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–+ servings

My Best M&M Cookie Recipe

Author: Michelle Lopez
yield: 15 cookies
Prep Time: 5 mins
Work Time: 10 mins
Bake Time: 10 mins
4.5 from 4 votes
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Special Equipment

  • a 3-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop

Ingredients

  • 1 ⅔ cup (7.5 ounces or 213 grams) all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup (1 stick or 4 ounces or 113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • ¾ cup tightly packed (5.65 ounces or 160 grams) light OR dark brown sugar
  • ¼ cup (1.75 ounces or 50 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 4 ounces dark chocolate (between 60% and 70% cacao), from whole fèves or a high-quality chocolate bar roughly chopped into 1- to 1 ½-inch pieces
  • ½ cup (4 ounces or 113 grams) different M&M varieties (see baker's notes for recommendations), plus more for garnish
  • flaky salt, for garnish

Instructions

For the M&M Cookies

  • Prep the oven and baking pan. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 to 3 half sheet pans with parchment paper.
  • Mix the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • Mix the butter, sugars, egg, and extract. In a medium bowl, use a rubber spatula to mix together the butter and sugars until moistened, about 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  • Add the dry ingredients, chocolate and M&Ms. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Add the chocolate and M&Ms all at once and mix until the chocolate and candy are evenly distributed throughout, about 1 minute.
  • Assemble the cookies. Use a 3-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop to portion the cookie dough into balls, placing them at least 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet pans as you go. Gently press 5 to 6 more M&Ms on top of each cookie dough ball.
  • Bake the cookies. Bake one pan at a time for 10 minutes, or until the edges have set but the centers are still gooey. Garnish immediately with flaky salt and mini M&Ms, if using. Cool the cookies on the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms of the cookies have set and feel firm to the touch. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
  • Serve and store. Serve warm or at room temperature. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes

  • If you don’t have a digital scale, note that 4 ounces (113 grams) of dark chocolate fèves or chopped chocolate is about ⅔ cup.
  • For my M&M cookies, I used four different types of M&Ms: milk chocolate M&Ms, crispy M&Ms (the M&Ms have toasted rice inside, giving it a crispy interior), peanut butter M&Ms, and mini M&Ms. The different varieties bring different textures and flavors to the M&M cookies. Crispy M&Ms add unexpected bursts of extra crunchiness, while peanut butter M&Ms bring little explosions of peanut butter to complement the chocolate. And although mini M&Ms are also made with milk chocolate, they have a different candy to chocolate ratio, resulting in a new and unexpected mouthfeel in the cookie. I also like to garnish the cookies with the mini M&Ms right when they come out of the oven! I used 2 Tablespoons of each variety, resulting in a ½ cup of different M&M varieties. Check out the Ingredients section above for more ideas for different flavor combinations.
  • To save myself some clean up, I melt the butter in the bowl I’m planning to make the cookie dough in. Specifically: I use a small bowl to mix the dry ingredients. Then, I use the microwave to melt the butter in a medium bowl big enough to mix the dough in, add the sugars, egg, and extract, then the dry ingredients and chocolate. As a result, I only need two bowls for this recipe!
  • When prepping ingredients, I also melt the butter first. That way, it has time to cool while I prep the rest of the ingredients. Doing so ensures your butter isn’t too hot and won’t scramble the egg when you add it to the dough!
  • I like to bake the cookies one pan at a time. I find that doing so makes the best cookies, ensuring that none of them have overly burnt bottoms or raw centers. However, to save time, you can bake two sheet pans at a time. Position a rack in the upper-third position of the oven, and a second one in the lower-third position of the oven. Bake a pan on each rack, swapping their positions half way through the Bake Time.
  • Want your cookies to look *EXACTLY* like mine, with a signature puddle of melted chocolate skimmed across each surface? Easy! Simply reserve a fève or a ½- to 1-inch piece of chopped chocolate for each cookie. Place on top of each cookie dough ball before baking. The chocolate will melt into the puddles you see on top of each cookie!
  • In the recipe, I instruct you to assemble the cookies by scooping the dough with a cookie dough scoop and pressing chocolate and M&Ms on top of each cookie dough ball. Don’t be afraid to use a lot of M&Ms during this step! I used around 5 to 6 extra M&Ms per cookie. It will seem like a lot on the dough ball, but when baked, the dough ball melt into a fairly large cookie and spread the M&Ms out.