Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: Loaded with butterscotch flavor and classic M&Ms. It’s like biting into nostalgia!
Texture: Ridiculously soft and chewy with the perfect crunch from the M&Ms.
Ease: Very easy, quick, and fool-proof. A reliable recipe that actually turns out each time.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Classic, delicious cookies everyone will love – especially the kiddos.
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These Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies are colorful, adorable, nostalgic, and SO delicious your family will ask you to bake them again and again!
After writing an entire cookbook dedicated to cookies, I think we can safely say I’m cookie obsessed.
So when I went to revamp this recipe, originally published in 2015, I was well-equipped with all the tips, tricks, and techniques I learned while writing my cookbook.
My goal for this recipe was for the M&M candies to shine, with a perfectly balanced, butterscotchy cookie dough that’s ever so slightly underbaked, so it’s super soft in the center yet crisp at the edges.
After several tweaks and rounds of testing, I nailed it. This is an easy, foolproof cookie recipe. They’ll be a huge hit at every party.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Soft & Chewy M&M Cookies
Keys to Soft, Chewy Cookies
- Weigh your flour: I highly recommend using a digital scale to measure your flour, to avoid hard, dry cookies that don’t spread. If you don’t have a scale, use the spoon and level method.
- Cornstarch: Don’t skip the cornstarch! It’s a tenderizing ingredient that helps create an ultra soft and chewy cookie.
- Don’t overbake: The cookies should still look slightly ‘wet’ in the center when you pull them from the oven. The residual heat of the pan will continue to cook the cookies to soft perfection.
Help! Why Are My Cookies Flat?
Butter temperature is KEY! If your butter gets too warm at any stage before baking your cookies, you’ll likely end up with flat, sad cookies. Start with butter at a cool room temperature, about 67°F. Then keep the dough around that temperature until it hits the oven.
In the image below, both cookies came from the same batch of dough, baked (separately) in the same oven at the same temperature for the same amount of time. The only difference? The cookie on the right came from the last bit of dough that sat on the counter for about half an hour before baking. In that time, the dough warmed up considerably, and the resulting cookies were much flatter.
What a difference, right?! If you’re baking multiple batches of cookies, pop the remaining dough in the fridge while they wait to enter the oven.
What Type of M&Ms Should I Use for Cookies?
I used regular-size M&Ms for a classic result in this recipe, but you could also use mini or even peanut M&Ms if you prefer. Of course, feel free to switch out for Christmas M&Ms, Easter M&Ms, 4th of July, Halloween – whatever the season, these cookies will look so cute with seasonal M&Ms mixed in!
The Secret to ULTRA Soft & Chewy Cookies
Chilling your dough makes cookies thicker and chewier!
This is an optional step if you have the time. You can bake a few cookies off immediately then chill the rest to improve flavor and texture. I swear by this technique! Check out my full article explaining the magic of chilling your cookie dough here.
My Favorite Cookie Tool: A Spring-Loaded Scoop!
Using a cookie scoop is one of the KEYS to beautiful, uniform, evenly shaped cookies quickly and easily. This will prevent many family fights over the biggest cookie.
I love using a 3-tablespoon size cookie scoop for these M&M Cookies, for the perfect large bakery-style size and texture.
Can I use a smaller scoop?
Yes. You can use a 1.5 tablespoon scoop and bake for 9-10 minutes instead, but note your cookies won’t be quite as soft and chewy in the center.
How to Fix Misshapen or Flat Cookies:
Not to fear. Simply grab a round biscuit or cookie cutter that’s larger than the diameter of your cookies, and swirl it around the edges of each cookie as soon as they come out of the oven. Don’t be afraid to swirl briskly, this will not only reshape the cookies into perfect circles but it’ll make them thicker, especially at the edges.
I like to use a round cookie cutter from a nested set. You can also use these for making biscuits, shaping cut-out sugar cookie dough, making doughnuts, and tons of other uses.
Watch me demonstrate this hack here baking cookies on The Today Show!
How to Store M&M Cookies
Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature and will stay soft for up to 3 days. Store cookies with a tortilla or a slice of white bread to keep them soft for longer.
How to Freeze M&M Cookie Dough
- Place the unbaked cookie dough balls in a ziptop bag or other airtight container.
- Chill the dough for 24-72 hours in the fridge, allowing the dough to ‘marinate’ before freezing.
- Transfer the firm cookie dough to a labeled and dated airtight container and freeze for up to 6 weeks.
- To bake from frozen, drop the temperature to 325°F and bake longer, for 14-15 minutes.
- More tips and trick for how to freeze and bake cookie dough here.
