Welcome to the blog where today we’re diving into the colorful and delicious world of mini M&M cookies! These tiny treats pack a punch of flavor and fun, making them a favorite for cookie lovers of all ages. Whether you’re looking to satisfy a sweet tooth, impress at a bake sale, or simply add a pop of color to your dessert table, mini M&M cookies are the perfect choice.
Recipe tips
- Underbaking the cookies: This is essential to getting the texture right. I bake my cookies for 12 minutes on the dot and then remove from the oven and let them cool on the cookie sheet. Letting them cool on the hot pan will keep cooking them but at a lower temperature, not drying out the cookie entirely. If you prefer a crispier cookie, feel free to bake for 14 minutes. They’re still delicious, but I’m a sucker for a fudge chocolate cookie 🙂
- M&Ms: For this recipe I prefer to use mini M&Ms. You can use the normal size or whatever type you like, I just think they look the prettiest and tastes the best! I also prefer melting wafers because they are meant to melt and harden. You can substitute chocolate chips if that’s all you have!
- Corn starch: Corn starch gives the cookies that chewy texture (along with baking for the correct time) and makes them soft on the inside. If you aren’t able to use corn starch I have had people substitute arrow root. I’ve never tried it but I heard it works well!
- Chilling the dough: Chilling the dough will help with two things: cookie spreading and flavor. These cookies will spread when they bake but by chilling the dough for 45 minutes prior to baking, it will keep them from spreading too much! Also as the dough chills the flavor will enhance. It’s truly a win-win 🙂 I leave my cookie dough in the refrigerator and only pull out how many I need for the pan. They should be baked up straight from the fridge.
- Cookie dough scoop: I always get a ton of questions about what scoop I use, so I wanted to link the ones I used for this recipe! I like this set because it comes in 3 different sizes. For these cookies I used the large size. Using a cookie dough scoop gives you perfect cookie dough balls that are even and therefore will bake evenly!
- Baking sheet: For all of my cookie recipes you I suggest you use a cookie sheet. You can use a jelly roll however I find the edges of the cookies tend to brown a little faster and they bake differently.
These Mini M&M Cookies are the perfect blend of classic flavors and playful fun, bringing a pop of color and sweetness to each bite. You can switch up the colors of the mini M&Ms to match any occasion or season—I personally love using red and green M&Ms for a festive Christmas touch! Whether you’re baking for a gathering, a lunchbox treat, or just because, these cookies are a hit with kids and adults alike. The mini M&Ms add a delightful crunch and chocolatey burst that’s hard to resist! I hope this recipe brings a little extra joy to your baking and makes your cookie jar the most popular spot in the kitchen. Let me know in the comments if you gave them a try and how they turned out!
Mini M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups salted butter melted. you can also use unsalted butter if you prefer
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 9.4 oz bag of mini M&Ms
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer combine melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla. Mix on low until combined. While the mixer is on low add in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the dry ingredients.
- Pour mini M&Ms into a shallow dish. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and scoop 24 even dough balls. Gently press the tops of the cookie dough balls into the m&ms and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Cover with clear wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, but up to 24 hours. If your dough is too soft, refrigerate for 30 minutes and then scoop the dough balls, roll in the M&Ms and chill for 30 minutes. **The M&Ms will start to bleed if you let them stay in the fridge for over 45 minutes. If you plan to make these the night before, I suggest scooping the dough, covering and then prior to baking allow them to warm at room temperature for 15 minutes before add the M&Ms.
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Space 5 cookie dough balls about 2 inches a part and bake for 11-12 minutes, or until the edges are just set. Leave the rest of the cookie dough in the refrigerator until needed.
- These cookies will spread! As soon as the cookies come out of the oven use a round cookie cutter or glass to gently reshape the cookies into perfect circles. Place the cookie cutter over the cookie and gently scoot it around until the cookie melds into a circular shape. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before gently transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
I made these today and they are a winner! I did cut the white and brown sugar down to 3/4c each and did not add any salt. I’m half of them I used peanut butter mini M&Ms and they were even better than regular mini M&Ms. I would definitely make again!
These taste great! However my dough seemed somewhat runny so I let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours before scooping them. I started off by only baking 6 cookies for 13 minutes and then let them sit for a little bit after taking them out of the oven. The middle was basically raw and they still spread out a lot, but the outer edges were nice. Glad I didn’t decide to bake the whole batch so I’ll be able to cook the rest of them longer and make the cookies smaller. I would definitely still make these again!
The dough was so runny I couldn’t even scoop it. Followed recipe to a t and I couldn’t even scoop them to bake.
Did you chill the dough? That is required for this recipe!
I had this problem as well. At first I thought I read the recipe wrong and that I was supposed to chill the dough and then form into balls and add the m&m’s. But it says to form the balls and add m&m’s and then chill the dough. The dough texture made it really difficult to form into balls. I had to put my dough in the fridge for a bit first and then form into balls and add the m&m’s.
Not too sweet at all! These worked perfectly. I followed the recipe exactly. One constructive criticism is you forget to mention in the instructions to add the vanilla. Not a big deal for those of us who bake a lot, but likely would get missed with those inexperienced. Nothing about this recipe needs to be changed. It worked perfectly as is. The other comments I suspect are user error 🙂
Do you have any experience with scooping and freezing the dough before baking? I like to scoop and freeze cookie dough to have cookies on hand at all times 🙂 Do the M&Ms still run and do they bake off the same? Thanks!
This dough freezes so well! I suggest scooping the dough balls and freezing. Then before baking roll (or press) the m&ms into the dough. I’ve found the condensation makes the M&M color run if you chill longer than 45 minutes or freeze.
I live in higher altitude 10,000 elevation about! At 12 minutes I took them out pushed in the middle with a spoon and let them back an additional 2 minutes!! Perfect big sized cookies! I love that these aren’t overly sweet
Mine didn’t come out like this at all
They stood tall and crinkly
Probably will try a different recipe
did you mean 1 & 1/4 sticks of butter instead of 1 & 1/4 cups?? these came out soooo flat and oily!
I really wanted to love these cookies. I followed the recipe exactly, but the dough was very loose right from the start. I chilled it for 40 minutes, scooped and rolled in mini M&Ms, and even chilled the dough again for over an hour. Unfortunately, it still spread far too much while baking. I tried using a large cookie ring to reshape, but that didn’t help either. Sadly, this one just didn’t work out for me and I don’t plan to make them again.
These were so good!!! Easy and quick.
So good.
I have never left a recipe review before but omg, bravo! This is the best cookie recipe I’ve ever made! Out of all the options!