This Soft Batch Chocolate M&M Cookie Recipe is so easy and doesn’t require you to chill the dough! Soft, chewy, and loaded with colorful m&ms, this is sure to become one of your favorite cookie recipes.
Chocolate M&M Cookie Recipe
I’m a sucker for anything involving chocolate and M&Ms, so naturally I’m super excited about today’s new cookie recipe! Although calling them cookies feels almost deceitful… because these “cookies” are really more like fudge brownies in the shape of cookies. They’re super thick, very chewy, and incredibly chocolatey. And the addition of crunchy and colorful M&Ms makes them absolutely impossible to resist.
The cookie dough comes together in 10 minutes, and there’s no need to chill the dough. So you can technically have these baked and ready to go in less than 30 minutes! The hardest part about this recipe? Waiting for the cookies to cool on the baking sheets!
M&M Cookie Recipe Ingredients:
- Chocolate: Semi-sweet chocolate chips are used for the fudge cookie base and milk chocolate chips are mixed into the batter. Feel free to use semi-sweet chocolate chips for both parts, if desired.
- Butter: I always suggest using unsalted butter, but in a pinch, salted will work. You’ll melt the butter and chocolate together. Then combine the butter and sugars, along with the milk, eggs, and vanilla and mix to make the liquid batter.
- All-purpose Flour: Be sure not to pack your flour into the measuring cup. The best way to measure flour is by using a digital kitchen scale. Otherwise lightly spoon the flour into the measuring cup.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Measure your cocoa the same way you measure your flour. For best results, use natural cocoa in this recipe, not dutch-process.
- Baking Powder: Be sure your baking powder isn’t expired. Expired baking powder won’t give these cookies the lift they need.
- Salt: Just a small amount of salt helps balance the overall sweetness AND enhance all of the flavors in this recipe.
- Sugar: Brown sugar and granulated sugar add sweetness, moisture, and depth of flavor.
- Eggs: Be sure to use large eggs and bring them to room temperature before adding them to the batter.
- Milk: Whole milk aka full-fat milk works best, but in a pinch reduced fat milk will work, or sour cream. I do not suggest using plan-based “milks” for this recipe.
- Vanilla extract:
- M&M Candies: Regular M&Ms work great, but feel free to use seasonally colored ones to make your cookies extra festive.
How to make Chocolate M&M Cookies:
- Preheat the Oven: Many cookie recipes have you preheat oven to 350 degrees. But this recipe calls for a lower temperature of 300. The lower oven temperature allows the cookies to bake longer without burning.
- Baking Sheet Prep: Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly spray the parchment paper with non-stick baking spray and set aside. This step is very important! These cookies are sticky and will stick to the paper if you don’t spray it first.
- Make the Cookie Dough: Or should I say, cookie batter. Because this will be a thinner mix than you might be expecting. Just know this is completely normal! Once you add the dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture, do not over mix!
- Scoop Cookie Dough: Instead of rolling the dough into balls, scoop it directly onto the prepared baking sheet. I like to use a large cookie scoop or a lightly greased 1/4 cup measuring cup to do this.
- Bake the Cookies: Pop them in the oven, one tray at a time, until they’re dark and shiny on top! Mine cookies are usually done between 16 and 18 minutes. But this time will vary depending on your cookie sheet and oven settings.
- Cool Completely: Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and cool completely. Do you want to make your cookies look extra pretty? Press extra M&Ms and chocolate chips on top of the warm cookies as soon as they come out of the oven.
Tools for this Recipe:
- Large Baking Sheets: Light colored baking sheets help your cookies avoid getting too brown in the oven! If you struggle with burnt cookie bottoms, avoid dark colored cookie sheets.
- Cookie Dough Scoop: A large cookie scoop is approximately the same size as 1/4 cup. If you don’t have one of these, simply lightly grease a 1/4 cup measuring cup and use that instead.
- Parchment Paper: A must-have for lining your cookie sheets. Never sub wax paper or aluminum foil.
- Nonstick Baking Spray: Consider this your insurance policy for cookies that won’t stick to the parchment paper! It’s also great to have on hand for spraying cake pans and pie plates.
- M&Ms: If you bake with m&ms a lot, save money with a large party bag! Or, buy seasonal colors to help you celebrate holidays year-round.
- Digital Kitchen Scale: The most accurate way to measure ingredients, especially ones like all-purpose flour and cocoa powder! Using one is a bit of a learning curve. But I promise, once you see the results of accurate measuring, you’ll never go back to measuring cups again.
More M&M Cookie Recipes:
- Chewy Brown Butter M&M Blondies
- M&M Cookie Bites
- Brown Butter M&M Cookies
- Soft and Chewy M&M Cookie Bars
- Super Easy Holiday M&M Blondies
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk M&M Oatmeal Cookies
Soft Batch Chocolate M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons (140g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (21g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (170g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter chopped into tiny pieces
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (99g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (71g) light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (28ml) whole milk
- 1 and 1/2 cups milk chocolate M&Ms
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
Garnish:
- 1/4 cup M&Ms
- 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees (F). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper, lightly spray them with non-stick spray, and set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In a large, microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips and butter. Heat them in the microwave on low power for 15 second increments, mixing in between each, until butter and chocolate are completely melted and can easily be whisked smooth. Be sure not to overheat or the mixture will seize.
- Whisk in the vanilla, then whisk in both sugars. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in milk.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and stir to combine - be sure not to over mix here!
- Fold in the M&M's and milk chocolate chips, stirring until everything is just combined.
- Scoop 1/4 cupfuls of the batter onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake one tray at a time, for 16 to 18 minutes, or until the edges are set and the tops are dark and shiny.
- Press a few extra M&Ms and chocolate chips of the warm cookies right when they come out of the oven. Allow cookies to completely cool on the baking sheet before serving.
Nancy says
Excellent cookie! I did not put the garnish on them and I didn’t miss it. Granddaughters suggested adding nuts next time. Sounds good.
Linda Winter says
Would it be better to add more flour so they aren’t flat? They look so delicious & pretty!
Ashley Manila says
You could try placing the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes! That should help them bake up a little thicker.
Elizabeth says
My dough came out sticky- is it supposed to be that way? I thought it was supposed to be a little more wet?
Jean says
The cookie batter was thick not thin and the cookies came out thick not flat. I would rather had them thin not thick .
Mike Drop says
I’m a novice to chocolate and i will say this is best recipe I’ve made in awhile, thank you… i used mini M&Ms in the batter and garnish, skipped the extra chips at the end and added more milk to smooth out the mixture for my edibles 😉 #ChewyCrunchyChocolately
Felicia says
This may be a silly question but, it says a parchment lined baking sheet, which I take to mean a pan with sides. Should I not use a cookie sheet?
Amy says
In step 3, I combined all the chocolate chips. When I got to step 5, i had already used them all and had none left. Perhaps make a change to step 3 denoting to only use the semisweet chocolate chips. I haven’t tasted them yet but hoping they’re still yummy!
Sarah says
Hi Ashley these cookies tasted so good they were more like brownies (I’m not sure if this is how they should taste but we liked it) I had one problem that it would crack whenever I hold it I left it to cool down for around 20 min and I left 1 Cookie on the baking sheet overnight but it’ll still crack its too soft … can you tell me where I’ve gone wrong .
Thank you
Lisa says
Can you freeze the cookies to eat later?
Maegan says
Should this cookie dough be chilled prior to baking?