Chocolate Chip M&M Christmas Cookies

These festive holiday cookies are thick, soft and chewy with red, green and white M&Ms for Christmas! My Chocolate Chip M&M Christmas Cookies are very easy to make from a simple sugar cookie dough base and loaded with dark chocolate chips and M&Ms. I think these cookies are great for gifting, and they are really attractive on a holiday cookie platter along with some classics such as my Brown Butter Snickerdoodles, Chewy Ginger Cookies, Marble Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies, Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cookies and Double Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti. If you love chocolate chip cookies, be sure to check out my most popular Bakery Style Double Chocolate Cookies as well!

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

• Easy recipe - the recipe is simple and I actually find the best results come from when you mix it by hand with a wide spatula.
• Delicious butterscotch flavor - these sugar cookies have a buttery brown sugar butterscotch flavor that is not overly sweet with underlying notes of natural vanilla.
• Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies - the soft texture is a nice contrast to the crunchy candy-coated chocolate pieces and melty chocolate chips.
• M&M cookies - M&M's are the star ingredient! To make these festive, use red and green M&Ms only. I used a holiday blend of red, white and green.
• Dark chocolate chips - puddles of melted dark chocolate chips contrast the sweet milk chocolate candy. I like to use these couverture chocolate discs which melt nicely.

COOKIE SCIENCE: HOW TO MAKE SOFT & CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

• Ratio of Butter: for a soft texture, the ratio of butter to eggs, sugar and flour is lower than my Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies which are deeply golden and crisp on the edges with gooey insides.
• Sugar ratio: chocolate chip cookies should have a high ratio of brown sugar to granulated sugar as this is what differentiates it from a regular sugar cookie. I recommend dark brown sugar as it has twice as much molasses compared to light brown sugar. However, if you prefer a lighter butterscotch taste, you can also use light brown sugar.
• Egg ratio: the liquid in egg serves to help dissolve sugar in the dough and adds moisture. To balance this and ensure the cookies still have a nice thickness, we need to have the right amount of flour.
• Amount of Flour: it is so important to either weigh your ingredients using a scale, or measure your flour correctly without packing it into your measuring cup. Too much flour will lead to thick cookies, but they will be more doughy and less gooey. Too little flour will make a very soft dough that will spread too much and lead to greasy cookies.
• Baking soda: Not only is baking soda important to help the cookies spread, but it also gives them color. Baking soda is an alkaline ingredient (the opposite of an acid), and the Maillard Browning reaction is encouraged in an alkaline environment. Too much baking soda means the cookies will spread too much and may burn too quickly, while not enough means the cookies will not spread much at all and will be pale in color.
• Chill the cookie dough: Cookie dough that is not chilled will spread more, have less browning and have a coarser texture. Time in the fridge allows the flour to hydrate and absorb this moisture while also letting the baking soda to evenly absorb for more pronounced Maillard Reactions that will develop richer flavor in the cookie dough. A chilled cookie dough also guards against over-spreading which leads to thicker cookies.

INGREDIENTS FOR M&M CHRISTMAS COOKIES

• Butter - there is no substitute for butter in chocolate chip cookies in my opinion! It is the foundation of the rich butterscotch flavor after all. In this recipe, you can use salted or unsalted butter, but if you choose salted then I recommend reducing the added salt to ¼ teaspoon.
• Granulated sugar - this recipe uses a combination of simple white granulated sugar and brown sugar. White sugar helps create the crunchy caramelized edges. I wouldn't recommend reducing the sugar because it will compromise the chewy texture.
• Brown sugar - I highly recommend dark brown sugar for this recipe as it has twice as much molasses as light brown sugar and will make a big difference to the flavor. It will also make the dough more acidic which means it will react more thoroughly with the baking soda so that you won't be left with a soapy taste (a defect I find common in many chocolate chip cookie recipes)
• Egg - you'll need one whole egg for this recipe. It's the perfect amount of moisture to make these cookies chewy and not cakey.

• Pure vanilla extract - good vanilla is absolutely essential to making delicious chocolate chip cookies. I like this Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla extract.
• Salt - don't leave out the salt! It really elevates the rich buttery, caramel flavors! It also enhances the chocolate taste and balances the sweetness.
• All purpose flour - regular unbleached all-purpose flour makes the best chewy chocolate chip cookies in my opinion.
• Dark chocolate chunks - I highly recommend chopping some chocolate from a bar instead of using chips. Why? That's because chocolate that is made into bars, also known as "tablets", has a higher cocoa butter content so that it can be poured into molds at the factory and it typically melts smoother than chocolate chips to give you puddles of chocolate in the cookies. I love this effect! Chocolate chips will hold their shape and spread less.
• M&Ms candy-coated chocolate pieces - I use a holiday blend with red, white and green M&M's, but you can also pick out the red and green ones from a regular pack.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

• STEP 1). Beat together butter and sugar. You can use an electric stand mixer, a hand mixer or do this by hand with a spatula. You want to beat until slightly pale and a bit fluffy, but not overly creamed. It will still look like a thick paste or damp sand and this will leave us with chewy cookies. Over-mixing at this point would make more crisp cookies.
• STEP 2). Beat in egg. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until well incorporated and smooth. Mix in vanilla.
• STEP 3). Combine dry ingredients. Blend flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl and whisk it to blend evenly. Then, add it to the butter mixture and mix it in until evenly combined.
• STEP 4). Fold in chocolate chunks and candy pieces. Add the chocolate chunks/chips and M&Ms and fold them through the cookie dough.
• STEP 5). Refrigerate the cookie dough. This is crucial to developing the chewy texture and rich caramelized flavor and golden color.
• STEP 6). Bake until golden on the edges and still soft in the middle. Do not over-bake as they will continue cooking on the hot baking tray.

