Chewy M&M cookies are the best kind of chocolate cookies — soft and chewy, so chocolatey and a breeze to make! Use holiday M&Ms and you’ll have cookies that will be the star of your Christmas cookie tray.
(Love M&Ms? Check out this recipe for M&M cookie bars. Quick and easy to make, they’re perfect last-minute holiday treats.)
‘Tis the most wonderful time of the year — cookie season! Cookies are an awesome treat to have on a normal day but something about the holidays makes baking and eating them extra special.
So for the next little while, we’re going to be busy baking cookies, cookies and more cookies! We start with soft and chewy M&M cookies. Made with Christmas M&Ms, they are fun, festive and so good.
They’re so easy to make too! Just watch the video or go through the step-by-step photos. They will become your new cookie favourites.
There are two kinds of cookie monsters in the world: the crunchy cookie fans and the chewy cookie lovers. I’ve always been Team Soft and Chewy Cookies myself; to me, crunchy cookies are crackers. Weird? LOL!
Anyway, if we’re on the same team, have you ever wondered what makes our favourite cookies soft and delightful?
You will get different answers from different bakers and I’m sure everyone has that one single tip or trick from their grandma that works for them.
My personal experience has been: 1) use brown sugar 2) always use room temperature ingredients and 3) err on the side of under-baking the cookie.
I share more tips in my recipe for chewy double chocolate chunk cookies. And if you want to read up on the science behind it, check out this article and this cookie chemistry experiment.
Don’t worry though, these M&M chocolate cookies don’t require any experiments or further study. I’ve already tested the recipe for you!
And the resulting cookie is packed with chocolate flavour, has just the right amount of chewiness without falling apart, not too sweet, and pretty besides. Let’s get to it.
1. PREP YOU PAN. Preheat your oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. MIX DRY INGREDIENTS. In a large bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and a pinch of salt until incorporated. Set aside.
3. MIX WET INGREDIENTS. Using an electric handheld mixer (like in the video) or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (like in the step-by-step photos), beat butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla extract until combined. The mixture will look a little grainy and that’s OK.
4. COMBINE WET AND DRY INGREDIENTS. Pour your flour mixture into your butter mixture and gently stir until combined.
5. ADD M&M CHOCOLATE. Add your M&M’s to the cookie dough and gently fold until evenly distributed.
6. TRANSFER TO COOKIE SHEET. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough batter and place on your prepared cookie sheet, making sure there’s at least 1-2 inches of space around each cookie. Take a few pieces of M&M’s and place them on top of each cookie, careful not to flatten the cookie too much (the cookies will spread on their own).
7. BAKE AND COOL. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just set. Cool your cookies on the cookie sheet until they are sturdy enough to move to a cooling rack to cool completely.
To make cookies with M&M’s, you’d need:
- All-purpose flour
- Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- And, of course, M&M’s
You can use any variety of milk chocolate M&M’s.
Buy holiday M&M’s
if you’re baking these for Christmas, pastel M&M’s
if you’re making a batch for Easter (like the ones I used for these fun Easter dessert for kids), or just everybody’s favourite regular M&M’s.
You don’t really need special tools to make these cookies. Although if you’re wondering about what I use, I’m happy to share!
- When baking cookies, I love using my Nordicware natural aluminum baking sheets. Because I own a couple of big ones, I can bake big batches of cookies in one go (using the convection setting in our oven so the heat is distributed evenly). I also have a few dark coloured baking pans that’s useful when I’m baking a small batch.
- I love my Kitchenaid stand mixer. It’s the small entry-level one and we’ve had a great baking relationship for the last 6 years or so. I bought a bigger stand mixer a few black Fridays ago but I still use my small mixer 95% of the time.
- If I need a hand mixer, I have a basic Kitchenaid electric hand mixer. I got it for less than $30 on sale, it has no bells and whistles, but it does the job.
- I almost always use parchment paper when baking and while I have no favourite brand, I like the PaperChef Culinary Parchment Multipurpose Non-Stick Paper. They have a large version which fits my pans just right.
- Sometimes, instead of parchment paper I use my Silpat mat. Personally, I don’t find a huge difference in cookies baked on parchment vs. Silpat so no worries if you don’t have one (they’re frankly quite expensive IMO, though Amazon sells their own silicone baking mats which have good reviews on the site).
