These soft and chewy M&M chocolate chip cookies are buttery, have a soft center, crisp edges, and pieces of chocolate throughout! These cookies are easy to make because they use melted butter and require no chilling.
I recently set off on a mission to make the best chewy M&M cookies, and while testing that recipe I also discovered how to bake the best M&M chocolate chip cookies.
While these two cookie recipes are nearly identical, the addition of chocolate chips affects the texture enough to change the end result significantly!
These M&M chocolate chip cookies are for anyone who loves a cookie with a tender center, crispy edges, and a healthy helping of chocolate.
Adding both semi-sweet chocolate chips and mini M&Ms to these cookies results in a classicly pillowy cookie with just the right amount of chocolate.
Unlike classic chocolate chip cookies, this recipe uses melted butter which yields a crisp-edged cookie and makes it an easier recipe to bake.
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Fantastic texture: Crispy buttery golden edges with a soft and fluffy, chewy cookie center. While testing my chewy M&M cookie recipe I discovered that adding just ½ cup of chocolate chips results in a thicker cookie, and that's how this recipe for chocolate chip M&M cookies was born!
- Easy to make: This recipe is foolproof because it uses melted butter instead of creamed butter and sugar. This cuts down the prep time and guarantees a more uniform result because there's less guesswork.
- Chocolate throughout: Using melted butter means that the chocolate chips melt slightly in the cookie dough, distributing chocolate swirls throughout the cookie.
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter: I recommend unsalted butter to avoid over-salting the cookies. If using salted butter, decrease the added table salt.
- Mini M&Ms: I like using minis because it distributes the M&Ms more evenly across each bite.
- Chocolate chips: I recommend semi-sweet chocolate chips, but dark chocolate also works.
- Light brown sugar and granulated sugar: Equal amounts of these two types of sugars yield a chewy, golden cookie.
- Egg: This recipe uses one large egg.
- All-purpose flour: My go-to flour for baking cookies. I have not tested this recipe with GF flour.
- Salt: I recommend using table salt.
- Baking soda: An important ingredient, this helps with leavening the cookies.
Step-by-step instructions
Equipment: I use a wide-bottomed pot, similar to a Dutch oven, to melt the butter because it is large enough to double as a mixing bowl and its sloped edges make it easy to stir with a spatula. The butter can be melted in a smaller pot or a skillet, I recommend transferring it to a mixing bowl once melted.
- Melt butter: Melt the sliced butter over low to medium-low heat, stirring frequently to help the butter melt evenly. Remove the melted butter from the stove.
- Add wet ingredients: Stir in the light brown sugar and granulated sugar until the sugars appear melted, about 30 seconds. It may look like the butter and sugar aren't combining, but just keep mixing. This step is important because it cools down the butter, making it so that the egg doesn't scramble when it's added. Stir in the egg and vanilla extract. Stir continuously to distribute the egg.
- Add dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly stir this into the butter mixture until just combined, about ½ cup at a time. The cookie dough will appear batter-like but should keep its shape when scooped.
- Add chocolate chips and M&Ms: Fold in the M&Ms and chocolate chips. This recipe makes 12 medium (3-inch) cookies, which is one heaping spoonful of dough.
- Bake at 350F for 7 to 9 minutes. 7 minutes yields soft and chewy M&M chocolate chip cookies, while 9 minutes yields crisper cookies. Let rest for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Tips and variations
- This recipe is based on my chewy M&M cookie recipe. While testing that recipe, I found that adding more add-ins resulted in puffier cookies.
- For thinner cookies: Adjust the total amount of M&Ms and chocolate chips to ½ cup, or ¼ cup each.
- For thicker cookies: Increase up to an additional ½ cup of M&Ms and/or chocolate chips total for very puffy cookies.
- Different M&Ms: This recipe works with regular sized M&Ms and can easily be turned into a Christmas M&M cookie by using holiday M&Ms instead of regular, just like how I turn these gluten-free monster cookies into Christmas monster cookies.
- I highly recommend weighing out the cookie ingredients, or at least the flour. This is the kitchen scale that I use. If you don't have a scale, measure flour more accurately by spooning the flour into a measuring cup and using the back side of a knife to wipe off excess flour.
Storage tips
- Leftovers: Store M&M cookies at room temperature in a closed container. Note that they dry out with time, so although they keep for up to 4 days, their quality will diminish over time.
- Freezing: These cookies freeze well. Let cool before transferring to a freezer-safe container and freezing for up to 3 months. The cookies thaw quickly at room temperature.
- Although I haven't tested this theory, I do not think this recipe works well as a make-ahead cookie dough or as frozen cookie dough because cooling or freezing the butter affects the cookie texture and these M&M chocolate chip cookies require melted butter.
More cookie recipes
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M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter sliced
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar (¼ cup + 2 tablespoons)
- 6 tablespoons light brown sugar (¼ cup + 2 tablespoons)
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup mini M&Ms
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- flaky salt, such as Maldon optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a small Dutch oven or pot, melt the sliced butter over low to medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat if the butter starts to bubble. Remove from the stove once melted.
- Stir in the light brown sugar and granulated sugar until the sugars appear melted, about 30 seconds. It may look like the butter and sugar aren't combining, but just keep mixing. This step is important because it cools down the butter, so that the egg doesn't scramble when it is added.
- Stir in the egg and vanilla extract until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly stir this into the butter mixture, about ½ cup at a time, until just combined. Fold in the mini M&Ms and chocolate chips.
- Transfer 6 large spoonfuls of cookie dough to a parchment paper lined baking sheet, leaving at least 3 inches between pieces of dough. This recipe makes 12 cookies, so the cookies need to be baked in two batches if using a standard cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350F for 7 to 9 minutes. The cookies are ready when the edges appear golden and wrinkled and the center still appears a touch doughy. 7 minutes yields very soft and chewy cookies, while 9 minutes yields crisper cookies.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with flaky salt (optional). Let rest for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and baking the second batch of cookies.
Notes
- Equipment note: I use a wide-bottomed pot, similar to a Dutch oven, to melt the butter because it is large enough to double as a mixing bowl and its sloped edges make it easy to stir with a spatula. The butter can be melted in a smaller pot or a skillet, but I recommend transferring it to a mixing bowl once melted.
- Mixing utensil: I usually use a large spoon to make cookies but I found that a silicon spatula works best for this recipe, especially if mixing the cookies in the sauce pot/Dutch oven.
- Melted butter: Cookies usually use room temperature butter creamed with sugar. I was inspired by Joy the Baker's cookies and found with testing that using melted butter creates the perfect crispy edge and soft center.
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