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Oatmeal M&M Cookies are the bakery-style cookie that wins over both camps, chewy brown-sugar oatmeal dough for the grown-ups and a confetti of candy for the kids, and Lizzie counts the colors in hers every time we bake them on a rainy afternoon. If chewy oatmeal cookies are your love language, our old fashioned oatmeal raisin cookies are the classic sibling.
One bowl of brown-sugar oatmeal dough plus two cups of M&Ms bakes into 23 chewy, candy-studded cookies in 20 minutes flat.
Oatmeal M&M Cookies Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 10 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 20 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 23 cookies
- ⚡ Calories: 264kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Sweet and buttery (chewy brown sugar oatmeal dough with crunchy candy shells)
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our crispy peanut butter cookies
Quick Answer
Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together. In a separate bowl, beat the butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy, then add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture in batches, stir in the quick oats, then fold in the M&Ms. Scoop rounded tablespoons onto parchment-lined sheet trays 2 inches apart and bake at 350 degrees for 9 to 10 minutes, until lightly golden. Cool on the tray for a few minutes before moving to a wire rack.
Jump to:
- Oatmeal M&M Cookies Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Oatmeal M&M Cookies
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Oatmeal M&M Cookies FAQs
- Other Recommended Easy Cookie Recipes
- Chewy Oatmeal M&M Cookies Recipe
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Quick oats keep them chewy, not gritty. Quick oats are thinner than old fashioned, so they soften into the dough and give that classic chew without a raw oat texture.
- Mostly brown sugar means soft centers. The molasses in the brown sugar holds moisture, which keeps these cookies bendy-soft for days while the edges stay golden.
- Creaming the butter builds the lift. Beating the butter and sugars until fluffy whips in air that gives the cookies rise, so they bake thick instead of flat.
- Eggs in one at a time. Adding the eggs individually keeps the dough emulsified, which means even texture and no greasy patches.
- M&Ms beat chocolate chips here. The candy shells keep the chocolate from smearing through the dough and add a gentle crunch against the chewy oats.
- Pull them at barely golden. Nine to ten minutes looks underdone in the middle, but the cookies finish setting on the hot tray, locking in the chew.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The cookie jar crowd-pleaser. Oatmeal cookie chew plus candy crunch covers every taste at the table, no raisin debates required.
- Twenty minutes, no chilling. This dough scoops and bakes straight away, unlike most chewy cookies, so the craving-to-cookie gap is tiny.
- Holiday color swaps. Seasonal M&Ms turn the same dough into Christmas, Halloween, or Easter cookies, the same party trick as our monster cookie cupcakes.
Key Ingredients
Basic baking staples plus a bag of candy make the whole batch. Quantities are in the recipe card below; here is why each one matters.
- Quick oats. The chew. Quick oats blend into the dough better than old fashioned; do not swap in steel cut, which stay hard.
- M&Ms. Two full cups of classic milk chocolate M&Ms. Minis distribute even better, and seasonal colors make instant holiday cookies.
- Butter. Softened, not melted, so it creams fluffy with the sugars and bakes into thick, tender cookies.
- Brown sugar. The bigger share of the sugar, bringing moisture and caramel depth that keep the centers soft.
- Vanilla and eggs. Two eggs bind the hearty dough and a teaspoon of vanilla rounds out the buttery, brown-sugar flavor.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
This oatmeal M&M cookie dough is a friendly base for upgrades.
- Make them monster-style. Swap a third of the butter for creamy peanut butter and you are in monster cookie territory.
- Add chocolate chips too. Half M&Ms, half semi-sweet chips doubles down on the chocolate in every bite.
- Go seasonal. Red and green M&Ms for Christmas, pastels for Easter, or team colors for game day, same dough, new look.
- Toss in chopped nuts. A half cup of chopped pecans or walnuts adds toasty crunch against the chewy oats.
- Bake them bakery-size. Use a quarter-cup scoop and add 2 to 3 minutes for giant, soft-centered cookies like our almond cookies get.
