Chewy M&M Cookies
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These soft and chewy M&M Cookies are everyone’s favorite. They are made like basic chocolate chip cookies with m&ms instead of chocolate chips. Make them regular, mini or extra large sized cookies for a little extra fun!
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M&M cookies are such a fun treat. These cookies are just basic chocolate chip cookies made with m&m’s instead of chocolate chips. The cookie base is actually the same base I used for these chocolate chip salted caramel cookies. They’re soft and chewy with crisp edges.
The wonderful thing about these chewy m&m cookies is you can make them regular sized or mini for extra cuteness! Or, if you want to do your best bake shop impression, make them extra large! All you have to do is switch up the size of the dough balls you make.
Start with my basic chocolate chip cookie dough. You’ll need butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, pure vanilla extract, flour, baking soda, and salt. And of course, m&m’s. Use the regular size m&m’s unless you plan to make mini cookies. The regular ones will be too big for mini cookies so grab the mini m&m’s instead.
To make these cookies a little chewier than typical chocolate chip cookies, we use baking soda instead of baking powder, and
With so many m&m holiday colors now – you can make these with red and green m&ms for Christmas, pink and red and white ones for Valentine’s Day, pastel ones for Easter, and any other holiday color combinations you (or they) dream up!
The dough will need to be refrigerated for at least two hours before baking. I like to make the dough the night before I plan to bake the cookies. This saves me so much time.
You can also keep these dough balls in the freezer and take them out and bake two or three at a time in a toaster oven. (I strongly discourage any of my readers from trying to eat just one cookie at a time!).
Recipe Snapshot
- TASTE: Classic chocolate chip flavored m&m cookie
- TEXTURE: Soft and chewy
- EASE: Easy!
- TIME: A little over a half hour, plus chilling time
What You’ll Need
Ingredients
- Butter: Unsalted butter makes the cookie taste rich in flavor and allows the cookies to brown.
- Sugar: Brown sugar will give the cookies a chewy texture while granulated sugar caramelizes and make the edges crisp.
- Eggs: Eggs also add richness and keep the cookies tender. This recipe calls for one whole egg and one egg yolk.
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract adds flavor. Try making your own with this recipe.
- Flour: All-purpose flour contains enough protein to add structure without toughening the cookies.
- Cornstarch: This a trick to help make the cookies just a little bit softer.
- Leavening: Baking soda is used to give the cookies rise and helps them develop a golden color.
- Salt: A little salt helps balance the sweetness. You can cut back on the amount used if desired. Sea salt is used here to add a little extra finishing flavor to the cookies.
- M&Ms: Use regular size m&ms if you are making regular or large cookies, or mini-sized ones for small cookies.
Recommended Tools
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheet
- Cookie scoop
How to Make Chewy M&M Cookies
These easy and delicious family-favorite cookies come together quickly and are fun to make. Before baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line the baking sheets with parchment paper.
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below
- Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt; stir with a whisk. Set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients. First, cream the butter and both sugar sugars together in a large bowl using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand-held mixer on low speed just until combined. Then add in the egg yolk, egg, and vanilla and mix.
- Make the dough. Mix the wet and dry ingredients just until well blended. Fold in the m&m’s.
- Prepare the cookies. Scoop and roll the cookie dough into 1 and ½ to 2 tablespoon-sized balls and place them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Bake. Gently press the top of each dough ball into the sea salt and return to the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown and just underdone.
- Cool and enjoy! Cool the cookies on the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
Handy Tip:
You can easily turn these regular sized m&m cookies into mini versions.
- Use mini m&m’s instead of the regular ones.
- Shape the dough into 1 teaspoon sized balls.
- Bake for 7 to 8 minutes.
Tips For Success
- Be sure to refrigerate the dough for no less than two hours. This will help keep the cookies from spreading and yield those super soft, chewy centers.
- Take care not to overbake the cookies. This is key to making sure the cookies are soft and chewy. The middle of the cookies should still be soft when you remove them from the oven. They will continue to cook as they cool on the cookie sheet.
- You can make regular size cookies with regular m&m’s or use mini m&m’s and make mini cookies. These are perfect for little hands or when you need more cookies to serve at a large gathering.
- Jazz up your cookies by using seasonal m&m’s!
Storage & Freezing
- The cookies will keep for up to one week stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
- The dough can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring the dough to room temperature and continue with step 3, skipping the instruction to refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
- Freeze unbaked cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature and bake as directed
M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups (260 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups (416 g) M&M’s
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt; stir with a whisk. Set aside.
- Beat the butter and both sugar sugars together in a large bowl using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand-held mixer on low speed just until combined.
- Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture just until well blended. Fold in the m&m’s.
- Roll cookie dough into 1 and ½ to 2 tablespoon sized balls and place them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Gently press the top of each dough ball into the sea salt and return to the baking sheet.
- Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown and just underdone.
- Cool the cookies on the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
- Use mini m&m’s instead of the regular ones.
- Shape the dough into 1 teaspoon-sized balls.
- Bake for 7 to 8 minutes.
- The cookies will keep for up to one week stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
- The dough can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring the dough to room temperature and continue with step 3, skipping the instruction to refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
- Freeze unbaked cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature and bake as directed
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided is for convenience and as a courtesy only. It is not guaranteed to be accurate because nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator and input the exact ingredients and brands you used in the recipe.
Has anybody tried these with peanut m&ms? I just happen to have a giant bag and I’m in a baking mood 🙂
I haven’t tried it but peanut m&m’s are quite large and may not be suitable for cookies.
Thanks for the recipe. I think they’re going to turn out well, but I suspect it should be 1 cup of M&M’s rather than 2. I used 2 and wound up with a bunch of doughless M&M’s in the bottom of the bowl. I made half the dough again, without any more M&M’s, and added it to the original batch, and it worked out, I think.
Nope, it’s definitely 2 cups. I had no issue with getting the M&M’s to stick in the dough. You may need to use a rubber spatula to fold the M&M’s into the dough until they are all mixed in.
I’m a big fan of your cookie recipes, and these are the next ones I’ll try. Question: this recipe has butter only, not 1/2 butter + 1/2 shortening like many of your others. Is there a reason?
Many thanks for all the good recipes!
Using all butter will give you a chewier cookie texture.
Good to know, thanks!
My kids just love cookies….and m&m´s…..so this is kinda like the perfect recipe for me to make…such a great idea, thank you for the recipe 🙂
I do hope they enjoy the cookies!