These rainbow M&M cookies are soft-baked style with extra chewy edges. We recommend mini M&Ms so you can pack more into each cookie. Chilling the cookie dough for 2 hours is an imperative step, so make sure you set aside enough time.
This was one of the first recipes ever published on my website. It’s always been a favorite, but I recently began adding a little extra baking soda and flour so the cookies hold shape better. (You’ll see 1 teaspoon of baking soda and an extra 2 Tablespoons of flour listed in the written recipe below.) I figured you’d want a reminder about these cookies or, if you’re new to my website, a little encouragement to try them!
One reader, Austin, commented: “These are probably some of the best cookies I’ve ever had. Even the next day they are so incredibly soft and chewy. I have made many cookies in my day (too many), and these make the top 3 easily. ★★★★★”
Here’s What to Expect:
- Texture: Think about a soft-baked chocolate chip cookie. Truly, does anything compare? These M&M cookies have the same tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture. They’re extra chewy with dozens of mini M&Ms packed in each cookie. Do you crave even more texture? You’ll enjoy my oatmeal M&M cookies.
- Flavor: I use extra brown sugar in this cookie dough, so you’ll taste that warm and classic flavor in each bite. Pair that with plenty of butter and oodles of chocolate candies.
- Ease: We have a pretty straightforward cookie dough here. After chilling the dough, roll into balls, then bake. A beginner could easily master this recipe.
- Time: Set aside enough time to chill this cookie dough. It’s a fairly sticky dough and without time in the refrigerator, your cookies will melt all over the baking sheet.
Soft-Baked M&M Cookies – Key Ingredients
A few ingredients add to their signature flavor and texture. Here’s how:
- Flour: I used to prepare this cookie dough with 2 cups of flour, but started adding another 2 Tablespoons. This helps soak up more liquid (butter, egg) so the cookies stay thicker.
- Cornstarch: A touch of cornstarch helps create a softer, thicker cookie. I add it to many of my cookie recipes, including these super soft chocolate chip cookies. By the way, that cookie dough is pretty similar to this one. Here we’re using a little more flour, sugar, and an extra egg yolk. (And thus yields more cookies.)
- Butter: Room temperature butter is the base of this cookie recipe.
- Granulated & Brown Sugar: Sugar does more than sweeten the cookies. The granulated sugar helps them spread and the brown sugar keeps them soft. For extra soft and tender cookies, we use more brown sugar than white granulated sugar here.
- 1 Egg + 1 Extra Egg Yolk: Have you ever baked my chewy chocolate chip cookies before? They’re the most popular cookie recipe on this website. I swear by using 1 extra egg yolk in that dough because it helps bind the ingredients and maintains a moist, chewy cookie. We’re doing the same thing here.
- Mini M&Ms: You can use any M&Ms, but I recommend mini so there’s more in each bite. If the M&Ms are larger, such as peanut M&Ms or peanut butter M&Ms, roughly chop them first. If desired, grab an extra 2 Tablespoons of M&Ms and press a few into the top of each cookie when they’re warm from the oven. This is purely for looks!
Success Tip: Chill The Dough!
The cookie dough is pretty soft, so make sure you take the time to chill it in the refrigerator. The cookies will spread into puddles otherwise. If you don’t have time to chill the dough, I recommend making these soft baked M&M cookie bars instead.
After chilling, roll the cookie dough into balls and bake:
Small, Medium, & Large
Do you have a copy of Sally’s Cookie Addiction cookbook? If so, you’ll see Giant M&M Cookies on page 31. My cookbook recipe yields massive cookies, but today’s are regular/medium size. Do you like teeny tiny treats? Try these mini M&M cookies instead. They’re bite-size cookies and the dough doesn’t require chilling in the refrigerator. All 3 recipes pretty much use the same exact ingredients, just in different quantities and ratios. You can’t go wrong with any, especially if you love M&M cookies!
And if you need a gluten free option, try these flourless monster cookies. Or if you’re a peanut butter lover, these peanut butter M&M cookies are for you!
Print
Soft-Baked M&M Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These rainbow M&M cookies are soft-baked style with extra chewy edges. I recommend mini M&Ms so you can pack more into each cookie. Chilling the cookie dough for 2 hours is an imperative step, so make sure you set aside enough time.