How to Make Oatmeal M&M Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line sheet trays with parchment. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy, then add the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in batches, mixing until just combined and scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add the quick oats and mix them through the dough.
- Stir in the M&Ms until they are evenly scattered through the dough.
- Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the lined sheet trays, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, until lightly golden. Cool on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Soften the butter properly. It should dent with light pressure. Melted butter makes the cookies spread thin and greasy.
- Measure flour by spooning and leveling. Packed flour turns a chewy cookie dry and cakey.
- Do not overmix after the flour. Stir just until combined to keep the crumb tender.
- Press a few M&Ms on top. Reserve a handful and press them onto the scooped dough balls for bakery-pretty cookies.
- Pull them looking underdone. Lightly golden edges and soft centers at 9 to 10 minutes finish setting on the tray.
- One tray at a time. Baking on the center rack one tray at a time gives the most even color and texture.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These oatmeal M&M cookies are the anchor of any cookie plate. Stack them with our soft and chewy maple cookies and a few meltaway lemon cookies for a tray that covers chocolate, cozy, and citrus in one pass.
For parties, sandwich a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two cookies and roll the edge in extra M&Ms, or crumble them over sundaes. A tall glass of cold milk is non-negotiable either way.
The dough also freezes beautifully: scoop it, freeze the balls solid, and bake from frozen with an extra minute whenever the cookie jar runs dry. Baked cookies stay chewy in an airtight container for up to 5 days, and a tin of them next to our cream cheese cookies makes a great teacher gift.
Oatmeal M&M Cookies FAQs
Quick oats. They are cut thinner than old fashioned oats, so they soften into the dough and deliver that chewy texture without any raw oat bite. Old fashioned oats work in a pinch with a slightly heartier texture, but never use steel cut oats, which stay hard.
No. The oats absorb enough moisture that this dough bakes thick without chilling, which is why the whole batch is done in about 20 minutes. If your kitchen is very warm and the dough feels greasy, 15 minutes in the fridge brings it right back.
Usually the butter was too soft or melted, or the flour was under-measured. Cream properly softened butter with the sugars until fluffy, spoon and level the flour, and check that your baking soda is fresh. A quick 15 minute chill also rescues a too-warm dough.
Store them in an airtight container at room temperature, where the brown sugar and oats keep them chewy for up to 5 days. The classic trick of a slice of sandwich bread in the container keeps them pillowy to the last cookie.
Both freeze great. Scooped dough balls freeze solid on a tray, then store bagged for 3 months and bake from frozen with about 1 extra minute. Baked cookies freeze for 2 to 3 months; thaw at room temperature and they taste fresh-baked.
Yes, swap them cup for cup, or do half and half. M&Ms hold their shape and add a crunchy candy shell, while chips melt into soft chocolate pockets. The candy version also survives lunchboxes and cookie tins with prettier results.
Cookie jar still not full? Our easy almond cookies are the next batch the family will vote for.
Chewy Oatmeal M&M Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 14 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups quick oats
- 2 cups M&Ms
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line sheet trays with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, mix well and set aside.1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- With a hand mixer in a large bowl or in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars until creamy, 2 minutes.14 Tablespoons unsalted butter, ¾ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar
- Add eggs, one at a time. Then add in the vanilla, mix well.2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the flour mixture in batches until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- Next add the oats and mix. Lastly add the M&Ms and stir to combine.2 ½ cups quick oats, 2 cups M&Ms
- With a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop, drop rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough on the lined sheet trays. Make sure the cookies are about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Take out of the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet for a minute.
- Using a spatula take cookies off the cookie sheet and let them cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
- We like milk chocolate M&M’s in this recipe but feel free to use other kids, see tips above.
- Quick-cooking oats are what we prefer to use for this recipe but you can use rolled oats but you will get a different texture and slightly different flavor.
- You can add in chocolate chips if you’d like.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
- Double this batch easily.
Nutrition
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They are amazing I did i cup m&m and 1 cup mini chocolate chips (: instead of 2 cups m & m