EXPERT TIPS FOR CHRISTMAS CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

• Don't skip the salt. The right amount of salt is so important. This recipe uses ¾ teaspoon of fine table salt.
• Use regular large size eggs. Large eggs weigh 57g. Using an extra large egg will add up to 2 teaspoons more liquid to the cookie dough which can throw off the moisture balance and make the cookies spread too much.
• Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 2 hours. Refrigerating cookie dough serves several purposes: 1) Flour hydration - time in the fridge allows the flour to fully hydrate from the moisture of the egg and the water in the butter. If the flour is evenly hydrated, the cookies will be thicker and they will bake more evenly; 2) Flavor development -as the baking soda becomes more evenly incorporated with the flour hydration, the cookies will brown more evenly which will help them develop flavor more quickly; 3) Chills the butter - butter in the cookie dough will also firm up in the fridge so that the cookies wont be so greasy after they've baked. Chilled fat will also spread less readily during the initial stages of baking so the cookies won't spread uncontrollably; and 4) Increases shelf life - chilled cookie dough makes cookies that stay chewy longer and slows staling.
• Use couverture chocolate. Couverture chocolate is chocolate that is designed for enrobing, coating and dipping. It is the chocolate used by professional chocolatiers because it has a high cocoa butter content to make it more fluid. This extra cocoa butter gives chocolate excellent meltability so it will melt into the cookie dough during baking which helps it to spread and creates these glistening puddles of chocolate at the surface. It also creates a laminated effect of layers of chocolate between cookie dough as opposed to chocolate chips which have less cocoa butter and remain unchanged, holding their "drop" shape in the cookie dough. These couverture chocolate discs are incredible, or you can also chop chocolate from a couverture block.
• Use a kitchen scale. For best results, weigh your ingredients according to the measurements in the recipe card below using a kitchen scale.
• Don't overbake. I recommend checking on these cookies at the lower baking time suggested and take them out of the oven just before they look ready while the top center still looks a bit doughy but the edges are golden. The residual heat of the hot baking sheet will continue to cook the cookies as they cool for a couple of minutes and the result is a soft and slightly fudgy center.
• Top each dough ball before baking. Placing a few more chocolate chips and/or M&Ms on top of your Christmas cookie dough balls prior to baking makes more attractive and picture-perfect cookies.

HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH CHEWY TEXTURE

• Do not overdo the creaming step. Mix the butter with sugar only until smooth and like a damp sand, but not until pale. Over-beating will make cookies that are crisp, but not as chewy.
• Use baking soda only - not baking powder. Baking soda is alkaline and promotes browning through Maillard reactions (delicious flavor reactions) to produce a nice rich flavor. Baking powder is more acidic and creates a cakier texture as well as a more pale color.
• Measure flour accurately. Too much flour will leave you with dry and more crumbly cookies that will taste more doughy than butterscotch-y and caramel-like.
• Do not over-bake. Cookies will continue to cook on the hot baking tray, so don't wait for them to get completely golden all over in the oven. Once they are golden brown around the edges and puffed on top with cracks, the are ready. They should still be soft in the middle and will deflate as they cool.

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Chocolate Chip M&M Christmas Cookies

Christina Marsigliese

Festive red and green M&M Christmas Cookies are soft, thick and chewy. This is a simple recipe ideal for holiday gifting, and they're great to serve with a glass of milk for Santa on Christmas Eve!

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 9 minutes mins

Chill Time 8 hours hrs

Servings 24 cookies

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups plus 2 tbsp (300g) all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (220g) packed dark brown sugar
• ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 ½ teaspoon (7ml) pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup dark chocolate, coarsely chopped into chunks
• ¼ cup (56g) dark chocolate chips
• ¾ cup red and green Christmas M&Ms

Instructions

 

• Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and whisk to blend evenly.
• Combine softened butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl (or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the flat beater/paddle attachment) and beat with an electric hand mixer on medium speed for 1 ½ to 2 minutes until the mixture looks somewhat light and fluffy but still grainy. You can also mix by hand with a wide spatula (my preferred method).
• Add eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated after each addition, about 20 seconds per egg. Mix in vanilla extract until evenly blended. Gradually add flour mixture in two additions, mixing on low speed for no more than 10 seconds after each addition, or fold it in with a spatula. Some flour should still be visible since you will continue to mix the dough when you add the chocolate and M&Ms. Add chopped chocolate or chocolate chips and Christmas M&Ms and mix on low speed just until evenly distributed. The dough will be moist. Turn dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap and wrap well without pressing it down or compacting it. Refrigerate for 8-36 hours.
• When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Use a 1.35-oz cookie scoop to portion dough and roll into smooth balls. If the dough is too hard after chilling, let the dough stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes to soften so it is easier to scoop. If you don't have a scoop, then divide the dough into 24 balls. Place them onto your prepared baking sheets spacing them 2 inches apart.
• Press a few extra chocolate chips or M&Ms on top of each dough ball, flatten them slightly and bake for 9-11 minutes until puffed, golden around the edges but still soft in the middle. Do not over-bake as they will continue to cook on the hot baking sheet. Transfer baking sheets to a wire rack and let cookies cool on the trays for 2 minutes before carefully transferring individually to a wire rack to finish cooling.