Best M&M Cookies
Bringing you the best M&M Cookies! These delicious cookies have a slightly crisp exterior and a soft and chewy center, brightened up with our favorite chocolate candies. The perfect cookies to bring to parties, picnics or potlucks, or just enjoy for a special snack.
Best M&M Cookies!
Sometimes you just need a good cookie in your life! When I’m in the mood to bake, I either make my family favorite chewy chocolate chip cookies or this spin-off M&M cookie recipe. These are my kids’ top choice and I love them too! These M&M Cookies take chocolate chip cookies to the next level with delicious and crunchy M&M’s and a dough that bakes up soft and chewy on the inside and perfectly crispy on the outside.
You guys are going to love these fun and colorful M&M Cookies!
Ingredients For The Perfect M&M Cookies:
The ingredient list is very simple and includes all of those that you’d expect to find in M&M cookies. It’s the ratio of ingredients that’s important!
- Flour. All-purpose flour is my top choice for the best chewy cookies. It gives the cookies a tenderness that you just won’t find when using other types of flour. Measure the flour the correct way by the spoon & level method. Instead of scooping the flour out of the bag with your measuring cup, use a spoon to add the flour into the measuring cup. Then, without packing the flour down or tapping the measuring cup, use the back of a knife to level off the top. I’ve also included the measurements in grams. If you have a food scale, that is the most accurate way to measure ingredients.
- Baking soda and baking powder. Be sure that the baking soda and baking powder is fresh and not expired. Many cookie recipes only use baking soda. I’ve found that a mixture of both, for this recipe, gave the cookies the perfect texture.
- Salt. A small amount of salt is VERY important to balance the sweetness of baked goods.
- Unsalted butter. I always use unsalted butter, so I can control the amount of salt going into a recipe. Be sure your butter is softened to room temperature, so that it combines properly with the sugars. Room temperature butter is still a bit cool to the touch and it should indent slightly when you press on it with your finger. Take butter out of the refrigerator about 1 hour before beginning your recipe.
- Sugar. A mix of brown and white sugar is a MUST in M&M cookies! More brown sugar than white sugar ensures a soft and chewy cookie.
- Eggs. Eggs act as a binder in the dough. Two eggs give these cookies a rich flavor and a soft and chewy texture. Room temperature eggs will combine best with the other ingredients.
- Vanilla extract. Do NOT forget the vanilla. And use pure vanilla extract, not imitation. It’s worth it!
- M&M’s. For these M&M Cookies, I used the regular milk chocolate M&M’s. Feel free to experiment and try your favorite flavors and use your favorite colors!
How Do You Make Chewy M&M Cookies?
This chewy M&M cookie recipe is simple, straightforward and will be your new go-to! Just follow these easy steps…
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugars. In a separate mixing bowl, use a stand mixer or a hand mixer and beat the softened butter and sugars on medium speed until combined and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add eggs and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until just combined. With the last egg, add in vanilla extract.
- Add in the dry ingredients. Turn the mixer to low speed and gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture.
- Fold in the M&M’s. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed and fold in the M&M’s until they are evenly combined.
- Scoop dough balls. Use a large spoon or cookie scoop to make dough balls. The dough doesn’t have to be perfectly formed into balls. Drop the cookie dough balls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. The cookies, pictured, are about 2 tablespoons of dough. This will make medium-sized cookies.
- Bake. Cookies will bake for about 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven right when edges start getting golden. The centers may look slightly undercooked, but they will continue to cook even after they are removed from the oven.
- Cool cookies. While the cookies are still warm, press a few extra M&M’s into the tops, if desired. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to continue to cool.
- Enjoy! Serve while still warm and gooey. Or enjoy them after they’ve completely cooled. In my personal opinion, I love them even more after they’ve cooled. This is when the edges get a little crispy and the inside is super soft. Either way… yum!
Does The Dough Need To Be Chilled?
This cookie dough doesn’t necessarily need to be chilled before baking. As long as your butter is not too soft and your kitchen is not too warm, these M&M cookies will bake up just fine without being chilled.
When I was experimenting with this recipe, I tried baking the cookies without chilling the dough, chilling the dough for 30 minutes and chilling the dough several hours. The cookies were wonderful all three ways. However, I really enjoyed the cookies that I chilled for several hours. I noticed that the longer I chilled them, the more thick and chewier they were.
Chilling the dough. You can chill the dough before scooping out dough balls or after you’ve placed the dough balls on the baking sheet. Refrigerate dough for approximately 2-3 hours and up to 3-4 days. If you are going to chill dough any longer than 3 hours, I would suggest transferring it to an airtight container.
Tips For The Most Perfect Chewy M&M Cookies:
There are tons of tips and tricks for baking M&M cookies, but follow the suggestions below and you’re sure to have the BEST M&M cookies of your life!
- Bake time + temp. Baking at 365ºF or 185ºC will guarantee your cookies melt at the perfect speed to get those crispy edges with a soft and chewy center -the MOST epic cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending how gooey you like the centers. Keep in mind, cookies continue to bake even after they are removed from the oven. Also, your bake time will vary depending on the size of your cookie. I baked my cookies the full 12 minutes with awesome results.
