M&M Cookies (Holiday Edition)
- By Amy Dong
- Published Dec. 10, 2019
- Updated Nov. 29, 2023
These M&M Cookies are the first vanish from any cookie tray. They’re festive, soft and chewy, and so easy to make. Bonus: both the dough and baked cookies freeze beautifully.
M&M Cookies (Holiday Colors)
There’s not much longer to wait until Christmas. Which means there probably won’t be enough time to do allthethings we’d like to do.
There are so many good things to be involved in this time of year, but we’re trying to stick to the best things. The most meaningful things. The most life-giving things.
Pare down, scale back, if even just a smidgen. Load reduction really isn’t my forte. It’s a work in progress, this sanity preservation.
Which is why I suggested we skip our annual trip down to Santaland this year and bake up some festive M&M Cookies with all the red, green, and white one can muster up in a Christmas cookie.
M&M Cookies are great for cookie exchanges, gifts, and cookie platters.
The Littles have walked through Santaland every single year. I think we’ve got the entire holiday display memorized by now.
I figured they were ready to move on. But wouldn’t ya know it, all 3 of them gasped and stared wide-eyed at their mama who suggested we skip that scene.
Guess what we ended up not skipping? (I mean, the boys will only be mesmerized by singing pine trees for a few short years, so I gave in.)
We also made time for these M&M Cookies that taste like a holiday party in every chewy soft bite. These M&M Cookies are awesome for cookie exchanges, cookie gifts, and dessert tables. No cookie platter would be complete with these tasty Christmas cookies.
M&M Cookies freeze beautifully
These festive cookies are soft, chewy, and loaded with goodies. Sharing is highly recommended. Thankfully, they freeze beautifully, which means they’re a great make-ahead recipe.
Both the unbaked dough and the baked cookies themselves can be wrapped airtight and frozen for 1-2 weeks.
Fun substitutions for your M&M cookies
- Super obvious, but swap out the M&M colors according to the season/occasion to suit your cookie needs
- Use semi-sweet chocolate chips, if you’re not into white chocolate chips
- Drizzle with white chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate instead of the sprinkles
- Add chopped nuts, toffee bits, or pretzel bits for more crunch
Our Popular Jam Thumbprints:
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M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp table salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened just to room temp
- ⅔ cups granulated sugar
- 3.4 oz instant vanilla pudding, dry powder
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- container of Christmas sprinkles
- 1 cup M&M's, your choice of colors, divided
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together well and set aside.
- In bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the softened butter and sugar on medium high, until light and fluffy. Add pudding mix and beat until incorporated. Add eggs and vanilla extract, blending well.
- Slowly add in the flour mixture. Using rubber spatula, fold dry and wet ingredients together just until fully incorporated. Add the white chips and 1/2 cup M&Ms and mix into the dough. If it gets too hard to mix, use clean hands.
- Gently work in 3 TB sprinkles, taking care not to manipulate the dough too much, which may result in the bleeding of sprinkle colors.
- Dough will be a bit sticky. Cover tightly and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Form 1-inch balls* of dough and lightly press down on dough balls to form 1/2 inch rounds. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
- Sprinkle on more of the colored sprinkles on top (or lightly roll cookie tops in a bowl of sprinkles.) Press on the remaining 1/2 cup of M&M’s on top of each dough round.
- Bake about 8 minutes or just until edges look golden brown. Cookies may seem slightly underdone, but they will firm up upon cooling. Don’t over bake.
- Cool on baking sheet about 10 minutes, and remove to wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes
- If you’d like larger cookies make 1.5″ dough balls and slightly flatten, 2″ apart on baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes or just until edges are golden.
- Baked cookies keep very well at room temp or in freezer, in an airtight container. Unbaked cookie dough can be tightly wrapped up and frozen for later use.
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Nutrition (per serving)
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