Bakery style M&M cookies are as bright and cheerful as they are delicious. They pack a punch of chocolate flavor and easily rival any from a local bakery making them the best M&M cookies!
You might also like our jumbo chocolate chip cookies, our Texas sheet cake cookies or our ultimate sprinkle cookies.
Watch our step by step video!
Bakery Style M&M Cookies
M&M cookies are just plain fun and are a classic treat, but these bakery style ones take it up a notch! Instead of stirring the M&M candies into the cookie dough, the balls of dough are rolled and pressed with candies, covering every last bit of them. Once baked, the cookies spread and the candies are evenly dispersed throughout the cookie.
I see these as the perfect after-school treat with a cold glass of milk on the first day of school.
There are many varieties of M&Ms, and all would be delicious in cookies, but the plain (regular sized) candies work best for these. Peanut or peanut butter M&Ms would be too large for the cookies to bake down flat.
Our cookies are made with a soft sugar cookie base (basically, snickerdoodles without the cinnamon and sugar). They are light in color and buttery. The cookies have crisp edges, making them easy to handle, but are soft in the center. No need to chill the dough.
M&M Cookies Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 16 oz. M&M candies (can also use mini M&M candies)
How To Make Bakery Style M&M Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream butter, shortening, and sugar with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer. Beat in eggs.
In a separate bowl whisk flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together.
Combine dry ingredients with the butter mixture.
Scoop cookies, using a medium cookie scoop, onto prepared baking sheets lined with parchment paper. I usually bake 6 cookies per sheet. Cover each cookie COMPLETELY with M&Ms. Press candies into the cookies, leaving only a small amount of space in between each cookie. You can roll the cookie dough balls in a bowl of M&Ms and then fill in any gaps. No need to cover the bottom of each ball of cookie dough. Just the tops and sides.
Bake for 12-14 minutes.
Allow cookies to cool for 5-6 minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool.
This recipe makes 28 cookies that are absolutely delicious when dipped in a cold glass of milk. Store cookies in an airtight container.
Tips for making M&M Cookies
- Use a cookie scoop to evenly portion cookie dough.
- Cover cookie dough ball completely with candies. Press them by hand, roll the cookie dough into a bowl of M&Ms, or do both.
- Cookies will spread when baked so don't overcrowd the baking sheets. 6-9 cookies per sheet work great.
- M&M cookies make delicious ice cream sandwiches. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream in between two cookies and press slightly to flatten.
Bakery Style M&M Cookies Recipe
Bakery Style M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- ½ cup shortening*
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 16 oz. M&M candies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, cream butter, shortening, and sugar with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer. Beat in eggs.
- In a separate bowl whisk flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together.
- Combine flour mixture with wet ingredients.
- Scoop cookies, using a medium cookie scoop, and place them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Completely cover each cookie dough ball with M&Ms. No need to cover the bottom of each dough ball, just the top and sides. You can do this by hand or press the cookie dough ball into a bowl of M&M candies.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes. Let cookies stand on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
- I like using a 50/50 combination of butter and shortening in my sugar cookie recipes because I think it gives them the best texture, but you can use all butter if you’d like. I always use salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter if you'd like.
- Store cookies in an air-tight container. You can also store these cookies in the freezer, but the M&Ms may bleed a bit into the cookie when thawed.
AMY says
How do you keep your M&M's so bright after baking? I find the colors run and they are not that bright after baking.
Brandy says
Hi Amy! I'm not sure. These are just baked, nothing special done to keep the colors bright.