Chocolate Chip M&M’s Halloween Cookies — Super soft, perfectly chewy, BROWNED BUTTER cookies that are LOADED with M&M’s and chocolate chips!! An EASY one-bowl, no-mixer recipe that’ll put everyone in the Halloween spirit!!
Easy Halloween Cookie Recipe
Last fall I made a batch of browned butter cookies that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind. For over a year. They were that good. So I remade them as M&M’s chocolate chip cookies with a Halloween twist. They’re perfect for Halloween parties and will put everyone in festive spirits.
The nutty, rich flavor of the browned butter is divine. I love making browned butter cookies not only for the incredible taste, but also because I don’t have to drag out my mixer and can stir everything together by hand in one bowl. Because you’re starting with melted rather than creamed butter, these Halloween cookies are wonderfully chewy while cornstarch keeps them soft for days.
They’re loaded with orange and black M&M’s and chocolate chips. The crispy shells of the M&Ms are a wonderful contrast to the soft, chewy dough and melted chocolate chips.
I made the cookies far in advance of Halloween and had to go to a specialty candy store in my area to source the orange and black M&M’s, but as Halloween approaches M&M’s in seasonal colors are easy to find in most stores.
What’s in These Halloween Cookies?
For this browned butter cookie recipe, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Salt
- M&M’s
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
How to Make Halloween Cookies
To make this Halloween cookie recipe, you’ll first need to brown the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Then, combine the melted butter with the egg, sugars, and vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients then gently fold in the M&M’s and chocolate chips.
Scoop the Halloween cookie dough into balls and refrigerate for at least four hours. Once the dough has chilled, bake the cookies until the edges have set. They may not look fully done on top, but that’s okay! The residual heat inside the cookies will finish cooking them.
Can I Freeze Halloween Cookies?
These Halloween cookies will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored 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. If baking straight from freezer with frozen dough, you don’t have to thaw it. Bake straight from freezer, possibly adding 1 to 2 minutes to baking time if necessary.
Do I Have to Brown the Butter?
Technically no, but I highly recommend doing so! Browning butter takes maybe 5 minutes to complete and it adds the most incredible, rich flavor to these Halloween cookies.
Tips for Making Halloween Cookies
Because the butter is melted rather than creamed, the dough may seem oily yet crumbly which sounds paradoxical but it’s possible. The M&M’s and chocolate chips tend to slide out of the raw dough mounds but just keep pushing them in.
It’s mandatory that the dough be chilled for at least 4 hours, or overnight, before baking. There are no exceptions or the cookies will bake flat, thin, and spread like crazy. Don’t overbake them because they taste better a bit underbaked.
Definitely bookmark this Halloween cookie recipe for later since it’s easy to change it up for any holiday! For Thanksgiving, you can also use orange and brown M&M’s, red and green M&M’s will work for Christmas, and so on.
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Chocolate Chip M&M's Halloween Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, browned
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ cup orange M&Ms, plus more for topping each cookie
- ½ cup black or dark brown M&Ms, plus more for topping each cookie*
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for topping each cookie
Instructions
- Brown the butter by cooking butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan until it’s amber to brown in color, about 5 minutes depending on pan size. I swirl the pan in the last minute or so to make sure I can really see the color changes. Butter will go through stages of hissing, sputtering, and making noise until the water cooks off at which point the browning occurs. Butter will smell nutty and aromatic.
- Pour butter into a large mixing bowl, making sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan with a spatula and transfer any browned bits (they have wonderful flavor) from the bottom of pan into the mixing bowl. Wait momentarily before adding the egg so you don’t scramble it.
- Add the egg, sugars, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
- Add flour, cornstarch (keeps cookies soft) baking soda, salt, and stir to combine. Dough may seem crumbly yet oily, this is okay.
- Add the orange and black M&Ms, chocolate chips, and stir to combine.
- Using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop, or your hands, form approximately 16 equal-sized mounds of dough, roll into balls, and flatten about halfway.
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 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 use a half-sheet pan and bake 8 cookies per sheet) and bake for about 10 1/2 to 12 1/2 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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Halloween Desserts:
Candy Corn and White Chocolate Chip Softbatch Cookies – A must make, at least once a year!
Candy Corn and White Chocolate Blondies — Wondering what to do with your candy corn? Bake it into soft, easy blondies! Best.Use.Ever.
Loaded Halloween Cream Cheese Brownies – Ultra fudgy, rich brownies topped with a layer of orange cream cheese, sandwich cookies, and chocolate chips!! The perfect EASY Halloween treat that everyone will love!!
Candy Corn White Chocolate M&M’s Blondies — Fast, easy, one-bowl no mixer recipe! So butter and delish!
Lofthouse Soft Sugar Sprinkles Cookies — The texture of these cookies is similar to Lofthouse-Style sugar cookies. They’re buttery soft and light, without being airy or cakey.
Loaded Peanut Butter Cookie Pie — The cookie pie is slightly crisp around the edges and buttery soft and chewy in the center. There’s lots of texture from the sprinkles, the crunchy Reese’s Pieces shells, and it’s exploding with bigtime peanut butter flavor.
Malted Milk and Whoppers Chocolate Chip Cookies — The buttery soft, tender, creamy cookie dough that’s studded with big chunks of crispy Whoppers is so addictively good.
Originally published October 2017 with updated text October 2019.
