The Best Soft and Chewy M&M’S Cookies

PinSaveJUMP to RECIPE

This post may contain affiliate links.

The Best M&M’s Cookies — These bakery-style M&M’s cookies are soft, chewy, buttery, and LOADED with M&M’s and chocolate chips. No one can resist these cookies!

M&M's Cookies on plate with M&M's

Classic M&M’s Cookies Recipe

I love M&M’S® cookies and these are my favorite. And I’m no stranger to M&M’S cookies and recipes. These big, bakery-style cookies are very soft, slightly chewy, buttery, and loaded with M&M’S and chocolate chips.

If you’re looking for a new favorite M&M’S cookie recipe, you’re going to love this one. It’s nearly identical to my Soft and Chewy M&M’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, minus the red and green M&M’S. M&M’S just launched a new Pinterest page where you can check out new recipes for baking inspiration.

I used Dark Chocolate M&M’S because I’m a dark chocolate girl, but anything from Pretzel to Peanut Butter M&M’S would be fun twists.

If you need a slightly bigger batch of cookies, try Soft M&M’S Chocolate Chip Cookies. And make sure to follow my Tips for Cooking Baking Success, like chilling the dough before baking, so the cookies bake up perfectly thick.

These homemade cookies are sure to disappear very quickly because I don’t know anyone who can resist soft, warm, homemade M&M’S cookies.

M&M cookies stacked on white plate

M&M’s Cookies Ingredients 

For this easy M&M’s cookie recipe, you’ll need: 

  • Unsalted butter
  • Light brown sugar
  • Granulated sugar
  • Egg
  • Vanilla extract
  • All-purpose flour
  • Instant vanilla pudding mix
  • Baking soda
  • Salt
  • M&M’s (any variety) 
  • Semi-sweet chocolate chips

how to make M&M cookies

How to Make M&M’s Cookies

Combine the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and cream until light in color and well combined (this will take a good 4 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then mix in the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, and salt. Note that you add the pudding mix as a dry ingredient. You should NOT make the pudding according to the package instructions. 

Fold in the M&M’s and chocolate chips, then scoop the cookie dough into balls and flatten slightly with your hands. Chill the cookie dough for at least 3 hours before baking. 

Is There a Pudding Mix Substitute I Can Use? 

This M&M’s cookie recipe calls for a small amount of instant pudding mix because it adds a depth of flavor you just can’t get without it, and it helps the cookies stay soft for days. But if you don’t have access to or don’t want to use pudding mix, make my Soft and Chewy M&Ms Cookies instead. That recipe uses cornstarch to keep the cookies soft.

Can I Freeze Cookie Dough? 

Absolutely! I highly recommend doubling this recipe and freezing half the cookie dough for later. To freeze cookie dough, first scoop the dough into balls and then seal inside a freezer bag. When you’re ready to make the cookies, bake them directly from frozen (note that you may have to add a minute or two to the bake time). 

The Best Soft and Chewy M&M'S Cookies - Big, bakery-style cookies you can make at home that are BETTER than the bakery's! An easy recipe for the classic cookies everyone loves!!

Tips for Making M&M’s Cookies

When creaming together the butter and sugars, it’s important that you give the mixture plenty of time to whip up. At this stage, you’re whipping air into the mixture, which is partly what makes these cookies so soft and chewy. 

Also note that you MUST chill the cookie dough. If you skip this crucial step, your cookies will come out flat and will spread a lot in the oven. 

Bake the M&M’s cookies for exactly how long I’ve said to (if yours are the same size as mine). Even if the centers of the cookies look pale and glossy, you should still take them out of the oven because the residual heat in the cookies will finish baking the insides. 

Want to see how to make M&M’s cookies? Watch the video! 

The Best M&M's Cookies — These bakery-style M&M's cookies are soft, chewy, buttery, and LOADED with M&M's and chocolate chips. No one can resist these cookies!

Pin This Recipe

4.60 from 49 votes

The Best Soft and Chewy M&M'S Cookies

By Averie Sunshine
These bakery-style M&M's cookies are soft, chewy, buttery, and LOADED with M&M's and chocolate chips. No one can resist these cookies!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Chill Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 22 minutes
Servings: 11 cookies
Save this recipe to your email
Enter your email and we’ll send it to you!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Ingredients  

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
  • ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup instant vanilla pudding mix, not cook-and-serve, not sugar-free
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • ¾ cup M&M’S, plus more for adding to dough mounds (I used Dark Chocolate M&M’S, other varieties may be substituted)
  • ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for adding to dough mounds

Instructions 

  • To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 4 minutes.
  • Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, pudding mix (add it as a dry ingredient, do not actually make pudding; cook-and-serve and sugar-free are not recommended in this recipe), baking soda, salt, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
  • Add the M&M’S, chocolate chips, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.
  • Using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or your hands, form approximately 11 equal-sized mounds of dough, roll into balls, and flatten slightly.*
  • Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
  • Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 6 cookies per sheet) and bake for about 12 to 13 minutes (if your cookies are smaller than mine, reduce baking time) or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center; don’t overbake. Cookies firm up as they cool.
  • Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.
  • Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Notes

*Tip: Strategically place a few M&M’S and chocolate chips on top of each mound of dough by taking M&Ms and chips from the underside as well as adding more as necessary for a nice pop of color.
Recipe adapted from my Soft & Chewy M&M's Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 522kcal, Carbohydrates: 66g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 14g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 41mg, Sodium: 317mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 31g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

More M&M’s Recipes: 

Soft M&M’s Chocolate Chip Cookies – Soft, chewy, thick, and people love these big cookies loaded with M&Ms and chocolate!

