M&M Cookie Recipe
These soft and chewy M&M Cookies are buttery homemade M&M cookies with crunchy, colorful candy-coated chocolate in every bite! You can use classic colors or dress them up for holidays such as Halloween or Christmas.
The problem was it was still fall and nobody had Christmas candy for sale.
Plenty of Christmas trees and decorations, but no red and green M&Ms.
Part of me wondered if I could buy the colors separately in bulk at a candy store. However, that meant stopping at yet another store after already stopping at numerous stores beforehand.
As I stood in the candy aisle, I got the brilliant idea to buy a giant party-sized bag of M&Ms and hope there were enough green and red I could pick out.
In case you find yourself in a similar situation, the answer is yes. There ARE plenty of red and green M&Ms you can pick out. Just plan to spend the night on the couch sorting through the colors.
Since I had all of these M&Ms leftover, I really wanted to make this M&M cookie recipe.
They’re buttery brown sugar-based cookies with chewy edges and a soft center. The way a perfect cookie should taste like.
I always say small batch chocolate chip cookies are my favorite, but truth is I think I love M and M cookies even more.
I mean, it’s like you’re eating chocolate chip but with an extra crunch from the candy.
You can even stuff them with M&M ice cream and make ice cream sandwiches.
Or dip your cookies into monster cookie dip for a sweet and nutty snack.
And since I have zero self control around homemade M&M cookies, I turned them into small batch M&M cookies where the recipe makes roughly 9 cookies.
The best part is both the dough and the cookies freeze well so if you only want a few at a time, make the recipe then freeze the extras.
Ingredients For M&M Cookies
To make your recipe for M&M cookies, you’ll need the following basic pantry staples:
- All-purpose flour: Flour helps make the dough scoopable without being too sticky. Always measure by spooning the flour into your cup, not scooping and packing it in.
- Baking soda: Helps the dough both spread and rise, contributing to the cookie’s chewy texture
- Salt: It brings out the flavor of the dough, especially when using unsalted butter.
- Butter: Using unsalted allows you to control the amount of salt and also helps the dough spread
- Brown sugar: Because brown sugar has molasses in it, it contributes to the soft and chewy texture as well as reacts to the baking soda for a proper rise.
- Granulated Sugar: Adding white sugar contributes to the cookie’s chewy texture.
- Egg yolk: Using a whole egg for small batch cookies adds too much moisture and causes the cookies to be more cakey than chewy. Using an egg yolk not only cuts down on that, it helps bind the dough together. When you’re done, check out what to do with egg whites.
- Vanilla: Much like salt, vanilla brings out the other flavors in the dough.
- M&MS: Use any flavor or color you’d like
Making Holiday M&M Cookies
MM cookies are a year-round recipe, but you can dress them up for any occasion. They make pretty much all kinds of colors and flavors throughout the year.
I have a very bad habit of buying specialty holiday flavors, so one year I bought candy corn M&Ms and made Halloween M&M cookies.
Want to serve them for Christmas? Buy red and green then check out my How To Make The Best Christmas Cookie Tray guide for tips and ideas!
How To Make M&M Cookies
Making this M&M cookie recipe is very easy as it follows your typical cookie formula:
- Cream together butter and both sugars until smooth.
- Beat in egg yolk and vanilla.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt until a dough forms then add the M&Ms.
- Refrigerate dough for 1 hour then scoop onto cookie tray.
- Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes.
Cool completely then store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Do I really need to chill the cookie dough before baking?
As annoying as adding an extra hour to your prep time is, chilling the dough for these M&M cookies is important.
Chilling the dough helps keep them from spreading too much when baking. It also allows the flavors to sit and develop (think of it like marinating chicken where the flavors are better after waiting).
How To Freeze M&M Cookies
If you’re baking for 1-2 people and don’t want to eat all of your MM cookies at once, you can always freeze them!
There are two ways to freeze your cookies:
- Freeze scooped cookie dough in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag.
- Freeze fully baked cookies. Place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet then let them freeze for an hour. Once firm, transfer to a freezer bag.
When you’re ready to bake (or eat), thaw the dough or cookies at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
More Small Batch Cookie Recipes
If you enjoyed this M and M cookie recipe, check out these other favorite small batch cookies:
M&M Cookies
These soft and chewy M&M Cookies are buttery homemade M&M cookies with crunchy, colorful candy-coated chocolate in every bite! You can use classic colors or dress them up for holidays such as Halloween or Christmas.
Ingredients
- 3/4 all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1/4 cup (2 ounces or 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar (soft and moist, not hard and crumbly)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup M&Ms
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl on medium-high speed (with paddle attachment if using stand mixer), beat together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla until incorporated.
- Gradually beat in the flour mixture until a dough forms. Add the M&Ms.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour or until the dough is firm enough to scoop.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Have an ungreased cookie sheet ready.
- Using a #40 cookie scoop or by hand, roll the dough into 1 + 1/2-inch balls then place on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and center no longer looks wet. Cool on the sheet for a few minutes then transfer cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
- For more M&M recipes, check out M&M Ice Cream and Monster Cookie Dip.
- Looking for more small batch cookies? Check out Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies, Small Batch Peanut Butter Cookies, and Small Batch Snickerdoodles.
- To double this recipe, use 1 whole egg instead of 2 egg yolks.
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These look so good, I really want to try! But I need more than 9 cookies. Can I triple this recipe? Thank you!
You should be able to since I adapted the recipe from a much larger batch. Instead of 2 yolks, use 1 whole egg. That means if you tripled the recipe, that’d give you 3 yolks, so you would do 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk. If you multiplied it by 4, you would use 2 whole eggs.
Made these cookies with chunks of candy instead of M&Ms for my husband’s birthday. I can’t think of a better recipe! These cookies are the perfect level of chewy, soft, and gooey, Will be making these for many more birthdays and holidays. Thanks for sharing!
Candy works too! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
I made this recipe because I was craving to bake some cookies but didn’t want a big batch! this was perfect and they were soft and chewy goodness. I substituted the flour for protein flour and it worked well!
Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed the cookies.
I recently found Pumpkin Spice M&M’s. Looking forward to trying them in the cookie
Oh that’d be a good one to try!