M&M Cookies
M&M cookies are soft, chewy and loaded with M&Ms! With a gluten-free option.
M&M cookies were a favorite of mine growing up. My mother never made them or bought them so whenever other parents brought them to school parties, I made a beeline for the cookie tray!
Since the days of elementary school class parties, I’ve made my fair share of M&M cookies. I always just mixed the M&Ms into the dough and baked them up. One thing that nagged at me is that they never looked as pretty as the cookies from my childhood.
So this time, I experimented with the best way of incorporating the M&Ms. I made them every way imaginable and finally found the best method. You add the M&Ms to the dough, roll into balls with as few M&Ms peeking out of the dough as possible, bake and then add more M&Ms post-baking. A few M&Ms may still bleed, which you can see in the pictures, but even with that, it’s a huge improvement over the other methods I’ve tried!
I like my M&M cookies to be loaded with M&Ms and so my recipe calls for a lot more M&Ms than other recipes I’ve seen. These cookies are actually 1/3 M&Ms by weight! And that’s before you press almost an additional cup on top of the cookies after baking. You can absolutely use fewer M&Ms or toss in some other add-ins like chocolate chips or walnuts.
I originally tried making these much larger. I wanted huge bakery-style cookies, like my favorite Paleo Double Chocolate Chip Cookies but the middles were underdone while the edges were a little too browned. One-and-a-half inch (65 grams) balls seem to be the ideal size for these to bake up properly!
The cookies pictured are the gluten-free version. If you make the cookies with all-purpose flour, the cookies are a less crinkly looking. But what’s important is that the two versions taste the same! If you want even thicker M&M cookies, try adding some M&Ms to my Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies or Jamie’s New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies.
For more delicious cookie recipes, be sure to check out these No Bake Cookies and these Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies.
M&M Cookies
Yield: about 2 dozen cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes + chill time
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour or the gluten-free baking mix listed below*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups M&Ms, plus an additional 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons to press on top, if desired
* If you need these cookies to be gluten-free, make sure all your ingredients are certified gluten-free. Original M&Ms in the US are gluten-free but some of the other varieties are not. For the flour, use the following mixture. While the all-purpose flour version uses 3 1/4 cups of flour, this mixture, which yields 3 cups of flour, works beautifully in this recipe:
- 2 cups rice flour
- 2/3 cup potato starch
- 1/3 cup tapioca flour
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
Directions:
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Set the bowl aside.
- In a large mixing bowl using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla at low speed until well combined.
- On low, gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Beat in the M&Ms on low.
- If making the all-purpose flour version, roll into 1 1/2" balls (about 65 grams) - pushing any M&Ms that stick out back in. If your dough is too soft to roll into proper balls, refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until firm. Freeze dough balls for 2 hours, or until firm.
- If making the gluten-free version, freezing is not necessary. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours. Then roll into balls.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F for the all-purpose flour version or 375° degrees F for the gluten-free version.
- Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Place the dough balls 4" apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 16-20 minutes or until lightly and evenly browned.
- Remove from the oven and immediately press 7 more M&Ms on top of each cookie, if desired. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Of all the cookies in the world, M&M cookies have to be my favorite. They are so happy!!
They are! M&M cookies and lemon cookies (or lemon anything!) just make me so happy. :)
You know what? I’ve been looking and messing around with M&Ms cookies myself. They never seemed to have enough M&Ms in them. I’d always add a ton more and like you, I add extra after baking to make them pretty again (and more chocolate)!
My Mum never made me any as a kid neither. Our poor childhoods, eh?
What’s funny is that I don’t even think mine are overly filled with M&Ms! So I really have no idea how people are happy with half the amount I put in mine. And yes, a childhood without M&M cookies is truly a sad thing. ;)
I literally can’t resist M&Ms. They’re one of like 3 candies I just have zero self control over. That transfers to M&M cookies too. These might be the most perfect completely irresistible looking cookies I’ve ever seen!