Soft M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies - The softest, thickest, best M&M cookies ever! People love these big cookies loaded with M&Ms & chocolate!

Triple Peanut Butter Cookie Pie â€” This fast & easy cookie pie has peanut butter worked in 3 different ways. If you’re a peanut butter lover, this pie is for you!

Triple Peanut Butter Cookie Pie - This fast & easy cookie pie has peanut butter worked in 3 different ways. If you're a peanut butter lover, this pie is for you!

Loaded Soft and Chewy M&M’s Cookie Pie – If you like M&M cookies, you’ll love this biggie version! Super easy and always a big hit!

Loaded Soft and Chewy M&M Cookie Pie - If you like M&M cookies, you'll love this biggie version! Super easy & always a big hit!

Triple Peanut Butter Monster Cookie Bars â€“ Peanut butter is used 3 different ways and baked into bars. Great for pantry odds-and-ends cleanout!

Triple Peanut Butter Monster Cookie Bars - Easy One-Bowl Recipe at averiecooks.com

Homemade Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies – Some of the best brownies I’ve ever made and much more decadent than storebought Cosmic Brownies!

Homemade Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies - Recipe at averiecooks.com

Frozen Chocolate Pudding and Wafer Cake (No-Bake, 3 ingredients) — An easy icebox cake that’s perfect for summer events!

Sliced Frozen Chocolate Pudding and Wafer Cake

Loaded M&M’s Oreo Cookie Bars – Stuffed to the max with M&M’s and Oreos! Easy, no-mixer recipe that’s ready in 30 minutes. Always a hit! On the cover of Taste of Home Magazine and pinned 650K+ times!

Loaded M&M Oreo Cookie Bars - Stuffed to the max with M&Ms and Oreos! Easy, no-mixer recipe that's ready in 30 minutes. Always a hit at parties!

Chocolate Cake Mix M&M’s Cookies — Foolproof cookies made with just 5 ingredients!! If you’re craving chocolate and want to make super EASY cookies that are soft, FUDGY, and delicious, this is the recipe to make!!

Overhead of Chocolate Cake Mix M&M's Cookies

Post is brought to you by M&M’S. The recipe, images, text, and opinions expressed are my own.

About the Author

Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

Get the latest recipes via email!

Leave a Comment

Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I have to be gluten free so I made this recipe with GF flour. The M&M cookies turned out PERFECTLY! This is by far the BEST M&M cookie recipe I ever tried. Going forward it will be the only one I use!

  2. 5 stars
    I have to be gluten free so I made this recipe with GF flour. The M&M cookies turned out PERFECTLY! This is by far the BEST M&M cookie recipe I ever tried. Going forward it will be the only one I use!

    1. Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad that these worked out well with GF flour and that they turned out perfectly and that this will be your go-to recipe from now on!

  3. 5 stars
    When recipes say soft and chewy, the bar is high…this one delivers!  Spooning flour versus dipping measuring cup into the flour made a huge difference, but these are legit chewy and flavorful. I made them in a large cookie scoop and baked for 8 minutes, allowing them to cool on the pan versus a cooling rack, per the instructions.  Excellent!!!

  4. 5 stars
    Love this recipe and the Quadruple Chocolate version. Have made both many, many times to rave reviews. Curious why the chocolate has two eggs and the vanilla has one?

    1. Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you love the recipes!

      One of those baking things that I figured out over trial and error and that each recipe tastes better with the respective amount of eggs called for.

  5. 5 stars
    This m&m cookie recipe was a hit at my church! Already planning to make a few dozen for my pastors wife’s birthday celebration next week! :)

    -Much love-

    1. Thanks for the five star review and glad these were a hit and that you’re going to make more!

  6. 5 stars
    I saved this recipe from a few years ago and it always freezes so well! I love making a batch and freezing the dough in individual portions for when I want a nice, warm cookie fresh from the oven. Need to make some again this weekend.

    1. Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that you can enjoy freshly baked cookies in individual portions from your freezer stash when a craving strikes!

  7. 5 stars
    I make these cookies for EVERY function and they’re always a hit!! I change it up just a tad and do 1/2 cup m&ms, 1/2 cup dark choc chips and 1/4 cup butterscotch chips! So good!

  8. 5 stars
    My 7 yr. old granddaughter and I enjoyed making these together. They were fabulous! Everyone in the family loved them and want us to make them again right away as they disappeared very quickly!

    1. I am fearful of bleeding too although I have done it and it’s not terrible. But better yet, I would freeze the unbaked mounds of dough and then just bake them off when you’re ready for them.