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Chocolate M&M Cookies are the double chocolate answer to the classic candy cookie, a soft, fudgy cocoa dough loaded with chocolate chips and rainbow M&Ms that bake into thick, crackly topped rounds. I made them on a snow day with the last bag of candy in the pantry, and they instantly out ranked every plain chocolate chip cookie in this house. If my cosmic brownies are your nostalgia lane, these cookies are the next exit.
One bowl, no mixer required, just a two hour chill between you and thick bakery cookies.
Chocolate M&M Cookies Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 15 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 18 cookies
- ⚡ Calories: 205kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Deep double chocolate with candy shell crunch
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, the chill is the only waiting game
Quick Answer
Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a second bowl, stir melted butter with brown and granulated sugar, then mix in the egg and vanilla. Stir the dry mix into the wet until just combined, fold in 1 cup of M&Ms and the chocolate chips, scoop 2 tablespoon dough balls onto a lined tray, and chill at least 2 hours. Bake at 350 degrees, slightly flattened, 2 inches apart, for 11 to 15 minutes until the tops are no longer glossy.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Melted butter means no mixer. Stirring melted butter with the sugars dissolves them partially for that dense, chewy bakery texture, and the whole dough comes together with a spatula.
- The 2 hour chill is structural. Chilling solidifies the butter and hydrates the cocoa and flour, so the cookies bake thick and soft instead of spreading into wafers.
- Cocoa is the flavor and the tenderizer. Replacing part of the flour with cocoa powder deepens the chocolate and keeps the crumb soft, cocoa has no gluten to toughen the bite.
- Two chocolates, two jobs. M&Ms keep their candy crunch and color in the oven while the semi sweet chips melt into gooey pockets, one without the other is only half the cookie.
- Pull them when the tops go matte. A glossy top means raw middle, the moment the surface turns dull the centers are set but still fudgy, carryover heat finishes them on the tray.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Double chocolate, candy crunch, and melty chips in every single bite.
- No mixer, one bowl, and the dough behaves perfectly for little helper hands.
- The dough scoops ahead and chills up to overnight, the same make ahead magic as my edible cookie dough cravings, but oven bound.
Key Ingredients
Pantry baking staples plus the fun stuff.
- All purpose flour and cocoa powder: The double chocolate base, cocoa replaces part of the flour for a fudgy crumb.
- Unsalted butter: Melted, so the dough stirs together by hand and bakes chewy.
- Brown and granulated sugar: The blend gives chew from the brown and crisp edges from the white.
- M&Ms: A full cup, the candy shells keep their crunch and color through the bake.
- Semi sweet chocolate chips: A half cup for the melty pockets the M&Ms cannot provide.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
Swap the candy and this dough becomes a whole cookie wardrobe.
- Use holiday M&Ms, red and green for Christmas, pastels for Easter, to theme them instantly.
- Swap the M&Ms for peanut butter M&Ms and the chips for peanut butter chips.
- Add a half teaspoon of espresso powder to intensify the chocolate.
- Want a bar version instead? My Easter cookie bars press the same candy studded idea into a pan.
- Press a few extra M&Ms on top right out of the oven for the bakery look.
How to Make Chocolate M&M Cookies
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth.
- Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine.
- Add the flour mixture and stir until it just comes together with no dry patches, do not overmix.
- Fold in the M&Ms and the chocolate chips.
- Scoop 2 tablespoon dollops onto a parchment lined sheet tray, roll them into balls, and chill at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the dough balls 2 inches apart on lined trays and press the tops down slightly.
- Bake 11 to 15 minutes, until the tops are no longer glossy. Cool on the tray 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Do not skip the chill. Warm melted butter dough spreads flat, two cold hours is what buys you thick, soft cookies.
- Measure the cocoa like flour. Spoon it into the cup and level, packed cocoa dries the dough out.
- Watch for the matte top. Glossy means underdone, dull means pull them, the centers finish setting on the hot tray.
- Save a handful of M&Ms to press on top. Right after baking, they stud the surface like the bakery ones.
- Let them rest 10 minutes on the tray. Fresh from the oven they are too soft to move, they firm as they cool.
- Freeze the dough balls for cookies on demand. Bake from frozen, just add a minute or two.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Stack the chocolate m&m cookies on a plate with cold milk for the classic after school moment, or crumble one warm over vanilla ice cream.
For bake sales and cookie trays, pair them with my white chocolate raspberry cookies, the color contrast sells both out.
Tuck a few into lunchboxes next to a batch of my cosmic brownies, the double chocolate theme makes you the favorite parent.
Store the cooled chocolate m&m cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, a slice of sandwich bread in the container keeps them soft. Both the baked cookies and the raw dough balls freeze for up to 3 months.
Chocolate M&M Cookies FAQs
Chocolate m&m cookies are double chocolate cookies made from a cocoa based dough with both M&Ms and chocolate chips folded in. The cocoa dough bakes soft and fudgy with crackly tops, the chips melt into gooey pockets, and the M&M candy shells keep their color and crunch through the oven.
Skipped or shortened chill time, almost every time. This dough uses melted butter, so it needs a minimum 2 hour refrigerated rest to solidify before baking. Warm dough melts fast in the oven and spreads thin. If your kitchen is hot, chill the scooped balls even between oven batches.
You can, use 1 1/2 cups of M&Ms total, but you lose the melty factor. M&M candy shells keep the chocolate contained, so the chips are what give the cookies those gooey chocolate pockets. The combination of crunchy candy plus melty chips is what makes the double chocolate texture work.
The dark dough makes color cues useless, so watch the surface shine instead. The cookies are done when the tops turn from glossy to matte, usually 11 to 15 minutes. The centers will look barely set, and that is right, they finish cooking on the hot tray during the 10 minute rest.
Yes, this dough freezes beautifully. Freeze the rolled balls solid on a tray, then bag them for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen at 350 degrees, adding 1 to 2 extra minutes. Baked cookies also freeze well in an airtight container with parchment between layers.
Natural unsweetened cocoa powder is what this recipe is built around, it pairs with the baking soda for the right rise and tender crumb. Dutch process cocoa will taste great but the cookies come out slightly denser and darker. Either way, spoon and level the cocoa so the dough stays moist.
Made these Chocolate M&M Cookies? Leave a comment and a star rating below, and tell me which color M&Ms you used!
Take the candy cookie further with my double decker christmas sandwich cookies.
For a decorated cookie project, my Halloween sugar cookies are as fun to make as they are to eat.
For the kiss topped classic gone chocolate, my chocolate blossom cookies double down on the cocoa.
Chocolate M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup M&M’s
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, set aside.1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, Pinch of salt
- In a large bowl combine the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth.½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup light brown sugar, ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- Add the egg and vanilla, stir to combine.1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the flour mixture to the bowl and stir until it just comes together with no dry patched.
- Fold in the M&M’s and the chocolate chips.1 cup M&M’s, ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, place 2 tablespoons sized dollops 1 inch apart on the sheet tray. Roll into balls and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours to chill, up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line sheet trays with parchment paper, place the dough balls 2 inches apart.
- Press down slightly on the tops to flatten them just a little.
- Bake for 11-15 minutes, until the tops are no longer glossy. Let cool on the tray for 10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Nutrition
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