Christmas M&M Cookies
These Christmas M&M Cookies just might be your next favorite cookie. The chocolate, the peanut butter, the festive colors…cookie perfection.
Making cookies at Christmas time is really fun, and can be simple.
Enters M&Ms. They’re already red and green if you buy the bags marked “holiday blend.”
Then, to really take your taste buds over the top, buy a bag of milk chocolate AND a bag of peanut butter. BOOM! Mix the two together for the cookies to have that delicious mixture.
Yummy! Let’s make cookies!
Making Christmas M&M Cookies
Alright, let’s start with the dry stuff. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk it so it’s combined, then set aside for now.
In a large bowl, beat the butter with the granulated and brown sugar. Give it a couple minutes to get light and fluffy. It also gives it time to break down those sugars.
Next, add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat until well combined. Scrape the sides as you go to get it all in there.
Then, on low speed, add the flour mixture and beat just until combined.
It’s never a good idea to over mix flour unless you want tough, dense cookies, which you don’t.
Any who, the last ingredient is the M&Ms, so let’s talk about those little fellers.
Adding M&Ms to Cookies
The recipe calls for one and a half cups total.
You can mix and match your M&M flavors, as I mentioned earlier. I love the milk chocolate with the peanut butter M&Ms, not to be confused with the Peanut M&Ms. Make sure you keep the total to one and a half cups.
Another thought, you can also mix plain chocolate chips, or nuts, with the M&Ms, again keeping the total the same.
The only M&Ms I would stay away from are the ones with peanuts; they’re a little on the huge side for these cookies.
But before you throw the M&Ms in there, wait…I add about a cup to the cookie dough, but hold out a half cup for adding on top of the cookies before they bake. This gives the cookies more color on top, so it’s optional. I ended up adding 2 – 3 M&Ms to each rolled cookie, and it worked out perfectly.
So, back to the cookies, once you’ve mixed in the M&Ms, you can either, 1) start baking, or 2) refrigerate for an hour (or overnight).
By baking right away, the cookies may end up slightly flatter than if you refrigerate them. That’s ok, still tastes just as scrumptious.
By letting the dough firm up in the refrigerator, the cookies tend to end up slightly thicker.
Grease, or line cookie sheets with parchment paper, and preheat the oven to 350°.
Then, grab your cookie scoop and start making cookies.
I’m old school and still use a regular spoon, but whatever. Make the cookies a consistent size so they bake similarly.
Sprinkles…Bring on the Sprinkles
Roll each cookie into a 1 1/2″ ball, add 2 – 3 M&Ms on top, then roll in sprinkles.
Don’t think you’ve added too many sprinkles, you haven’t. These cookies spread out when they bake, so the sprinkles do, too.
Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, or until the edges appear set and the center still looks slightly underdone. This insures your cookies will be soft and delicious.
Let the cookies cool on a wire rack, but make sure you test the quality of a few while they’re still warm. You can’t be too careful.
Cookies and Christmas Recipes:
- Maple Pumpkin Cookies
- Layered Cranberry Cheesecake Dessert
- Molasses Crinkles
- Apple Pear Cream Cheese Tart
- Dried Cranberry Banana Bread
- and my favorite Christmas cookies, Italian Spumoni Cookies
If you tried and love this recipe, please leave a 5-star rating on the recipe card and consider leaving a comment below. Thank you so much.
Christmas M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups M&Ms,* divided
- festive sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and grease, or line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In small bowl, whisk dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In large bowl, beat butter with brown and granulated sugars until light and fluffy. Stir in egg and vanilla. Scrape sides as you go.
- Add the flour mixture just until combined.
- Stir in approx. 1 cup M&Ms.
- Either 1) bake cookies now, or 2) refrigerate for an hour (or overnight) for slightly thicker cookies.
- Roll cookies into similar sizes (approx. 1 1/2") then press 2 – 3 M&Ms on top of each cookie before rolling in sprinkles. Space cookies out about 2" allowing them room to spread.
- Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, or until edges appear set and the center looks slightly undone. Cool on wire rack. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Christmas M&M Cookies
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I love these!
Great! Thanks for the comment and Merry Christmas to you.