Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

hero shot of the peanut butter cookies with mini peanut butter m&m candies.

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.

Course Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword peanut butter m&m cookies

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 358kcal

Equipment

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