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Chocolate M&M Cookies – Soft, chocolatey cookies with a brownie-like center and pops of crunchy mini M&M’s in every bite. Easy to make, quick to bake, and perfect when you want a colorful, crowd-pleasing chocolate cookie without extra fuss.
These chocolate M&M cookies came out of one of those afternoons where I wanted something chocolatey, colorful, and a little nostalgic—but not fussy. The kind of cookie you bake when you’re already preheating the oven before you’ve fully decided what you’re making.
They’re rich without being heavy, soft in the middle, and dotted with mini M&M’s that melt just enough to look pretty but still give you that candy crunch.
If you’ve made my M&M Cookies or M&M Brownies, this one feels like it lives right between the two—cookie shape, brownie vibes
Ingredients You’ll Need
Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post for the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card.
- Butter – I always use unsalted when baking
- Granulated Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Large Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- All-Purpose Flour
- Cocoa Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Milk – make sure to see the notes in the recipe card, how much you will use really depends on your dough.
- Mini M&M’s
Chocolate M&M Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 whole large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 1/4 cup mini M&M’s, divided
Instructions
- In a stand mixer, cream the butter for 20 seconds. Add both of the sugars, and cream until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar
- Beat in the egg and vanilla, until well combined.1 whole large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Mix in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. The dough should be pretty thick. Using a spatula, mix in the milk. Start with 1 Tablespoon, if you live in a dry climate or added a little bit too much flour, you will need to add a 2nd Tablespoon. You don't want to the dough sticky or too wet.1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1-2 Tablespoons milk
- Stir in 1 cup of mini M&M's.1 1/4 cup mini M&M’s
- Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. The longer it chills, the thicker the cookies will be!
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Scoop golf ball sized balls of dough into a baking sheet. Press a few mini M&M's into the top of each ball of dough.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes. The cookies will be done on the edges, but appear underdone in the center. Let the cookies cool on a baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
- Store in an air tight container for up to a week
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How To Make Chocolate M&M Cookis
- Mix the Dough – Cream the butter and sugars until smooth, then blend in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients, finishing with the milk and mini M&M’s to create a thick, chocolatey dough.
- Chill Briefly – Let the dough rest in the fridge so the cookies bake up thicker and hold their shape.
- Portion & Prep – Scoop the dough onto a baking sheet and press extra mini M&M’s on top for color and crunch.
- Bake Until Set – Bake just until the edges are firm and the centers still look soft.
- Cool & Store – Let the cookies cool slightly before moving them to a rack, then store once fully cooled.
Recipe Tips & Suggestions
- Use Soft Butter – Let the butter sit out until it presses easily with a finger so it creams smoothly with the sugars.
- Measure Cocoa Carefully – Too much cocoa can dry out the dough, so level it off rather than scooping straight from the container.
- Adding Milk – if you live in a dry climate or you add a tiny bit more flour, you will want to the 2 Tablespoons of milk. But if you life where it is humid, and you carefully spoon measure your flour, you will probably want 1 Tablespoon of milk. So if you dough is super dry use the full 2 Tablespoons, but you don’t want it to get sticky or wet.
- Don’t Skip the Chill – A short rest in the fridge keeps the cookies thicker and prevents them from spreading too much.
- Add M&M’s in Layers – Mix some into the dough and save a handful for the tops so every cookie looks loaded.
- Watch the Bake Time – Pull the cookies when the centers still look slightly soft; they’ll finish setting as they cool.
- Adjust Thickness Easily – Chill longer for thicker cookies or bake sooner for slightly flatter ones.
- Swap the Candy – Mini peanut butter candies or chopped chocolate-coated candies work well if that’s what you have.
Storage
Store cookies in an airtight container for 4-5 days before they will start to dry out.
You can freeze both the dough and the baked cookies. Scoop the dough first for easy baking later, or freeze cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to two months.
100% sold on these! M&M cookies are big in our house. Thanks for the recipe!
Your cookies are so pretty with the chocolate and pops of bright colors from the candies!!! Such a fun cookie to bake and share 😉
These cookies look delicious, simple and so fun! Hope you had a nice mother’s day!
yum! i love cookies with m&ms so much, and the chocolate base? these look amazing!
There were awesome and so chewy! Thanks so much for the recipe.
Thanks, I am so glad you liked them!
Delicious and pretty! I tried to make with white chocolates and they didn’t turn ok on the oven! But i highly recommend this recipe. My version here http://cozinhandoainternet.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/chocolate-mm-cookies-ou-cookies-felizes-de-chocolate/ 🙂
How many cookies does this recipe yield?
About 3 dozen, depending on the size of your cookies.
I was excited about this recipe and the cookies looked great coming out of the oven. Unfortunately, as they sat on the pan to cool they quickly sunk to flat, disappointing looking things. The taste was fine, but they just didn’t look like the plump cookies I imagined.
You may try chilling your dough next time, or adding a little bit more flour (1/4 cup will make for thicker cookies).
i chilled the dough for 1 hour and added the extra 1/4 cup flour and my cookies are also flat. I think it might be helpful to reduce the milk.
I actually just made these last week again for the first time in a long time, and I used the 2 Tablespoons of milk and the dough was still so thick and almost hard to work with. I live in a dry climate, so I wonder if reducing it by half would work if you are not in a dry place. I plan on re-testing and updating this post, so I will include some notes when I test again.