Thanks, Gina! And for me, it’s Reese’s Pieces. Or peanut butter M&Ms. Neither of which they sell in Germany, so I’m lucky. ;)
When I was pregnant with my little man (who is somehow already one) I probably made a batch of m&m chocolate chip cookies once a week! I never did figure out how to make them not bleed the colors! I can’t wait to give this a try!! They are so pretty :)
Thanks, Alaina! I hope you’ll have better luck using the method I used. A few still bleed but at least there are some pretty ones up top. :)
Hi Erin , this is a really great recipe with the MM , s .
I am just looking for a great recipe for baking as homework for my English course .
Much love from Germany says Claudia . :-)
Hi Claudia! German flour and American flour are very different. This recipe (and most American cookie recipes) won’t work if you use the regular Type 405 flour (the kind you find in every store). Kaufland, Kaiser’s, etc. have Type 550, which is more like American flour, but it’s still not the same. If you want to make a recipe that will definitely work with German flour, try looking here. Most of them use regular whole wheat flour (Weizenvollkornmehl) or almond flour (gemahlene Mandeln). I hope that helps! :)
Oh thank you , because I have not thought of . Greeting Claudi
You’re very welcome, Claudia!
I like your recipie. I wanna make the cookies more chewy and soft?. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you
Hi, Betty! Try baking them a few minutes less, like 14 or so. Check them then and see if they’re to your liking. Let me know how it goes!
How many doea this recipe yield?
Hi, Kortney! This recipe will give you about 24 cookies. I hope you enjoy them!
Great recipe, thank you very much. I got stuck though. I found your recipe and didn’t read it through in advance and at 4:30 in the morning making cookies for a funeral gathering came to the part where I was supposed to freeze the dough balls. I should have pre-read so I didn’t have time for that. They still came out great though. Thank you
I’m happy that they still came out well! I hope the others will enjoy them, too. Thank you for your comment!
This is such a bad recipe. It tastes very bland and dry.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy them! I’ve made these several times and they’ve never been bland or dry so I have to wonder if something went wrong. Did you make any subs or any changes at all to the recipe?
Hi there! I just finished making a batch of these and they came out really hard. Any thoughts on what I might have messed up? I skipped freezing bc I didn’t have time and after the first round came out of the oven hard, I cut the cooking time 10 min and still hard. The flavor is great tho!
Hello! They definitely shouldn’t be hard. I freeze the dough because it helps them bake up properly. If you don’t do that, they spread more quickly, spread out flatter, and cook more quickly. So that could have been the issue. And I’m guessing you might have used too much flour. Did you scoop your measuring cup into the flour or spoon it into the cup? (you can read more about how to measure flour here). Next time, I’d measure out 406 grams flour and freeze the dough. I hope they’re still enjoyable! Merry Christmas. :)
TOO GOOD! I mean it…they are the BEST, BESTIEST ever and i used baking powder and 3and1/4 ucp APF
Awesome! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed them! Thanks a bunch for your comment. :)
Question…do you refrigerate and then freeze? Both steps are listed in the directions. Please let me know. Thank u
Hi there! If the dough is too soft to roll into balls, then refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll into balls. Then roll into balls and freeze. I hope you’ll enjoy the cookies!
Thanks so much, Erin! They’re delicious
You’re so welcome, Faye!
Really awful. I halved the recipe but no other substitutions. I tested three dough balls only thank God so I picked out all my m&ms so I can use them in a different recipe. Awful dry and just awful.
I’m sorry you thought they were awful! I’ve made these several times and they’ve never been dry so I have to wonder if something went wrong. Did you make any subs or any changes at all to the recipe? I’m guessing you might have used too much flour. Did you scoop your measuring cup into the flour or spoon it into the cup? (you can read more about how to measure flour here.)
Just want to say these cookies were great! I made them last week (made half, kept half frozen). Yesterday we baked the second dozen and they are almost gone. My kids love them – even my daughter that doesn’t even usually like cookies! Thanks for a great recipe
I’m happy that your daughter could enjoy the cookies, too! That’s great. :) And good idea on freezing half! Thanks for your comment.