt, layered with the jelly and baked to perfection. Cut the bars into individual pieces and enjoy the perfect, portable, nostalgic snack. 

13. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love these treats because they combine two of my favorite things: oatmeal cookies and sweet chocolate, and they’re simple to put together with items you have in your pantry. Rolled oats meet a buttery, vanilla base, then get an extra shot of sweetness from both semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips. The result is a cookie with tons of delightful textures and layers of flavors, that’s just like your childhood classic, but better.

These recipes are some of my all-time favorites, and you don’t need to make a grocery store run for ingredients. They’re simple, fool-proof, and turn common pantry and refrigerator staples into dessert gold! Try one or a few of these recipes and you’re sure to find a new favorite.