Christmas M&M Cookies are the easiest and most fun way to celebrate the holiday season. This simple Christmas cookie recipe bakes the best batch of thick, soft, and chewy M&M cookies that are bursting with chocolate chips and colorful, crunchy candy–because cookies made from scratch always taste better than anything store-bought!
Simple, Super-Sized M&M Cookies Christmas Style
This M&M Christmas Cookies recipe is super simple to prepare and creates a straightforward cookie dough that even the beginning baker could easily concoct.
What makes my recipe better than the basic treat is that I’ve enhanced the classic chocolate chip cookie with pops of festive candy color to create the perfect homemade Christmas cookie that tastes as good as it looks.
Once you’ve gathered a few pantry staples, it takes mere minutes to mix your dough, roll it into balls and set them in the freezer before baking your batch.
These cookies have a deliciously moist, chewy, and soft center with a slight crispiness around their edges; they’re thick and bursting with chocolate flavor and of course, loaded with a delightful crunch that comes from the colorful candy M&M’s.
Because my scoops are 3 tablespoons of generously portioned dough, these sweets are super-sized so that you can add more of your favorite candy-coated chocolates to create the perfect Christmas cookie presentation for your holiday dessert platter!
Why We Love This M&M Christmas Cookies Recipe
- Quick to prepare and super simple to make.
- Everyone needs an easy Christmas cookie recipe!
- Soft, buttery, and chewy cookies combine well with crunchy candy.
- Fun to make with kids and decorate with festive colors.
- Versatile recipe that allows you to replace the M&M’s with various colors or other candies depending on the holiday or season.
- Perfect for a cookie exchange, holiday party, edible gift, Christmas dessert platter, or for enjoying as a delicious dessert.
Ingredients / Shopping List
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salted sweet cream butter, softened
- Light brown sugar, packed
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Egg, room temperature
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips: Feel free to use regular or mini chocolate chips.
- Red and green M&M’s plus additional for tops of cookies: You can use the regular size or mini size M&M’s.
Substitutions and Additions
- Change the Chips: Feel free to use milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips, or use a mix of both! You can even add white chocolate chips to add even more flavor or add sprinkles for extra color.
- Custom Cookie Colors: This is the perfect cookie recipe to make year-round. You can simply swap out the red & green M&M’s and use multi-colored ones. Or you can use this recipe to make holiday-themed custom cookies. Use red, white, and pink M&M’s for Valentine’s Day, brown and orange for Halloween, pastels for Easter, etc,
- Support Your Sport: Support your favorite sports’ teams by using the team colors for your M&M’s.
- Make Them Minty: I love the flavor combination of chocolate and mint. You can make these cookies according to the recipe and add 1 tsp of peppermint extract to the batter. Top with crushed candy canes for a festive flair.
Recommended Tools
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring tools
- Whisk
- Stand mixer or handheld mixer
- Baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- 3 Tablespoon cookie scoop
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How to Make Christmas M&M Cookies
It is so simple to bake a batch of these M&M Christmas Cookies using ingredients you most likely have at home. Soft, buttery, and chewy with a deliciously festive candy crunch, this is the ultimate, must-make M&M Christmas Cookies recipe because everyone deserves an easy, hassle-free holiday.
- Whisk together all-purpose flour and baking soda and set aside.
- Beat your butter for 1 minute with a mixer.
- Add brown sugar and granulated sugar to the butter and continue mixing for 1 – 1 ½ minutes.
- Mix in vanilla extract and egg until completely combined.
- Mix in flour mixture until combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips and M&M’s.
- Scoop cookie dough onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Pro Tip: You should leave minimal space between the balls of cookie dough, just so they aren’t touching. I like to use a cookie scoop to form my dough balls. This helps the cookies bake evenly and look uniform. - Place cookie sheet in the freezer for at least 30 minutes (you can freeze up to overnight).
Pro Tip: Make sure your cookie sheet is flat with nothing on top that will flatten your cookie dough balls. Don’t skimp on the freezer time. It is important to freeze the cookies long enough for the butter to reharden in the cookie dough and prevent them from spreading too quickly. - Bake the frozen cookie dough balls at 350*F for 16-18 minutes.
Pro Tip: When baking, the cookie dough balls should be placed 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Don’t over-bake your cookies. Remove from the oven when the edges are lightly golden and the center of the cookie is just set. They may look a little underdone, but they’ll continue to set as they cool. This will give them the perfect soft and delicious centers. - Remove cookies from oven and press 6-8 extra M&M’s into the top of each baked cookie.