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (265g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (230g) mini M&Ms (plus 2 Tablespoons for topping, optional)
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat softened butter for about 1 minute on medium speed until creamy. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar, then beat on medium-high speed until creamy and combined, about 2 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Pour in 1 cup M&Ms and beat on low speed for 20 seconds or until combined. Once completely combined, cover cookie dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or up to 5 days.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Roll cookie dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. I like to use a medium cookie scoop here. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. While the cookies are still warm, press the remaining 2 Tablespoons of M&Ms into the tops of the cookies. This is optional and just for looks. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Allow to come to room temperature and continue with step 4. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Keep Dough Cold: It’s best to keep unused cookie dough in the refrigerator as the batches are baking.
- Add Chocolate Chips: You can easily add chocolate chips to this cookie dough. I recommend reducing the amount of M&Ms to 3/4 cup and adding 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Stick with about 1 – 1.5 cups total add-ins.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Mine just turned into puddles.
I don’t have a paddle beater could that be why?
Hi Caterina, it sounds like your butter may have been too warm and cause the cookies to spread too much. Here’s more on what room temperature butter really means. Also, be sure to follow at least 2 hours of chill time. This post on how to prevent cookies from spreading will also be helpful to review. Thank you for giving these cookies a try!
Hello, I’m from the Netherlands, I would like to make those cookies, my oven has no fan, is an electric oven with bottom heat, or bottom and top heat, so for these cookies what temp. will i set, only bottom or bottom and top heat, thanks
Hi Marjan, we’d recommend using the bottom heat and baking at the same temperature — 350°F (177°C). However, every oven can be a little different, so keep a close eye on them and take them out once the sides begin to brown. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
These are incredible! All the tips helped me finally understand how to make soft and chewy cookies, the only kind of cookie I want to eat! Mini M’n’Ms was also a great tip!
I have made many of your recipes but these cookies are by far the best I’ve ever made!
Thanks for all the great recipes and advice!
Good morning! I am planning to make these this weekend using the cookbook jumbo version. I did read that you like all variations of the recipe but in comparing I was wondering if you recommend doing the 2 eggs or 1 egg + 1 egg yolk and if you think I should add cornstarch or just leave it be and go by the book as written:-) Thank you as always for brainstorming with me and have a blessed day!
Hi Carolyn! I missed your comment here last month– not sure how that happened! I do love both recipes. The cookbook version makes GIANT chewy cookies. This website version pretty much tastes the same, I honestly don’t think you’ll find a difference besides the size of the cookies and recipe yield. (I do love making the cookbook version because it uses 2 full eggs and everyone loves the bigger size!)
Hi Sally! I am a preschool teacher and would love to bake something with my students. These cookies look delicious but the steps might be too complex. Just wanted to ask if you have an easy recipe for 4 year olds? Or if you’d be able to come up with one soon? Hehe I trust your recipes the most!!!
Hi Rica! We have a fun post detailing some fun kid-friendly baking recipes that may be helpful. Let us know what you try!
I have a question with regard to butter — @ “Room temperature”… do you leave it out from the fridge and let it sit for a few hours?? (wonder if this is similar to “softened” butter). Thanks for your reply!
Hi Andrea! We have a detailed post on what room temperature butter really means – hope you find it helpful!
Hi! Can I shape the dough into balls before refrigerating? So they’re easier to just pop on a pan for baking?
Hi Abby, We find the dough to be too sticky to roll before chilling, but if you use a cookie scoop or prefer to roll before chilling, you certainly can.
I noticed you reduced the amount of brown sugar by 50g. Is there a reason for that? Did you find that it tasted better with less sugar?
This is my go to recipe for the perfect cookie base 🙂
Hi Danny, I don’t remember this cookie recipe have 150g of each sugar. (I have so many cookie recipes at this time!) But if it was reduced, it’s so they aren’t as sweet. The base is quite similar to these chocolate chip cookies only with softened butter and a little less flour.
Best M&M cookies I’ve eaten!! Thank you for another super recipe.
I made this with the exact recipe (less m&m though) and they didnt crinkle on top like the photo/video. Is that normal?
Can you not use cornstarch? Or should I replace it with something? My family normally doesn’t buy cornstarch so it would be helpful to know if it was necessary for the cookies
Hi Luiziana, you can omit the cornstarch if needed. It helps make the cookies extra soft and chewy, but they will still be delicious. Hope you’ll give them a try!
Super soft and tasty!
Hi, love this recipe and all on this site!
I was wondering if we can use cadbury milk eggs for this instead of m&m’s, please? Also, do we need to bang the sheet to spread/flatten the cookies?
