If you’ve been reading What’s Gaby Cooking for the past few years, you know that I’m obsessed with giving homemade gifts, like Christmas cookies. And these Christmas M&M Cookies are top of the list this year.
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
As someone who loves to bake, spread the love, and eat my fair share of cookies… this is my time to shine. I mean, what says Happy Holidays more than a giant plate of Christmas M&M Cookies? This time of year the What’s Gaby Cooking kitchen is fully stocked. I have all the ingredients on hand at all times so I can make a batch of these cookies or M&M cookie bars at a moments notice!
These Christmas M&M Cookies have been a long-standing Dalkin family tradition for years. As kids we’d BEG my parents for those giant cookies at the mall – do you guys remember those? Ugh, they were so good!! And these are them – but better because they are made with love and in small batches ☺ So next time you’re at the market, grab an extra bag of M&M's and get to work whipping up a batch of Christmas M&M cookies. And then send some to me because I LOVE THEM!!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Unsalted Butter at room temperature
- Brown Sugar
- White Sugar
- Eggs at room temperature
- Vanilla Extract
- All Purpose Flour
- Kosher Salt
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Christmas Colored M&Ms
*For a full list of ingredients and instructions please see recipe card below.
How to Make Christmas M&M Cookies
Step 1: Cream together the butter and sugars in a mixer for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Step 2: Add the eggs and vanilla, making sure to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
Step 3: Add the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder and mix on low until everything is incorporated.
Step 4: Fold in 1 ¾ cups of the M&M’s.
Step 5: Scoop out 2 tablespoons of dough, and transfer to a baking sheet, they can be closely spaced together as this is how they will chill.
Step 6: Once chilled, place 12 of the cookie dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Add a few M&M's on top of each cookie, making sure the M&M's stick into the dough.
Step 7: For cookies that are soft in the middle, bake for 11-13 minutes until just slightly golden around the edges. If you want them crisp, bake for 13-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before transferring them off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack.
How to Store Christmas M&M Cookies
You can store these at room temperature in an airtight container and they will stay fresh for about a week. You can also refrigerate them to keep them fresh for longer, for about 2-3 weeks.
How to Freeze Christmas M&M Cookies
Once you've baked the cookies, let them cool and then transfer to an air tight container and store in the freezer. Then when it’s time to eat, take a few out, let them come to room temp and devour.
To freeze the cookie dough, portion the dough into 2 tablespoon scoops and freeze on a flat surface. Once the balls are frozen, you can transfer the frozen balls into a freezer bag and save for later. When ready to bake, let them sit on the counter for 15 minutes before baking at the same time and temp as listed in this recipe.
Tips & Tricks
#1 - we are REALLY going to cream together the butter and sugar. You have to let it cream together for 3 minutes to ensure the butter and sugar properly combine. The color should be a pale light yellow and look like the image featured below.
#2 - I am a scoop and level kinda girl. The weighted conversion is listed in the recipe box below. If you spoon and level, that will not result in enough flour. I scoop my measuring cup into the flour and then use a knife to level it out. When you mix everything together, just mix the dry ingredients until JUST combined. No need to overmix.
#3 - there are 2 ways to chill the dough. If you're pressed on time, scoop the dough into balls and pop them side by side on a baking sheet and freeze for 20 minutes or chill in the fridge for about an hour. If you don't want to scoop, then you can chill the entire vessel of dough for 2 hours to really let the flavors come together. If you have time to chill the dough overnight, even better!
#4 - once the dough has chilled and you're ready to bake, pop a few M&Ms' into each cookie dough ball before transferring them to the baking sheet. That will ensure that some M&Ms stay visible while baking. Then pop them into the oven and let them bake! You can do this with any color palate to mix up the holidays!
FAQs
Can I add white chocolate or other Christmas themed candies?
Absolutely! You can add white chocolate chips, chocolate chips, candy cane pieces and other add-ins of your choice.
How do I know the cookies are done?
Time it! Cookies can be hard to tell since they are soft when they are being baked. Follow the instructions in the recipe below. Also, use the color as an indicator, they should turn golden brown on the edges. As mentioned in the recipe below, you can also bake a bit longer or shorter based on how crisp or soft you want them.
Similar Recipes
If you tried this recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting today
Christmas M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (DO NOT MELT)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 2 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour measured by scooping the flour and leveling with knife (366 grams or 12.9 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2¼ cups Christmas Colored M&M’s divided
Instructions
- Cream together the butter and sugars in a mixer for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla, making sure to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Add the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder and mix on low until everything is incorporated. Fold in 1 ¾ cups of the M&M’s.
- Scoop out 2 tablespoons of dough, and transfer to a baking sheet, they can be closely spaced together as this is how they will chill.
- Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes if they are scooped into balls. If you’re chilling the dough in the mixing bowl, chill for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Place 12 of the cookie dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Add a few M&M's on top of each cookie, making sure the M&M's stick into the dough.
- For cookies that are soft in the middle, bake for 11-13 minutes until just slightly golden around the edges. If you want them crisp, bake for 13-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before transferring them off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe by What's Gaby Cooking
I made these cookies for Christmas and they were a huge hit! I will definitely make them again next year. Everyone loved them! They are very easy to make.
I had the same thing happen. I have made these a couple of times and they are delicious but they are always flat. I scoop and level the flour and chilled for over 2 hours. I would love for them to be thicker. Thanks Gaby!
Butter was also at room temperature.
Love these! They are so easy and delicious. They freeze really well too.
Followed this recipe to a T but my cookies are flat? Any suggestions? They still taste fab but would love
a thicker cookie like the picture.
do you spoon and level the flour or scoop and level?
I had the same thing happen to mine & Gaby, I Scoop and level
ok a couple of troubleshoot questions:
1: did you melt the butter or was it room temp?
2: did you chill the dough for at least 2 hours
We have made these so much in quarantine! Obviously just swap out xmas ones for whatever!
Do you léave the oven on while the cookie Dough is chilling?
My family loved these at Christmas but I’m pretty certain they would be accepted any time of the year. DELICIOUS!
Sooo good!!! Definitely one of my favorites!! I couldn’t stop eating them!
Will you explain the cooking banging thing you did, please and thank you!
I reduced the amount of flour to 2 cups and added 1/2 cup cocoa, added some chocolate chips and used hazelnut m&ms and gave these for valentine’s gifts. They were delicious!! I wanted to make these but the whole town was sold out of plain Valentine’s m&ms but I found 3 bags of the hazelnut ones so improvised . Delicious!
Love these cookies! The first batch I baked spread quite a bit, so I froze the rest of the cookie dough balls and when I baked them the next day straight from the freezer they looked EXACTLY like the photo.
This recipe makes more than 12 cookies—unless by 12 servings you mean I’m supposed to have a few!
3 cookies per serving! Makes roughly 3 dozen
Holy moly. These cookies win Christmas. I wasn't sure they were done at 12 minutes but I trusted you Gaby and they set up PERFECTLY! If I want them to stay fresh until Friday, should I keep them at room temp or freeze until then? Thanks for yet another amazing recipe!
I tried this recipe today and they are delicious! The only trouble is that the color on the M&M's ran while baking (especially the red ones) .. so they don't look nearly as nice as yours. Do you have any tips on how to prevent this?
hmmmmm that's never happened to me! Maybe try sprinkling the M&M's on the top halfway through baking so they don't have as much time to warm up and bleed?
These are amazing!! Great tip to roll them in M&M's before baking-- I used more than 1 bag of M&M's and I'm not mad about it! Next time I won't put 12 on a tray at once though, they got a little crowded.