These M&M chocolate chip cookies are large, thick and chewy, but not cakey. The best part? The chocolate chip cookie dough requires no chilling time! Made from start to finish in 30 minutes, these chewy cookies use cold butter straight from the fridge, so there is no need to wait for your butter to come to room temperature.
The cold butter helps create thick cookies; when the cookies are baking, the cold butter creates steam helping to increase the thickness of the cookies, rather than with melted butter or room temperature butter, which tend to create spread in cookies. This recipe yields 20 large cookies.
Love chocolate chip cookie recipes? Try My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. These are my most requested recipe from friends and family. I have made this recipe more times than I can count! It's a winner, great for beginners, and one of my all time favorite cookies.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Why you'll love this recipe
- This is a chewy cookie recipe that requires no special ingredients
- M&M chocolate chip cookies are a thicker cookie without any needed chill time
- Got leftover M&Ms from Halloween or the holidays? Use them to make these giant m&m cookies or try One-Bowl Chewy M&M Cookie Bars. If you have leftover Heath bars, you gotta try Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Heath Bar Cookies!
Ingredients needed to make the best M&M cookies
- Butter: I recommend using unsalted butter. Salted butters tend to vary by brand in terms of the amount of salt, so it is best to use unsalted butter then add in the exact amount of salt you need separately. This recipe calls for cold butter. I recommend removing two sticks of butter from the fridge, unwrapping them and cutting them into cubes, then placing them back into the fridge if you will not be using them right away. The cold butter helps give these cookies their thickness by creating steam when the cookies are baked, helping to increase the height, rather than melting and causing the cookies to spread.
- Brown sugar: use either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar for this recipe. I like the extra caramel flavor of dark brown sugar, so I tend to use that more often than light brown sugar. Be sure to pack the brown sugar into the measuring cup to get an accurate measurement. Using a higher ratio of brown sugar to granulated sugar helps create the perfect cookie with soft centers and crisp edges.
- Sugar: Use regular granulated white sugar
- Egg: This recipe calls for one whole large egg plus an extra egg yolk (see below). Be sure to bring the egg to room temperature. This allows it to incorporate easier into the other ingredients/
- Egg yolk:Use one large egg yolk. The extra egg yolk added to this recipe helps create richer, more tender (soft) cookies due to the high amount of fat. Like the whole egg, we want a room temperature egg yolk so that it will blend well with the rest of the ingredients.
- Vanilla extract: I recommend using a high quality vanilla extract rather than imitation vanilla extract. Imitation extracts tend to have an artificial flavor or aftertaste that can alter the flavor of your baking.
- Cake flour: cake flour has lower protein content than all-purpose flour, making it perfect for creating soft and tender cookies. We cannot use only cake flour because the cookies need some structure provided by the all-purpose flour. If you do not have cake flour, substitute with all-purpose flour
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- M&M candies: I like to use plain m&ms / classic milk chocolate m&m candies here. Substitute regular m&ms with peanut butter m&m, christmas m&m or mini m&ms, if desired. This is a great recipe to use up leftover m&ms from Halloween or the holiday season. Be sure to reserve additional m&ms to add to the tops of the cookies
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips: Using semisweet chocolate chips here helps balance the sweetness of the milk chocolate in the m&ms. I would not recommend substituting for milk chocolate chips or white chocolate chips, as these will make your cookies too sweet, even for the biggest sweet tooth
How to make chewy m&m cookies
Step 1
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
Step 2
In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, add cubed butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar.
Step 3
Turn mixer on low speed for a few seconds, then gradually increase speed to medium-high, mixing for about 3-4 minutes to cream butter with the sugars, until well incorporated and fluffy. Once the mixture begins sticking to the sides of the bowl, stop the mixer.
Step 4
Turn the mixer to low speed and add wet ingredients (egg, egg yolk, and vanilla).
Mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds until well incorporated, stopping to scrape down the sides and bottom with a rubber spatula, as needed.
