These cookies really are the best m&m cookies! Big cookies that are thick, chewy, and soft-baked and loaded with mini m&m candy. There are a few tricks that really do make these cookies the best.
I know you may see recipes that claim that they’re ‘the best’ and if you’re anything like me you probably roll your eyes. But…. I am just going to say it, that these really are the best m&m cookies!
Why? They are BIG which is very important for the perfect cookie. Each cookie is 1/4 cup of dough! Yes, it’s a lot, but trust me it’s so totally worth it. They are thick, chewy, and soft-baked all at the same time. Plus, you really can’t go wrong with those colorful mini m&m’s. I would really recommend getting the mini sized m&m’s. You can find them most anywhere in the baking aisle or the candy aisle of the grocery store. Or even Target too 🙂
They’re also ‘the best’ because of the trick in shaping the cookie dough balls before baking. Use a 1/4 cup measurer to scoop your dough, roll it into a ball and then pull the dough ball in half so you end up with 2 smaller pieces. One side of each dough piece will be rough while the other side will still be smooth.
Place one piece, rough side down, on the cookie sheet and then smoosh the other pieces on top of it with the rough side up. I like to kind of pinch the dough pieces together where they connect so that they stay on top of each other instead of the top one falling off during baking.
The other secret is using melted butter! It provides a rich, almost velvety type texture to the cookies. Be sure and use room temperature melted butter. The tip I always share with people is to melt the butter in the microwave only until it’s half melted. Part of it is liquid/melted but you still have softer, more solid pieces of butter.
You then take a fork and just stir it until everything is melted and smooth. This way the butter is not scalding hot and usually by the time you mix it together and add your sugars to the bowl, the butter is cooled enough that it can be added.
I told you they were big cookies! 🙂 You will only be able to fit 6 to a cookie sheet. The recipe yields about 11 cookies.
And just to prove to you how good these are I will tell you that I made these for a bake sale for my daughter’s preschool fundraiser and not 5 minutes after putting them on the table they were gone! My kids went up to the table a few minutes after we got there and they were so excited to buy the cookies I made….. imagine their disappointment when they were gone.
I told them I will gladly make more. So I will definitely be making these cookies again!
There is also a chocolate chip cookie version of these cookies too. There are also really good photos about the dough stacking process in that post too, so click here if you need a visual for stacking the dough balls.
Tips for making the best m&m cookies
- Be sure you are NOT using hot melted butter. It needs to be warmish, room temperature melted butter. TIP: Place your butter in a microwaveable bowl and melt for about 30 seconds. Half of it should be melted and the other half should still be soft piles of butter. Take a fork and mix it together until it’s all melted and combined. This makes it cool enough to use it because you’re not heating the butter for so long to get it all melted.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the dough. Roll it into a ball and then pull the dough ball in half to form 2 smaller pieces. Place one piece, rough side down, on the cookie sheet and then place the other pieces on top of it with the rough side up. Pinch the dough pieces together where they meet so that the top one does not topple over while baking. This method ensures a thick, puffy, chewy cookie that is also soft-baked. For a visual of this click here.
- Be sure and blend the sugars and butter until lighter in color and fluffy looking. It may seem like a long time, but you really need to beat them for at least 1 minute.
- When the cookies come out of the oven they might look a bit weird. That’s ok! Take a few additional mini m&m’s and press them into the tops of the cookies. This will help spread the cookies more into the shape that you see in the pictures above.
I know all these special tips & tricks seem like a lot of work for a darn cookie but as you make these more and more, you’ll get the hang of it and more than likely have it memorized and could do it with your eyes closed (like me!). That’s when you know a recipe is good is when you have it memorized.
Thanks for checking these out and visiting my blog. Let me know how you like these cookies. And be sure to PIN this recipe to Pinterest!
- 12 tablespoons butter, melted & cooled to room temperature (I use salted)
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup miniature m&m's (plus additional for tops of cookies)
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Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 2 cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper or a silpat liner.
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In a large mixing bowl, add melted and cooled butter and sugars. Beat with a handheld mixer until combined, creamy, and light in color. About 1 minute.
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Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Beat together until combined. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix together, on low speed, just until combined. Stir in the miniature m&m's just until combined.
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Take 1/4 cup of dough and shape into a ball. Pull each ball into two pieces using your hands. Place one half, rough side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Then place the other half, rough side up, on top of the first half. Use your fingers to gently press the dough balls together where they touch in the middle. This way the top dough ball does not fall over while baking.
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Bake 12-15 minutes. Edges will be very lightly browned while the middle will still be somewhat soft and pale. My cookies are perfect at 13 minutes.
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Immediately after baking, press a few additional miniature m&m's into the cookies. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 15 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely, or eat them warm!
I LOVE these parchment paper cookie sheet liners. They come precut so you just have to pull one out. So easy!
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6 Comments
Breanne
March 27, 2018 at 12:00 pm I made these yesterday. They are really delicious and my husband loved them, but they definitely didn't turn out thick at all. They actually turned out pretty thin even though I used your trick and they were a little greasy on the bottom. Any idea why they turned out this way? I swear followed the recipe exactly.Together As Family
March 27, 2018 at 11:30 pm Oh shoot! I can only think of two things that it could be then. Make sure your melted butter is not hot when you add it. That could definitely make the cookies spread while baking. I always put the butter in the microwave for only 15-20 seconds (make sure there are still big whole chunks of butter) and then use a fork and stir it together until its all melted and combined. This will help the butter stay cooler because you did not heat it all the way to melting. The other thing is altitude. I personally have never noticed a difference but lots of people say they do (I've live in both Utah and currently Maryland, so high and low altitude). So maybe try adding an additional 2 tablespoons flour (so 2 cups + 1/4 cup). Maybe that will help. I will also add that the first time I made these cookies I hated them! They spread out and did not turn out good at all. So maybe try again and just get used the recipe and I know they will turn out good for you. Hope that helps :)Nikita
May 3, 2018 at 7:55 am Hi! I'd loved to try these cookies but can you please provide the metric measurement? thanks a lot!Layne
May 7, 2018 at 12:33 am Darn, mine were pancake thin too! I was very careful not to overheat the butter and tried your trick of stacking the dough. The cookies were delicious, but wish they turned out like your pictures!Christine Berres
October 18, 2018 at 8:00 am These cookies were good, but when I got done stirring in the amount of flour, the cookie dough wasn't thick enough to form balls the way described. I added in a bit more flour, but to no avail, so decided to roll with it. I wonder if giving them a stint in the refrigerator to harden the butter again would do the trick enough to try your trick for thick and chewy cookies. Ours did turn out like the pictures , but I think I owe it to the 20-minute stint in the freezer, which is something I usually do with my cookies dough, and not trick, which we couldn't do since the batter was so wet. All in all - a good cookie though, as long as you can figure out how to work with the dough. Thanks!Tabi
November 21, 2018 at 9:24 am SO happy I came across this recipe!! They turned out perfectly! I waivered a tad from the recipe only because I had something in the oven already so I had to wait and I saw the comments of flat cookies. I left the butter on the counter for a day and didn’t melt it at all. I added 1/2 tsp on baking powder. I put the batter in the fridge for roughly 20 min (waiting for my pumpkin pie to finish). Lastly, I used a 1 tbsp “ice cream” scoop and stacked them ... because I was being partially lazy. My cookies came out just as the original recipe described! Great job on an awesome recipe!