Mini M&M Cookies

⭐ Why You’ll Love This Recipe 

While I certainly love baking dozens of bakery-style White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies for friends and family, sometimes I don’t want to do all of that work! That’s when small-batch cookie recipes come in so handy. A small amount of dough bakes into a handful of large cookies, leaving you with just the right amount for a small snack and less cleanup.

These Mini M&M Cookies are no exception. This go-to cookie recipe yields just four chewy chocolate cookies loaded with candy-coated chocolate mini M&Ms. They’re cute, colorful, and deliciously soft and chewy!

Just like my Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, the process is practically foolproof and easy to customize. The cookie dough bakes into thick, monster cookies with crisp edges every time. You can even prep the dough ahead of time, stir more sweet treats into the dough, and freeze the batch for months. It doesn’t get much better than that!

🍴Ingredients

These small batch cookies are made with everyday baking staples from your local grocery store:

• All purpose flour - I always have great results when baking cookies with AP flour. For gluten free cookies, use the same amount of a gluten free flour blend.
• Kosher salt - If you’re using a different type of salt, reference this conversion chart for proper measurement. 
• Baking soda - This leavening agent reacts to the heat in the oven, causing the cookies to puff up and rise. Don’t use baking powder.
• Unsalted butter - Use organic, grass-fed, or cultured unsalted butter. They all taste better than conventional butter.
• White and brown granulated sugar - Using both sugars adds complexity to the cookies you won’t find if you used only one.
• Eggs - Let them rest on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes before baking to ensure they’re at room temperature.
• Vanilla extract - Adding a generous amount of good quality vanilla flavor is the secret behind homemade bakery-style cookies.
• Mini M&Ms & Chocolate Chips - M&M minis have a higher candy coating-to-milk chocolate ratio, so they taste sweeter than regular M&M’s. Feel free to use regular M&Ms if you prefer them instead. 

⏲️ Substitutions & Variations

These soft and chewy cookies with mini M&Ms are perfect just the way they are, but here are a few of the many ways you can customize them:

• Double up on the chocolate. Add mini chocolate chips along with mini M&Ms for extra chocolatey goodness. 
• Add other mix-ins. Try the cookies with chopped Oreos (or other cookies), chopped walnuts, toffee bits, chopped candy bars, shredded coconut, chopped pretzels, etc. 
• Use holiday-themed mini M&Ms. They come in all kinds of different colors to help you celebrate Halloween, Christmas, Hanukkah, Valentine’s Day, and more. 
• Want more cookies? Double or triple the recipe to make enough for everyone!

📖 Step by Step Instructions

Are you ready to make these luscious candy-loaded cookies? Here’s how it’s done:

Step 1: Mix Ingredients. Mix the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together in a separate large bowl. Add the dry flour mixture to the bowl of wet ingredients, and stir until just combined. To finish, fold in the mini M&Ms.

Step 2: Chill the cookie dough. Divide the dough into four pieces and roll into balls. Place the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and set it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips

• Cream together softened butter and sugars until light and fluffy for a tender cookie texture.
• Add the dry ingredients gradually to prevent clumping and ensure an evenly mixed dough.
• Gently fold in the mini M&M candies at the very end to preserve their vibrant colors.
• Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to portion the dough for consistent cookie sizes.
• Bake at the recommended temperature and time to achieve a golden exterior and soft interior.
• Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in an airtight container for maximum freshness.

💭 Recipe FAQs

❄️ Make ahead and storing

Make ahead: You can make the cookie dough and roll it into balls up to 24 hours ahead of time. Then, the next time you're ready for dessert, pop them in the oven, bake to chewy texture perfection, and serve!

Storing: Once your perfect cookie is baked, keep your cookies in a covered airtight container on the counter for up to 1 week - perfect for an after school snack.

Freezing: For best results, I recommend flash freezing the raw cookie dough balls, then placing them in a freezer-safe bag and freezing for up to 3 months. No need to thaw before baking, but you will probably need to bake them for a few extra minutes.

For an epic cookie freezer stash, make some chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar, oatmeal breakfast cookies and brown butter cookies - then bake a few off for a varied cookie treat!

Looking for more chocolate-loaded cookies?