- Don’t over mix. If you over mix the ingredients in this cookie recipe you may end up with flat cookies that don’t have the optimal tender crumb.
- Don’t over bake. I recommend experimenting with a couple of cookies before baking the entire recipe. This will help you find that sweet spot when it comes to baking time in your oven and your preferred gooeyness level. My daughter really liked the cookies baked for only 10 minutes because she likes a cookie that has a more doughy center. I like a soft, but more set center, so 12 minutes was perfect for me.
- Chill the dough. As mentioned previously, these cookies bake up fine without taking the time to chill the dough. However, we preferred the texture of these cookies when I chilled the dough for 2 hours. The chilling process really helped to make these cookies extra thick and chewy.
- Extra M&M’s. Adding several more M&M’s on top of the cookies while they are still warm will make them look extra fun and colorful!
- Bake on parchment or silicone. Parchment or better yet a silicone baking mat makes for the most perfect cookies. Greasing the baking sheet creates an overly greasy foundation, which will cause the cookies to spread too much. Silicone baking mats will grip onto the bottom of your cookies to prevent them from spreading too much. The mats also promote even browning.
How to Store M&M Cookies
CAN YOU MAKE M&M COOKIES AHEAD? HOW TO FREEZE COOKIE DOUGH AND COOKIES?
Freezing cookie dough. This cookie dough recipe freezes beautifully. I love having cookie dough already mixed up, so I can bake a special treat whenever the craving hits or we host an impromptu get together.
Scoop out balls of cookie dough. Place the cookie dough in a freezer-safe baggie and freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months.
Thawing dough. When you’re ready to bake cookies, remove the dough balls from the freezer, set them on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat and let them thaw. Once they are close to room temperature (after about 1-2 hours) bake as directed in the recipe.
Bake from frozen. Baking from frozen will work just fine. The tops of your cookies may darken a bit more, but they will still be fabulous. Follow all of the cooking instructions, but add a minute or two onto the bake time.
Make ahead cookie dough. If you are wanting to prep just several days ahead, you can keep cookie dough in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezing baked cookies. Already-baked M&M Cookies freeze very well. Store in a freezer-safe container or baggie and freeze the cookies for up to 3 months.
Storing baked cookies. Baked cookies will keep in an airtight container or zip-top baggie for about 1 week, but I can’t imagine them lasting that long!
Variation Ideas
I absolutely love classic M&M’s in these cookies, but other flavors would be amazing too! Dark chocolate, peanut butter, crispy, mint, or any other flavor would be great. It’s also fun to color coordinate the M&M Cookies with holidays. We always use red and green for Christmas, pink and red for Valentines and red, white and blue for the 4th of July.
Also, feel free to swap out half the M&M’s for chocolate chips, toffee bits or chopped nuts.
Beware, it’s really easy to eat about a dozen of these before you even realize what you just did. You only live once, so indulge and enjoy!
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
If you try this M&M cookie recipe, let me know! Leave a comment and if your family loves it as much as mine does, be sure to give it a five star ⭐️ rating! Also, tag @kimscravings on Instagram with a picture of your creation. It’s so fun to see what you’re cooking! Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive more healthy delicious recipes straight to your inbox.
Best M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cup (390g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup 2 sticks, (226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (288g) light or dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups M&M’s, plus more for tops, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 365ºF or 185ºC. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Add softened butter and sugars to a large mixing bowl and use an electric mixer to beat together on medium speed until combined and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until just combined. With the last egg, add in vanilla extract.
- On low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture. Fold in the M&M’s.
- Drop balls of cookie dough onto the lined cookie sheet. I use about 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie.
- Bake for 10-12 mins. Remove from the oven right when edges start getting golden.
- If desired, while the cookies are still warm, press a few extra M&M’s into the tops of each cookie. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
Photos by Sasha at Eat Love Eats.
Did you make this recipe?
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Can I freeze the dough
Yes, you can even bake these frozen. Just add a few minutes on to the cook time.
I have peanut butter M&M’s and want to add them to a chocolate cookie. Can I add cocoa powder to this recipe?
I haven’t tried it, so I can’t say for sure. I do have this chocolate cookie recipe >> https://www.kimscravings.com/double-chocolate-chip-cookies/ You could use the M&M’s instead of the chocolate chips.
These are some seriously good cookies, and I love that they’re packed full of M&Ms! Yummy!
These looks so delicious! My son will love these cookies!
I made this with my kids today! It was a HIT. This recipe is so easy, very kid friendly and so yummy!
wow M & M is my kids’ favorite snack. Your mm cookie recipe looks great, I surely like to try with my kids. thanks for sharing, bookmarking.
The trickiest part to making these is making sure your family doesn’t eat all the m&ms during the process, haha! We loved them!
We had fun making and eating these! So good and delicious!
These were so easy to make and tasted incredible. I absolutely loved making them.