Our 4-Year-Old’s Favorite Cookies
Our son, Teo, currently thinks that mini M&Ms are the best candy “on the whole entire planet.” So this fall when I surprised him with a batch of warm chocolate M&M cookies one day after school, he could hardly believe his eyes. 😉
Honestly, though, what’s not to love? These cookies bake up perfectly soft and chewy with colorful M&Ms in every bite. The dough comes together quickly with simple pantry staples and whatever M&Ms you love best (we used a mix of mini and regular in the batch shown here). And if you happen to also have tiny sous chefs at home, you should definitely enlist them to poke the final M&Ms on top — it’s adorable, and delightfully foolproof.
I decided to make our cookies “bakery-sized“, to fit the maximum amount of M&Ms into each cookie. But you’re more than welcome to bake these up as standard-sized cookies if you’d prefer. This recipe is always a winner!
Recipe Tips
Here are a few simple tips to help your cookies bake up perfectly every time:
- Use natural cocoa powder. Make sure you’re using natural unsweetened cocoa rather than Dutch-process, which reacts differently with baking soda.
- Add/skip the espresso powder. A hint of espresso powder helps enhance the chocolate flavor of these cookies (without making them taste like chocolate). But if you’re serving them to kids or are sensitive to caffeine, you can skip it!
- Don’t skip the chill. Chilling the dough helps prevent spreading and gives the cookies a thicker, chewier texture.
- Scoop generously. I love making these with a full 1/4-cup scoop, which creates large bakery-style cookies.
- Top with extra M&Ms. Gently pressing some extra M&Ms on top makes the cookies look prettier and ensures every bite gets plenty of candy. I took a tip from Butternut Bakery and used a mix of mini M&Ms and crushed regular M&Ms to add extra texture, which looked so fun and colorful!
- Bake just until the edges are set. The centers should still look slightly underbaked when you pull them from the oven. They’ll continue to firm up as they cool.
Recipe Variations
Here are a few more variations that you’re welcome to try with this recipe:
- Use different M&Ms. Peanut, peanut butter, holiday colors…nearly all kinds of M&Ms will work great in these cookies.
- Add chopped chocolate. Fold in chopped semisweet or milk chocolate chunks for extra melty pockets.
- Add nuts. Chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds add great texture and balance the sweetness.
- Add flaky sea salt. A tiny pinch on top after baking gives these cookies that irresistible salty-sweet vibe.
FAQ
Yes — it helps the cookies hold their shape, prevents spreading, and improves the chewy texture.
Yep! Scoop the dough into balls, freeze on a sheet pan, then store in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes.
Sure, just use a 1.5 or 2-tablespoon scoop and reduce the baking time to around 7–8 minutes.
More Chocolate Cookies To Try!
Chocolate M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (66g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons espresso powder (optional)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (220g) packed light brown sugar
- 2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups M&Ms, plus extra for toppings (I used a mix of mini M&Ms and crushed regular M&Ms)
Instructions
- Preheat oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Cream butter and sugars: In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy (about 2–3 minutes).
- Combine wet and dry: Mix in the egg and vanilla extract until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until just combined. (Don’t overmix.) Fold in the M&Ms until combined.
- Chill: Cover and refrigerate the cookie dough for 2 hours or until chilled.
- Scoop the dough: Use a ¼-cup cookie scoop to portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Gently press some M&Ms into the tops of each dough ball.
- Bake: Bake for 9–11 minutes, or until the edges are set and the centers look slightly underbaked (they’ll firm up as they cool).
- Cool: Let cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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