Reliable M&M Cookies

At a glance

What stands out: These M&M cookies are reliable with chewy centers and crispy edges. This recipe always turns out and it isn’t difficult to make.

How long it takes: 15 minutes to prep, 30 minutes to chill the dough, and 10 minutes per batch to bake
Equipment you’ll need: cookie sheet, oven, mixing bowl, mixer
Servings: 4 to 5 dozen, depending on size

Perfectly Rich Cookies

A reliable cookie recipe can be a hard thing to find and definitely something to hang on to once you find one. The recipe for these M&M cookies fits the bill. These cookies are soft and chewy but with crispy edges. They’re evenly sweet (of course) and loaded with crunchy chocolate M&M’s.

We highly recommend enjoying a M&M cookie with large glass of ice cold milk or a steaming mug of hot coffee (or a cinnamon dolce latte!). You’ll be making the cookies often so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to try either option.

If you don’t happen to have M&Ms in the house, try our kitchen sink cookies, with all the odds and ends you do happen to have. Simply rich and fun!

From-scratch M&M Cookies

Perfectly chewy! All cookies are rich and we wouldn’t turn our nose up at any of them but chewy cookies are definitely more our thing. And that’s just the reason why we love this recipe! These cookies fall into the chewy camp (just like our snickerdoodles) and there’s a little secret to their chewiness. Wanna hear it? Of course you do!

The secret ingredient is cornstarch! It’s added right to the dry ingredients and no kidding, it makes the difference. Try it and see if we're not right in this.

More cookies with M&Ms! If you’re a fan of M&Ms (and who isn’t?), be sure to try these cookie recipes: trail mix cookies (they start with store-bought refrigerated dough); no-bake monster cookie energy balls, M&M peanut butter bars (with only 5 ingredients).

Joey Said:

“LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe. Cookies turn out PERFECT every time we make them and our family devours them!!!”

See More Reader Reviews

What goes in

• All-Purpose Flour: If you prefer, a combination of all-purpose flour and white whole wheat can be used (50/50).
• Cornstarch: Usually cornstarch is used to thicken sauces or to crisp up fried foods. This versatile product also makes evenly chewy cookies. It’s like a magic powder! (Hint: Cornstarch is found in the baking aisle of the grocery store.)
• Baking Soda and Salt: While you don’t need much of these two ingredients, don’t leave them out! They add leavening and flavor to the cookies.
• Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar: Make sure to pack the brown sugar firmly into the measuring cup.
• Butter: Use unsalted butter for baking unless otherwise instructed. Let it come to room temperature before using it. Rock hard cold butter is hard to incorporate into cookie dough.
• Eggs: Check with your chickens and see if they have a couple of eggs to give you. Just kidding! Store-bought eggs are fine.
• Pure Vanilla Extract: Vanilla adds great flavor to baked goods.
• M&Ms! You can use traditional M&Ms or mini M&Ms. (The cookies in the photos were made with traditional M&Ms.)

How it comes together

Cream butter and sugar, eggs and vanilla. Begin by creaming the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and continue to beat until they are incorporated.

Mix dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.

Combine. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture until it’s all mixed together.

Fold in M&Ms. Stir in the M&Ms by hand.

Chill dough. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it chill out in the fridge for a bit, 30 minutes minimum, but it can be longer than that too.

Preheat oven. When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Lining baking sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat mat ensures that the cookies won’t stick. If you have a well-seasoned or nonstick baking sheet, you may be able to skip this step.

Form cookies. Scoop up a tablespoon (or so) of dough and form it into a ball. Nothing fancy here, dough balls that look vaguely round are fine.

Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, allowing room for the cookies to spread.

Bake. Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes or just until the edges are barely golden brown. The longer you bake them, the crispier they get. Let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Bakery-style cookies

Press extra M&Ms into the tops of the warm cookies (as pictured) to showcase the bright colors of the M&Ms. The cookies will look more like bakery cookies. We use the same trick when we make white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.

Ways to change it

• Use different M&Ms. Substitute mini M&Ms or another variety of your choice such as peanut butter M&Ms, dark chocolate M&Ms, mint M&Ms, and so. M&Ms come in seasonal colors, too, if you’re baking for the holidays.
• Whole wheat: Whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour can be substituted for half of the all-purpose flour.

Make-Ahead Ideas

Refrigerate/freeze the dough. Make the dough ahead and either refrigerate it for up to four days or freeze it for 3 months or even longer.

If you freeze the dough in one large lump, it’s best to thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before shaping it and baking. Alternatively, form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls and freeze them in a single layer on a baking pan. Once they are frozen, put them into a freezer safe storage container. Remove them from the freezer as needed and bake immediately. Add a minute or two to the baking time.

Keeping leftovers

After the baked cookies have completely cooled, store them in an airtight container. They’ll keep on the counter for up to a week and in the freezer for up to three months.

Tried and True!

Nothing makes us happier than hearing your feedback on our recipes, and we're so glad these cookies are a hit with so many of you!

• “we made these tonight–they are rich! Nice and soft and tasty. Thanks for sharing!!”
• “we have made these cookies twice now, and they are memorable. Don’t mess with the recipe – it is evenly reliable.”
• “Wow..We've tried them..and they are reliable! We love them. We're going to try using this recipe for other varieties of cookies. Thanks for this memorable recipe.”

• Yield: 54
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 10 minutes
• Total: 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened ( 1 ½ sticks)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract)
• 1 package (10.7 ounces) M&Ms (about 1 ½ cups)

Method

1. In a bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer (see note), cream together butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy (2 to 3 minutes). With the mixer on low, add egg and vanilla. Return mixer to medium and mix until incorporated. Scrape sides if needed.
3. With the mixer back on low, add dry ingredient mixture gradually until dough forms. Stir in M&Ms by hand (see note). Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat, and set aside.
5. Form each ball from approximately 1 tablespoon of dough. Place dough balls evenly spaced on prepared baking sheet. Allow room for spreading.
6. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are just barely golden. Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes on baking sheet before removing and placing on wire rack to finish cooling.
7. Store in airtight container when completely cooled.

Notes

Butter: The butter should be softened to room temperature. It should still hold its shape when you press it with your finger. Using butter that’s too warm or melted will make the cookies spread too much.

Mixer: we usually use our stand mixer (with the flat beater/paddle attachment) to make cookies but a good hand mixer works well, too. If you’d rather use arm power, that works, too.

Bakery-style cookies: To showcase the colorful M&Ms, don’t mix them all into the dough. Set a few aside to press into the surface of each cookie immediately after you take them out of the oven.

Yield: The yield will vary, depending on how large you make the cookies. We use a 1 tablespoon scoop and usually get about 4 ½ dozen.

Variations: Change it up and use mini M&Ms or another variety such as peanut butter M&Ms, dark chocolate M&Ms, mint M&Ms, and so on. M&M’s in seasonal colors are fun, too.

Storage: Cookies can be kept on the counter in an airtight container for up to a week or frozen for up to 3 months.