I know I can always come to your website for a sure-fire recipe. I had seen an M&M cookie here and that is what I wanted for my friends as a little Valentine treat. I didn’t have time to brown the butter and chill so I just used softened butter, but otherwise followed this recipe. Of course, I used the pink, red and white M&M’s that are available in February! What a yummy cookie, sampling one right now. Can’t wait to use the browned butter method when I have more time. Thanks as always for providing recipes (and research) that I can count on.
I know I can always come to your website for a sure-fire recipe. I had seen an M&M cookie here and that is what I wanted for my friends as a little Valentine treat. I didn’t have time to brown the butter and chill so I just used softened butter, but otherwise followed this recipe. Of course, I used the pink, red and white M&M’s that are available in February! What a yummy cookie, sampling one right now. Can’t wait to use the browned butter method when I have more time. Thanks as always for providing recipes (and research) that I can count on.
Thanks for the 5 star review and more importantly, thanks for the great compliment that you gave me by saying you can always find a sure fire recipe on my site :)
Next time when you have time, the browned butter method will knock these out of the park even more for you but so glad you loved them and for being a loyal reader (and maker of my recipes)!
Hi! I made these cookies and they are delicious however I found them a bit too sweet. I used exactly the measurements, but omitted the chocolate chips. Still too sweet. How much less sugar should I use do you think? Or more salt?
Hi! I made these cookies and they are delicious however I found them a bit too sweet. I used exactly the measurements, but omitted the chocolate chips. Still too sweet. How much less sugar should I use do you think? Or more salt?
They really don’t have more sugar in the dough than most other average cookie recipes. If you start reducing sugar in the dough, you may have to alter other things as well; you’ll have to experiment.
You could always reduce the amt of M&Ms.
You can add more salt, to taste.
Averieeee! :(
I have a quick question, I followed the recipe 100% through but when I was done with all the steps my dough was crumbly. Not oily and crumbly but just crumbly. I chilled it thinking it would be ok after chilling but it wasn’t, the dough couldn’t hold shape. I ended up adding a little water (about 2 tbsp) to the dough and that made it shapable, but I don’t know what went wrong? Could I have possibly forgotten something? Please and thank you. (BTW they were so delicious, I couldn’t put them down, but still idk why it was so crumbly)
Browned/melted butter can be a little tricky to work with and I am thinking if they were overly crumbly you probably added a bit too much flour. Most people tend to over-measure their flour and I think probably a bit less flour would have been perfect. 2-3 tbsp at most. Baking is always a work in progress as everyone’s ingredients, climates, etc. vary which can really effect things. I’m glad they still tasted delicious but I think that just a touch less flour will solve the crumbly problem next time. LMK how it goes!
YAAAAS these coockies gonna be my favorites! Love them! so so great post!
I will cook them too withi this way!
KISEES FROM GREECE
This week Euframe has a halloween post too! Check my scary post at the blog
Thanks Teo from Euframe.blogspot.com
https://euframe.blogspot.gr/2017/10/all-hallows-eveing.html
Glad you love them!
Hi – I followed the recipe except I omitted the chocolate chips and put in more m&ms instead. I put them in the fridge to chill for 8.5 hours now and they’ve don’t seem to be baking or changing much shape?? Any ideas?
You have to take the cookie dough balls out of the fridge, put them on a baking sheet, and then actually bake them. The fridge is not going to bake them.
haha! Obviously. I meant while they were in the oven, they didnt widen and grow much. Strange! Thanks anyways, didn’t work out for me.
If they didn’t soften in the oven, there are 2 culprits I find. An oven running on the cool side or adding too much flour or using too heavy of a hand with it or over-mixing it, causing the dough to become too stiff and won’t spread as it should.
Hi Averie,
If I wanted to double or even triple the recipe (yes, I need a lot!) What would you suggest? Making one batch at a time or increasing the ingredients? Love your blog and your recipes!
I have only ever made as written. Given that this dough is a bit unique because it uses melted butter rather than creamed like most cookie doughs, I would probably make one batch at a time. Or a double batch perhaps at once, but not triple it.
I’ve got these chilling in the fridge ? The browned butter smelled amazing and the dough is great! Can’t wait to bake and pack these up for an overnight tomorrow!
You’re the second person I’ve heard from tonight that has these chilling. Your Sunday morning is going to be GREAT :) And yes the dough is great too!
Hi Averie I have a quick question, I want to make these but I have a serious question. How do I bake these without the M&M’s melting in the oven? Should I freeze the dough? Please and thank you
Follow the recipe exactly, do not shortchange the chill time in the fridge, and you will be fine. M&Ms ironically do not melt in the oven like chocolate chips do. They can sometimes ‘crack’ but that usually happens after 20-25 minutes and cookies don’t take that long so you’re fine.
I have never used browned butter in anything. If these cookies are half as good as your chocolate chunk chip cookies then they are a good one. So far I have never found a recipe for cookies I liked any better.
Oh wow, what high praise! I am glad you love those cookies so much! Browned butter is awesome and you will love these cookies too!
What a great excuse to buy all the seasonal M&Ms out right now!
Yes, yes, yes! Hoard the seasonal sprinkles and M&Ms :)
These sound amazing!! Anything with browned butter is delicious and the photo of the cookie’s interior is the money shot for me. These would disappear quickly!
I’m glad you like that shot. I had to take about 30 to get one that was in focus. Hard with a huge camera, one-handed, and melting chocolate in the other :) These cookies were gone FAST and my daughter was so disappointed when they were all gone. Me too!
Hey Averie….! i love your mm cookies and your cookies looks so yummy & beautiful, this is perfect for delicious dessert. Thanks so much for more tasty cookies….!