Make M&M Cookies

While you could add M&M cookies to any cookie recipe, a chocolate chip cookie recipe is a good place to start, since the cookies will be thick enough to hold lumps of delicious chocolate goodness. Whether you like puffy, cake-like cookies or chewy cookies with a crisp edge, the right ingredients and techniques will prevent the cookies from spreading, so the M&Ms are part of the cookie instead of hard lumps on top.

Ingredients

Puffy M&M Cookies: Makes about two dozen cookies

  • 1½ cups all purpose flour (187 grams)[1]
  • ½ tsp baking soda (2.5 mL)
  • ½ tsp kosher salt (2.5 mL)
  • either 3 Tbsp instant pudding mix (45 mL)
  • or 1 tsp cornstarch (5 mL)
  • ½ cup butter, room temperature (1 stick / 113 grams)[2]
  • ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)[3]
  • ½ cup light brown sugar (100 grams)
  • 1 large egg or 2 small eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (5 mL)
  • 1 to 1½ cups M&M, mini or regular (240–360 mL)

Chewy M&M Cookies:

  • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour (220 grams)
  • ½ tsp baking soda (2.5 mL)
  • 1 tsp kosher salt (5 mL)
  • ⅞ cup butter (1¾ sticks / 200 grams)
  • ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
  • ¾ cup dark brown sugar (150 grams)
  • 1 large whole egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract (10 mL)
  • 1 to 1½ cups M&M, mini or regular (240–360 mL)

Steps

Making Puffy M&M Cookies

  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). You can also line a couple baking trays with sheets of parchment paper, or wait until later.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients. Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl until they're well mixed. To make extra-soft cookies, mix in one of the following ingredients as well:
    • 3 Tbsp (45 mL) instant pudding mix makes the cookies soft and keeps them that way for several days.[4] Use vanilla pudding mix for a basic cookie, or a different flavor if you're feeling experimental.
    • 1 tsp (5 mL) cornstarch helps the cookies stay together in the oven, keeping them thick and puffy.[5]
  3. Cream the butter and sugar in a new bowl. Add the room temperature butter to a separate, large bowl. Mix using an electric or handheld mixer, with a paddle attachment if possible, until the butter feels soft. Gradually add both kinds of sugar while you continue to mix, until all the sugar has been added and no more streaks of butter are visible in the mixture.[6]
    • If your butter is still chilled, use a cheese grater to turn it into small flakes that will warm up rapidly.
    • Don't over-stir the mixture, or your cookies could end up flat.
  4. Stir in the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix the egg and vanilla extract thoroughly into the butter and sugar mixture until you achieve a uniform texture.
    • To increase the chewiness (without reducing the puffiness), separate the egg and discard half the egg white before adding the remaining white and yolk.[7]
  5. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients. Add all the dry ingredients to the larger bowl, and mix them until the batter is smooth.
  6. Stir in the M&Ms. Drop the M&M's into the large bowl and stir them into the batter with a spoon.
  7. Chill the dough (optional). Chilling the dough for at least 30 minutes, or even several hours, will help keep the cookies from spreading in the oven.[8] It can affect the texture and flavor as well, but different bakers report very different results, so you'll have to experiment for yourself if you want to find out how your cookies are affected.[9][10][11]
  8. Drop the cookies onto the baking sheet. If you haven't prepared a baking sheet yet, line it with parchment paper to prevent sticking. Use a large cookie scoop, a tablespoon (15 mL), or your fingers. If you like, press extra M&Ms onto them for decoration.
    • The cookies will usually spread apart in the oven, so leave space between them.
    • Large cookies will have a crisp outside and a chewy, or even dough-like inside. Small cookies will be a single texture all the way through.
  9. Bake the cookies until they start browning. Bake the cookies in the oven for 8–12 minutes, or until they're slightly brown on the edges. The centers should stay soft and puffy.
    • Let cool for about 15 minutes to achieve the final texture before eating.
    • For consistent results, use only one rack of the oven at a time.[7]
  10. Enjoy your puffy M&M Cookies.