Yes, you can use mini eggs instead of m&ms if desired! You may want to chop a bit them if they’re bigger. No need to bang the pan unless you find that you’re cookies aren’t spreading – but if you follow the instructions closely they should turn out great! Here’s more cookie baking tips for your next batch 🙂
I messed up and accidentally added an extra egg white instead of an egg yolk. Do you recommend I add an egg yolk as well to make two full eggs or should I just leave it at one egg and one egg yolk.m? I hope I didn’t mess this up too bad
I thought I’d follow up since I didn’t see a response to my original question and let anyone know (if they are bad at following directions like me lol) that the cookies turned out delicious! I am going to attempt again and make sure I use an extra yolk instead of the egg white!
Can you food dye the batter?
Sure can, Michelle!
These are the perfect mini M&M cookies! They came out great!
They taste great, but look aweful! I’ve made this recipe a couple times and I’m not sure why because I chill overnight and keep cold but they always come out paper thin from overspreading.
Hi Melissa! I’m glad to help with the over-spreading. It’s certainly frustrating.The most common culprit for over-spreading cookies is the butter. Room temperature butter is actually much cooler to the touch than most think. Review this post on proper room temperature butter. Likewise, it could be as simple as needing a touch more flour in the dough– such as 2-3 extra Tablespoons to help soak up the liquid and prevent excess spreading. Here’s more of our tips to help keep cookies from spreading.
How long is the dough good for in the refrigerator?
Hi Kitty, You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. See recipe notes for details.
I tried these and they were very DRY tasting and had very little flavor. The batter wasn’t crumbly, I used the full amount of vanilla and salt. I’m not sure where the problem is. Should I add a few Tablespoons of milk?
Hi Eileen! How are you measuring your flour? Make sure to spoon and level instead os scooping to avoid packing in too much flour.
This is the recipe I was looking for! I made the recipe off the bag that I’ve used many times in the past and the cookies were greasy and spread too much. I couldn’t use those for my nieces wedding cookie table! Your recipe came out perfect. Beautifully shaped, perfectly cooked and delicious. I’ll be happy to bring these to the wedding.
Love these but does anyone know the calorie info?
Hi Haley, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Five star!
This is the best m&m’s cookie, I’ll stick with it!
Awesomeness
These turned out so, so good! I used dark brown sugar, and chilled overnight. I wasn’t sure if I should let them come to room temp at all so just scooped them cold, and they needed 12 minutes before I felt good about pulling them. I got 26 cookies even though I used a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop ♀️ I taste tested one to be sure they’re good enough for a work event and I must say they could be a new favorite! Very easy too!
If you freeze them already baked does the color on the candy run once thawed?
I made them and froze them for two weeks before christmas and they turned out the same once I took them out of the freezer for a few hrs as they were out of the oven. Everyone thought they were store bought they turned out so good!
Can I x5 this recipe? to make 150 instead of 30, or will it meet up the recipe?
Hi Kate, 5x may be difficult given the amount of dough you’ll be working with. It could overwhelm your mixer and make it harder to evenly incorporate the ingredients. We’d recommend doubling the recipe a few times to make more batches.
can i use regular size m&m;s?
Hi Alice, We recommend mini so there’s more in each bite but you can use any other M&M’s you wish. For details see the section above called “Key Ingredients” and the bullet point about M&M’s.
Hi Sally,
My brother’s wedding is next month, and my mom just informed me they’re having a homemade cookie table. They want around 80 dozen cookies! My mom said she and several friends and relatives are baking some and asked if I could bake some, too.
Do you think these m&m cookies are okay to bake in large batches? I wanted to make something simple, but tasty. I was planning on buying m&m’s in their wedding colors.
If yes, how many batches do you think I can mix at a time? If no, is there a different recipe you’d recommend?
Hi Sera, you can double this recipe with no problems, but we would’t recommend more than that as the dough will become difficult to mix and incorporate the ingredients evenly. But you could make several double batches! See recipe notes for make ahead details too, in case that it helpful for you. Happy baking!
Do you know how many grams of cookie dough each ball should be to have uniform cookies?
Hi Yasmin, This recipe should yield 30 cookies, so you could take the weight of your total cookie dough and divide it by 30 for uniform cookies. If you don’t want to do math, we love this cookie scoop for uniform cookies!
These were amazing! I made a double batch for a housewarming party and only had half a dozen left over.
I live in the desert so I cut back the 2Tbsp flour and used half granulated sugar and half turbinado sugar (based on another cookie recipe I love) and they were chewy and just right.
I did have the problem of several of the M&Ms falling off the top after being pressed in. Got a tip to fix that? I did it at 5 minutes out of the oven, then tried 4 and even 3 minutes out.