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Peanut Butter M&M Cookies are soft-baked, thick, melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter cookie dough loaded with creamy peanut butter and peanut butter m&m candies.
For classic m&m cookies try these amazing The Best M&M Cookies.
Peanut Butter Cookies With Peanut Butter M&M’s
My motto in life should be ‘you can never have too many peanut butter cookie recipes’ because let’s be honest, you really can’t!
Peanut butter is my favorite dessert flavor and then when you combine that with some chocolate (or even more peanut butter), I already know it’s going to be an instant favorite.
Whether it’s Triple Peanut Butter Monster Cookies, Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies, or No Flour Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips Cookies – you’ll LOVE some of our family favorite peanut butter cookie recipes.
When my kids were little (all 4 of them!) they all LOVED to grab the giant jar of peanut butter from the pantry, a spoon, and go to town on it! I have pictures of all of them elbow deep in the peanut butter jar ❤️ I guess you can say peanut butter has always been a favorite in my family.
My oldest daughter (who is now 14!) used to grab a handful of these cookies and only lick the sugar off of them. I would always find licked peanut butter m&m cookies around the house. These cookies have quite literally been made for my family for over 10 years now!
Simple Baking Ingredients Needed
- Salted Butter : I much prefer salted butter in this cookie recipe, but if you want to use unsalted butter, then that’s fine too. You may want to add an additional small amount of salt if using unsalted butter (optional).
- Creamy Peanut Butter : I highly recommend using classic, smooth, creamy peanut butter and not anything that is ‘all-natural’, ‘no-stir’, or any peanut butter that has a thick oil layer at the top.
- Light Brown Sugar
- Granulated Sugar
- Large Egg
- Vanilla Extract : This recipe just has a small amount of vanilla extract; just a touch is all you need to round out the smooth peanut butter flavor with vanilla.
- All-Purpose Flour : I use unbleached all-purpose flour for all my baking recipes.
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Kosher Salt or Sea Salt : I use sea salt when I make these cookies.
- Mini Peanut Butter M&M’s : Yes, the minis make these cookies better 😉 They really do actually, so I recommend using them. But of course, if you want to, regular sized peanut butter m&m’s can also be used (you may want to roughly chop them because they are larger in size than regular m&m’s are).
How To Make Giant Peanut Butter M&M Cookies (Printable Recipe Card)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a cookie sheet(s) by lining with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick cooking spray. I highly recommend using parchment paper because it makes a BIG difference in how cookies turn out.
In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer, or use the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, peanut butter, light brown sugar, and sugar until thoroughly combined, fluffy, and pale in color; about 2 minutes of beating on medium-high speed.
Add in the egg and vanilla extract, and beat until just combined.
Add the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and mini peanut butter m&m candies. Beat on low speed just util combined and no flour pockets or streaks remain in the cookie dough.
Place the granulated sugar into a small bowl (this is for coating the cookie dough balls in).
Use a large cookie scoop (3-4 tablespoons) to scoop out the cookie dough. No need to roll the cookie dough into a ball, simply scoop it out and release it into the bowl of sugar, gently coat it in sugar, and then place 12 cookies per cookie sheet. At this point it should still retain its cookie scoop shape.
Bake for 9-11 minutes. The cookies should look puffy but still pale in color when you take them out of the oven.
Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and gently bang the pan a couple of times to help the cookies fall. Immediately press some additional mini peanut butter m&m’s onto the top of each cookie; this helps the cookies spread out a bit more and makes them look pretty.
Let the cookies cool on the warm cookie sheet for about 10 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack. Enjoy at room temperature, or even better, eat one warm!
How To Store Leftover Peanut Butter Cookies
Place leftover cookies into a Ziploc bag, or airtight container, and store at room temperature for up to 2-3 days. Peanut butter cookies are best enjoyed warm, and on the day they’re made. Of course, leftovers are fabulous, but I recommend warming it up in the microwave for 5-8 seconds for the best texture.