Making Chewy M&M Cookies

  1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF (191ºC). This slightly higher temperature allows you to use a shorter baking time, which keeps the cookies moist and chewy.[12]
  2. Mix the dry ingredients. Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, until thoroughly blended. This recipe uses slightly more flour than most cookie recipes, because flour traps more chewy moisture in the cookie.[13]
  3. Melt and brown the butter. Melt the butter in a light-colored skillet so you can watch the color. Swirl the pan constantly, and transfer the butter to a large, empty bowl as soon as it turns a dark golden brown. Melted butter leads to much chewier cookies, and browning it adds a richer flavor.[7]
    • Melting half the butter at a time may be easier to control.
    • You can lower the risk of burning by melting most of the butter, then pouring it over the remaining room temperature butter and stirring until fully melted.
  4. Whisk in the sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk these ingredients into the butter with a fork or whisk. Add both types of sugar, a little at a time, and whisk until there are no more lumps.
    • The more brown sugar you use, and the darker the brown sugar is, the chewier the cookie will be, since brown sugar contains more moisture (molasses).
    • If using light brown sugar, consider using ⅞ cup brown sugar and ⅜ cup white sugar instead.
  5. Whisk in the eggs in stages. Separate one egg, and throw the white away or set it aside for another recipe. Add the yolk to the butter-sugar mixture. Crack a second egg directly into the mixture. Whisk until smooth and shiny.
    • For better flavor and more consistent texture, instead whisk for 30 seconds, wait for 3 minutes, whisk, wait, whisk, wait, and whisk one final time.[7]
  6. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together, adding M&Ms. Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to stir the wet and dry ingredients together, until the dough is well mixed.
    • Add the M&Ms and stir briefly to distribute them throughout the dough.
  7. Drop the cookies onto the baking sheet. If you haven't prepared a baking sheet yet, line it with parchment paper to prevent sticking. Use a large cookie scoop, a tablespoon (15 mL), or your fingers. If you like, press extra M&Ms onto them for decoration.
  8. Bake until they start to brown. Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to drop balls of dough on a parchment-paper lined baking tray. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges brown for a chewy cookie with a soft center. Bake for about 14 minutes for a crisper cookie with a brown, chewy center.
    • Let cool for at least 5 minutes before eating to get the right texture.
  9. You now have chewy M&M cookies.

Tips

  • These recipes use soft, American dough similar to a chocolate chip cookie. You can add M&Ms to Make-Oatmeal-Cookies or sugar cookies.
  • Measuring ingredients (especially dry ingredients like flour) by weight is more accurate than measuring by volume.
  • Cornstarch is sold as "cornflour" in Australia and the UK. Do not confuse this with actual flour made from corn.
  • Try using different M&M's such as white chocolate for better and tastier cookies.

Things You'll Need

  • Small bowl
  • Large bowl
  • Mixer (preferably with paddle attachment)
  • Wooden or metal Spoon
  • Cookie sheets
  • Baking tray
  • Oven
  • Serving plate

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/flour_volume_weight.html
  2. ↑ http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/butter_converter.html
  3. ↑ http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/sugar_amounts.html
  4. ↑ http://www.somethingswanky.com/pudding-cookies/
  5. ↑ http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/11/22/soft-baked-white-chocolate-chip-cranberry-cookies/
  6. ↑ http://www.thekitchn.com/the-key-to-crea-162402
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/4737-perfect-chocolate-chip-cookies
  8. ↑ http://backforseconds.com/how-to-make-soft-thick-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/
  9. ↑ http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/01/23/rainbow-mm-cookies/
  10. ↑ http://www.bakepedia.com/tipsandtricks/refrigerating-cookie-dough/
  11. ↑ http://www.melskitchencafe.com/the-great-cookie-experiment-chilling-the-dough-does-it-make-a-difference/
  12. ↑ http://www.sunset.com/food-wine/techniques/perfect-chocolate-chip-cookie.
  13. ↑ http://www.sunset.com/food-wine/techniques/perfect-chocolate-chip-cookie
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