- Cool, plate, and enjoy!
Tips
- Don’t over-bake your cookies. Remove from the oven when the edges are lightly golden and the center of the cookie is just set. They may look a little underdone, but they’ll continue to set as they cool. This will give them the perfect soft and delicious centers.
- Because the M&Ms may bleed and crack in the oven, I like to just press 6-8 extra into the tops of the cookies when they come out of the oven.
- I like to use a cookie scoop to form my dough balls. This helps the cookies bake evenly and look uniform.
- Don’t skimp on the freezer time. It is important to freeze the cookies long enough for the butter to reharden in the cookie dough and prevent them from spreading too quickly.
Storage Tips
- To Store: Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months. Once your dough balls have frozen you will just transfer them to a freezer zip top bag. You can bake them, from frozen, any time you wish to have a fresh, hot cookie.
Frequently Asked Questions
There really is no way to keep your M&M’s from cracking when baking them in the oven. The extreme heat is what causes the cracking. That’s why I like to place extra M&Ms on top of each warm cookie and gently press them into the cookie as soon as they’re taken out of the oven. The heat of the cookies will fuse the candies into the cookies.
Yes, this recipe is perfect for making the dough in advance. Once frozen, the frozen cookie dough balls can be removed from the cookie sheet and placed into a freezer ziplock bag. When ready to bake, simply place the frozen dough balls on your baking sheet and bake at 350*F for 16-18 minutes.
Chilling cookie dough prevents the cookies from spreading out too quickly once they’re in the oven. Cookies made from chilled dough are also much more flavorful, which is why these Christmas cookies are so delicious!
Yes, you can use a smaller portion of dough (1-1.5 tablespoons) to make your cookies, but they will spread a bit thinner than the larger dough balls as they bake.
Other Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Gingerbread Kiss Cookies
- Christmas Tree Brownie Cups
- Jello Divinity Candy
- Secret Kiss Cookies
- Oreo Balls
- Eggnog Cookies
M&M Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup salted sweet cream butter softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup red and green m&m’s + additional for tops of cookies
Instructions
- Using a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour and baking soda. Set it aside.
- Using a stand mixer, or a medium size mixing bowl and a handheld mixer on medium-high speed, beat the softened butter for 1 minute.
- Add the brown sugar and the granulated sugar, continue mixing for 1 – 1 ½ minutes.
- Add the vanilla extract and egg. Continue mixing until completely combined.
- Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and m&m’s.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out the cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet leaving just minimal space between the balls of cookie dough, just so they aren’t touching.
- Place your sheet of cookie dough balls into the freezer so that it is flat with nothing on top that will flatten your cookie dough balls. Freeze your cookie dough balls for at least 30 minutes but can freeze up to overnight.
- Preheat your oven to 350*F. While your oven is preheating , remove the sheet of frozen cookie dough balls. Prepare two other cookie sheets with parchment paper. Separate the frozen cookie dough balls onto the prepared cookie sheet (you can use the frozen sheet too!). Place the cookie dough balls 2 inches apart.
- Bake the frozen cookie dough balls for 16-18 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and the center of the cookie is just set.
- When cookies are done, remove from the oven and being careful of the hot pan, place 6-8 extra M&Ms on top of each warm cookie gently pressing into the baked cookie.
- Allow the cookies to rest on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Jenn’s Notes
- To Store: Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months. Once your dough balls have frozen you will just transfer them to a freezer zip top bag. You can bake them, from frozen, any time you wish to have a fresh, hot cookie.
- Don’t over-bake your cookies. Remove from the oven when the edges are lightly golden and the center of the cookie is just set. They may look a little underdone, but they’ll continue to set as they cool. This will give them the perfect soft and delicious centers.
- Because the M&Ms may bleed and crack in the oven, I like to just press 6-8 extra into the tops of the cookies when they come out of the oven.
- I like to use a cookie scoop to form my dough balls. This helps the cookies bake evenly and look uniform.
- Don’t skimp on the freezer time. It is important to freeze the cookies long enough for the butter to reharden in the cookie dough and prevent them from spreading too quickly.
Do not recommend, dough forms like sand
What would be the best egg substitute for this recipe for individuals with an egg allergy?
These are my new favorite chocolate chip/M&M cookies. I love that I can make the dough and keep the unbaked scooped dough in a freezer bag and bake as many cookies as I want, when I want.
they look good
Can I use unsalted butter instead of salted sweet cream butter?