My Tips For Success
- Don’t roll the cookie dough into a ball once you scoop it out. Instead, just drop the cookie scoop (with the dough in it) into the bowl of sugar, gently coat it (you can also just coat the tops if wanted) and then put the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet. It’s important to not roll the dough into a ball, or otherwise, they won’t spread out like normal cookies and instead remain in a ball.
- Use Mini M&M’s for the best results! It may not seem like it matters, but trust me it does! They are smaller which means there are more to go around, and they just look much cuter.
- Don’t over-bake the cookies. You should set the timer for the minimum time and then check on them. The cookies should still be pale in color, puffy looking, and not have any golden brown color to them. The edges should look set but not browned or anything.
More Peanut Butter Lovers Recipes
- Peanut Butter Bars
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Lush
- Easy Peanut Butter Pie
- Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Bars
- Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cheeseball
Peanut Butter M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter softened
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup mini peanut butter m&m's
Extras
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (for rolling the cookies in)
- mini peanut butter m&m's (for after baking)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Prepare a cookie sheet(s) by lining with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.*I highly recommend using parchment paper because it makes a BIG difference in how cookies turn out.
- In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer, or use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, peanut butter, light brown sugar, and sugar until thoroughly combined, fluffy, and pale in color; about 2 minutes of beating on medium-high speed.1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- Add in the egg and vanilla extract, and beat until just combined.1 large egg, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and mini peanut butter m&m candies. Beat on low speed just util combined and no flour pockets or streaks remain in the cookie dough.1¼ cups all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 cup mini peanut butter m&m's
- Place the granulated sugar into a small bowl (this is for coating the cookie dough balls in).1/4 cup granulated sugar
- Use a large cookie scoop (3-4 tablespoons) to scoop out the cookie dough. No need to roll the cookie dough into a ball, simply scoop it out and release it into the bowl of sugar, gently coat it in sugar, and then place 12 cookies per cookie sheet. At this point it should still retain its cookie scoop shape.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes. The cookies should look puffy but still pale in color when you take them out of the oven.
- Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and gently bang the pan a couple of times to help the cookies fall. Immediately press some additional mini peanut butter m&m's onto the top of each cookie; this helps the cookies spread out a bit more and makes them look pretty.mini peanut butter m&m's
- Let the cookies cool on the warm cookie sheet for about 10 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack. Enjoy at room temperature, or even better, eat one warm!
Notes
- Don’t roll the cookie dough into a ball once you scoop it out. Instead, just drop the cookie scoop (with the dough in it) into the bowl of sugar, gently coat it (you can also just coat the tops if wanted) and then put the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet. It’s important to not roll the dough into a ball, or otherwise, they won’t spread out like normal cookies and instead remain in a ball.
- Use Mini M&M’s for the best results! It may not seem like it matters, but trust me it does! They are smaller which means there are more to go around, and they just look much cuter.
- Don’t over-bake the cookies. You should set the timer for the minimum time and then check on them. The cookies should still be pale in color, puffy looking, and not have any golden brown color to them. The edges should look set but not browned or anything.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
I’d love to see it! You can share it with me on @togetherasfamilyblog and follow on Pinterest @together-as-family-blog-recipes or Facebook @togetherasfamilyblog for more!
These look delicious, my UPKer loves M&M’s. Nice silpat, too! 🙂
The recipe does not say how many it makes.
So sorry! I always seem to forget to put that on the recipe cards. It makes 2 dozen cookies 🙂
It does not say what to heat the oven to anywhere on the recipe.
Oooops! So sorry. Thank you for catching that. The oven temperature is 350 degrees.
Loved the recipe but found it impossible to chop the slippery, hard shell m & ms. Is there a trick to it?
I put some m&m’s into a freezer ziploc bag and then use a meat pounder/tenderizer to crush them. A rolling pin or bottom of a skillet pan will also work ?
Very tasty