- I use an OXO 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop. It’s great for ice cream too!
- We have an old Cat Cora digital kitchen scale which I think is not available anymore. But any kitchen scale will do. It will improve your baking tenfold.
- Lastly, I never bake without an oven thermometer hanging in my oven. Those little gadgets are lifesavers.
I usually keep my cookies in an airtight cookie jar and to keep that perfect texture, I place a piece of white bread in there with them. The cookies absorb the moisture from the bread, helping keep them chewy longer.
For these M&M cookies though, I’ve found that the best way to store them is in the fridge. We love to eat them chilled!
Looking for other cookie recipes for your Christmas cookie tray or holiday cookie swaps? Here are some favourites:
- Double Chocolate Meringue Cookies. Crispy outside, chewy and chocolatey inside, light as a cloud.
- White Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies. Delightfully sweet and salty in one delicious bite.
- Soft and Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies. Sweet, indulgent and will make your house smell like Christmas.
- Very Chocolatey Chocolate Crinkles. Soft, chewy and very chocolatey, they’re on everyone’s favourite Christmas cookie list.
Hope you enjoy baking these M&M cookies. Get the kids involved and make a day of it! They’re fun to make, fun to give away, even funner to eat.
Double Chocolate Chewy M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 pc large egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 oz M&M's milk chocolate I used holiday M&M's
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt until incorporated. Set aside.
- Using an electric handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla extract until combined. The mixture will look a little grainy and that's OK.
- Pour your flour mixture into your butter mixture and gently stir until combined.
- Add M&M's and fold into cookie dough until evenly distributed.
- Scoop a heaping tablespoon of cookie batter and place on your prepared cookie sheet, making sure there's at least 1-2 inches of space around each cookie.
- Take a few pieces of M&M's and place them on top of each cookie, careful not to flatten the cookie too much because it will spread on its own.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just set (see note 1).
- Cool your cookies on the cookie sheet until they are sturdy enough to move to a cooling rack to cool completely (see note 2).
Video
Notes
- It is better to under-bake than over-bake these cookies so check at about 6 minutes and decide.
- Don’t move the cookies from the cookie sheet too early – they will fall apart. Don’t wait too long either because they will continue cooking on the warm cookie sheet.
- The yield will depend on how big you make your cookies. I used a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop and ended up with 15 cookies.
- Try these cookies chilled!
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
Happy baking!
Did you make chewy M&M Christmas cookies? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
Jessica
Saturday 7th of December 2019
Can I use Hershey’s cocoa powder? I’ve never heard of the dutch brand.
Jolina
Tuesday 10th of December 2019
Hi Jessica! Hershey's is a natural cocoa (vs Dutch-processed). I use that for other recipes but have not tried it here so I can't say for sure how it will affect the cookies. Here's a good reference about substitution: https://www.thespruceeats.com/dutch-processed-cocoa-powder-substitute-4140431 Hope it helps!
Leah
Friday 29th of November 2019
The kids loved making this with me. Thank you for the recipe.
Jolina
Monday 2nd of December 2019
Glad to hear that! :)
Mel
Monday 7th of October 2019
Made a batch of these cookies last Saturday and the kids gobbled them up! We used regular m&ms the holiday ones are not out yet but we will definitely make these for Christmas. This is my first time making perfect cookies! The video and the photos helped tremendously. Thank you!
Jolina
Monday 7th of October 2019
Hi Mel! This made my day :) I'm so glad you and the kids liked them!
Nati
Wednesday 2nd of October 2019
haha, I'm definitely on the crunchy cookie team, LOL for me chewy cookies are definitely under-cooked, which is kind of contradictory with its name "cook-ie" ;) LOL BUT, Alas, my children prefer chewy cookies, like my husband, so I'm very happy you have such a delicious version of them!!
Jolina
Monday 7th of October 2019
LOL! Too funny :)
Christa
Tuesday 1st of October 2019
I have a problem with recipes that use M&Ms - I tend to eat them all while I’m baking! These cookies look so yummy and are perfect for the holidays.
Jolina
Monday 7th of October 2019
Same problem here lol!!