Step 5
With the mixer off, add in the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). Turn mixer on low speed and stir until just combined and no dry flour spots appear. Do not over mix or you will end up with dry, tough cookies.
Step 6
With the mixer off, add in the chocolate chips and M&Ms. Stir on low speed until evenly distributed.
Step 7
Using a large cookie scoop, portion dough into 2 ounce (¼ cup) size balls, rolling the cookie dough balls between your palms to ensure a smooth ball, if desired. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Add additional M&Ms to the tops of each cookie ball.
Step 8
Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes then rotate baking trays and bake for another 5 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. The cookies may look a bit undercooked in the middle. That's okay, they will continue to bake a bit while on the hot cookie sheets out of the oven.
Bake time may vary depending on your oven, so look for golden brown edges and the center of the cookies to be mostly set and not very wet.
Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to circle around the cookies, bouncing the sides of the cookie off the sides of the cookie cutter to form perfectly round cookies (this is optional).
Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes on the baking trays then transfer to wire racks.
Like this recipe? Follow me on Pinterest for lots more recipes just like this one! And don’t forget to pin this recipe for later by clicking on one of the images below the recipe. Or, click on any of the images in this post to save to Pinterest.
FOR ALL MY FAVORITE BAKING TOOLS INCLUDING THOSE USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE, CHECK OUT MY BAKING RESOURCES PAGE!
How to store chocolate chip M&M cookies
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
To freeze, place cookies in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for at least one hour. Once frozen, transfer cookies to a freezer bag or ziploc bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Got a serious cookie craving, but you're out of brown sugar? Try these Chocolate Chip Cookies without brown sugar.
Can I freeze cookie dough to bake later?
Yes! After the cookie dough has been prepared, scoop into cookie dough balls and place in a single layer on a cookie tray. No need to space the cookies apart since they will be frozen instead of baked.
Place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least one hour. Once the cookie dough is frozen, transfer to a freezer bag and store in the freezer up to 3 months.
Thaw at room temperature before baking according to the instructions. If baking from frozen, add 2-3 minutes to the bake time.
Did you enjoy a KICKASS BAKER recipe? Please share a comment and leave a 5 Star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rating on this recipe! We appreciate you sharing your feedback!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter cold and cubed
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups M&M chocolate candies plus more for tops of the cookies
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, add cubed butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.1 cup unsalted butter, ¾ cup dark brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar
- Turn mixer on low for a few seconds, then gradually increase speed to medium-high, mixing for about 3-4 minutes until well incorporated and fluffy. Once the mixture begins sticking to the sides of the bowl, stop the mixer.
- Turn mixer to low and add egg and egg yolk then vanilla. Mix on medium for about 30 seconds until well incorporated, stopping to scrape down the sides and bottom with a rubber spatula, as needed.1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, 1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
- With mixer off, add in all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Turn mixer on low and stir until just combined. Do not over mix.1 cup cake flour, 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Add in M&Ms and chocolate chips and stir on low until evenly distributed.2 cups M&M chocolate candies, 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Using a large cookie scoop, portion dough into 2 ounce (¼ cup) size balls, rolling between your palms to ensure a smooth ball, if desired. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Add additional M&Ms to the tops of each cookie ball
- Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes then rotate baking trays and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to circle around the cookies, bouncing the sides of the cookie off the sides of the cookie cutter to form perfectly round cookies (optional).
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking trays then transfer to wire racks.
Video
Notes
- These cookies can be frozen and baked later or just a few at a time (one the best ways to do it!) – after you roll the dough into balls, place on a baking sheet in a single layer and into the freezer for at least an hour. Transfer to a freezer-safe ziplock bag for up to 3 months. I prefer to bring the cookie dough up to room temperature before baking. Bake according to the instructions
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week
- To freeze, place cookies in a single layer on a baking tray. Place int he freezer for at least one hour then transfer to a freezer-safe ziploc bag. Store in the freezer for up to 6 months. Defrost at room temperature before serving