Chocolate M&M Cookies

Name: Chocolate M&M Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 32
Ingredients: 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 cup light brown sugar, packed; 2 large eggs; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (stir, spoon, & level); 3/4 cup cocoa powder (I use Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa); 1 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips; 1 1/2 cups M&M's, divided (one 10.70oz "sharing size" bag of M&M's is sufficient)

August 15, 2021 (last updated Sep 17, 2021) by Amber Brady 2

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These Chocolate M&M Cookies are so thick, soft, and chewy. They have triple the chocolate from cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and M&M’s. A chocolate lover’s dream! No chill time required — just make and bake.

Chocolate cookies on a plate made with cocoa powder, chocolate chips and M&M's.

Double Chocolate M&M Cookies

M&M Cookies are a classic treat that both kids and adults love. Plus, it’s so easy to make them festive for any holiday with different seasonal colors of M&M candies.

This chocolate version takes that traditional bakery-style cookie and turns it into a chocolate lover’s dream! Double chocolate chip cookies plus M&M’s make these chocolate M&M cookies a triple threat!

Cooling rack full of chocolate M&M cookies.

Ingredients

For this recipe, I took my favorite chocolate cookie dough base that I’ve also used in my chocolate cookies and cream cookies and chocolate peppermint cookies, and transformed it into these chocolate M&M cookies.

To make these chocolate M&M cookies you will need:

Unsalted Butter
Granulated Sugar
Light Brown Sugar
Large Eggs
Vanilla Extract
All-Purpose Flour
Cocoa Powder (I use Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa)
Baking Soda
Salt
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Milk Chocolate M&M’s

Serving platter of chocolate cookies with M&M's and chocolate chips inside.

How to Make Chocolate M&M Cookies

To make these chocolate M&M cookies you will:

Cream the butter and sugars together in a stand mixer.
Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.
Fold in the chocolate chips and m&ms.
Scoop the dough into balls.
Bake and enjoy!

Plate full of chocolate M&M cookies with extra M&M's.

Thick or Thin Cookies?

There are a few tricks to make these chocolate M&M cookies thicker or thinner.

For thick cookies: Use more cookie dough, about 2 Tbsp per cookie. And shape the cookie dough balls tall and round. You can also press the edges of the cookie inward just after the tray comes out of the oven. I like to do this with a serving spatula. For the thickest cookies, refrigerate the dough for 30-60 minutes before baking.
For thin cookies: Use a smaller portion of dough, about 1.5 Tbsp per cookie. Other options include using slightly softer butter, or slightly pressing the dough 1/3 of the way down after it is scooped.

Use a cookie dough scoop. This helps the chocolate M&M cookies bake evenly and look uniform. I prefer a #30 or #40 scoop. NOTE: The bigger the number, the smaller the scoop, and the smaller the number the bigger the scoop. These two sizes are between 1.5 and 2 Tbsp of cookie dough. I used a #30 scoop (2 Tbsp) for the cookies shown.
Gently place a generous amount of M&M’s on top of cookie dough balls before baking. Only mix a small portion of M&M’s into the chocolate chip cookie dough and press the majority of the M&M candies into the tops. Be generous because the cookies spread, and you want M&M’s in each bite.
NOTE: In the bakery I worked in, we would have M&M’s on a tray, then pick up the cookie dough balls, and press the tops into the M&M’s until they stuck. The only problem with this is that it flattens the tops of the cookie dough, and if you want thicker cookies, you don’t want to flatten the dough at all. Grab a handful of M&M’s and use your fingers to place them into the cookie dough, maintaining the shape of a ball.
Space cookie dough 3-inches apart, not 2. I like to bake 8 cookies per tray compared to the typical dozen (12). First of all, you don’t want your cookies melting into each other. Secondly, the more cookies on the tray, the thinner the cookies bake because the heat is trying to distribute evenly across all of the cookies. This will also help them bake faster.

Can I freeze these cookies?

Absolutely! Freeze the chocolate M&M cookie dough balls on a baking sheet with parchment paper, then place the frozen dough in a zip-top freezer bag and store the cookie dough in the freezer up to 3 months.

To bake the cookies from frozen, simply place the frozen cookie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake 2-3 minutes longer than written.

To freeze after baked: If you bake the cookies first, you can still freeze them in single layers divided by parchment paper, wrapped well or in a freezer bag, up to 3-4 weeks.

Can I use mini M&M’s instead of regular?

Yes! You can most certainly use mini M&M’s instead of regular. You can even use all M&M’s and no chocolate chips. This cookie is extremely versatile with the add-ins. You’ll love this chocolate candy-filled cookie!

If You Make This Recipe, Please Rate and Review it in the Comments Below. THANKS!