More Delicious Cookie Recipes You’ll Love:
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Ingredients
- 3 cups (380 grams) all-purpose flour, measured correctly*
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups (247 grams) lightly packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 (12 oz or 340 gram) bag M&M® candies
- 1/2 cup (85 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- If baking the cookie dough immediately, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric stand or hand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl before adding in the vanilla, eggs, and egg yolk, beating well after each addition, and scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Slowly beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the M&M candies and chocolate chips with a rubber spatula, reserving about 1/4 cup M&Ms to garnish each cookie dough ball.
- OPTIONAL CHILL TIME: For extra soft, chewy, and flavorful cookies, wrap dough balls in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours but no more than 72 hours. Bake directly from the fridge, adding a minute to the bake time if needed.
- Using a large spring-loaded cookie scoop, divide the dough into 3-tablespoon-sized balls and drop onto prepared baking sheets. Press a few of the saved M&M candies into the top of each ball of dough.
- Bake at 350°F for about 11 to 13 minutes, or until golden brown but still ever so slightly wet looking on top for soft cookies. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely before serving for the chewiest texture.
- Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Store with a tortilla or slice of white bread to keep soft.
Notes
This post was originally published in 2015 and has been updated with recipe improvements and new photos. Photos by Joanie Simon.
Hi Tessa, do you think it’s possible to use peanut M&M’s? Hubs is obsessed with peanut M&M’s.
Hi Misty! Feel free to give that a try – or Tessa has a similar recipe with M&Ms – feel free to substitute PB M&Ms in this one: Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies Happy baking 🙂
I forgot to add the vanilla and I subbed the chocolate chips for chopped chocolate. They ended up so good that we ate them hot because we couldn’t wait for the to cool down and set. I will definitely repeat!
These are delicious and so easy to make seasonal with different M&M’s! I made these for Valentine’s Day with the ‘Cupid mix’ M&Ms and they turned out great!
Yay! So glad to hear that, Emily! 🙂
These cookies are perfect!! I split the recipe in half since it’s just for my family of 4 & still got 17 cookies!
The cookies came out crispy on the edge & soft & chewy in the middle! Honestly it’s a genuine perfected recipe. Fool proof!
Many of your recipes suggest browning the butter, which I love. Would that work with these?
Hi Teresa! Yes, but it will take a little experimenting on your part! When you brown butter, some of the water content in the butter evaporates, leaving less liquid in the browned butter. This can make for a drier cookie, so you’ll need to tinker with the ratios in order to successfully “translate” this cookie to a browned butter cookie. Let us know how it goes! 🙂
is every type of cookie dough can chill in refrigetor overnight？
Hi Jesmine! Pretty much any cookie dough can be refrigerated overnight, yes! Unless otherwise stated, you can absolutely refrigerate for 24-72 hours before baking or freezing for later. Just make sure the dough is covered well with plastic wrap, so the fridge doesn’t dry out your dough! We recommend this chilled rest period for a number of reasons, but most importantly, it allows the flavours to develop fully, resulting in a much more delicious cookie! You can read all about the science behind this in Tessa’s article, linked here! Happy baking 🙂
These are the perfect M&M cookie. I finally bought a scoop and it made such a difference in getting a perfect bake. I let them chill over 24 hrs. So worth it.
I’ve avoided making M&M cookies my entire adult life because as a child I knew someone that baked them and they were always dry and hard. Even for a child they were not edible.
We made this this week, omg so good. The only part of the recipe i would question is “Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days”. Who doesn’t eat these up in three days?!! When the kids went to bed last night I ate the few left.
haha YAY!! So happy you give this recipe a try, especially with your past experience!
Should the extra M&Ms be placed on top before freezing the dough balls? When I baked from frozen the last time, the M&Ms bled from the condensation. Still tasted incredible though!
Hi Bevin! I’d recommend placing the extra M&Ms prior to baking. You can also try placing the M&Ms on top of the cookies halfway through baking, or even placing them as soon as they come out of the oven. I hope that helps!
These cookies were soft and chewy! The perfect cookies!
These look amazing! If I wanted to make chocolate cookies can I add cocoa powder to the recipe? If so, how much?
Thank you!
We haven’t tried that, so I can’t say for sure!
I baked these cookies for the holidays and made a Gluten Free version as well. I substituted King Arthur’s Measure for Measure flour for the all purpose flour. As the name indicates, you use the same weight/ measurement listed in the recipe. No other adjustments required. The cookie tastes just as delicious as the original recipe!!!!!
That’s awesome! Thanks so much for sharing your substitutions, glad it worked perfectly!