Soft and Chewy Mini M&M Cookies

Drop cookies are some of my favorite recipes to whip up in the kitchen when I want a sweet treat as soon as possible. Sometimes I want something a bit fancier with brown butter, like these oreo chocolate chip cookies, but most of the time I want something that can be ready in under 30 minutes and doesn't need any fancy equipment - like these mini m&m cookies!

These m&m cookies are based on my chocolate chip butterscotch cookies, but with a few key changes to make them simpler to make and no chilling time. I skipped brown butter and instead used melted butter, and then slightly increased the flour so these cookies don't need any chilling time.

Why you'll love these mini m&m cookies!

• They're made in 1 bowl, so you have minimal clean up and you don't need any fancy equipment like a stand mixer!
• You don't need to chill the cookie dough. If you prefer a thicker cookie though you can chill the cookie dough for an hour.
• They're loaded up with mini m&ms, so you get a m&ms in every bite!
• These mini m&m cookies use simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.

Ingredient Notes

• Flour: I tested this recipe with all purpose flour. You could use gluten free all purpose 1-1 baking flour if you need these cookies to be gluten free.
• Unsalted Butter: I always use European style butter in my baking! Because it has a higher butterfat content it will make your cookies much richer. Look for brands like Kerry Gold. Also make sure to let you melted butter cool before you start making this recipe.
• Cornstarch: this is going to help make our cookies extra soft.
• Mini M&Ms: I recommend using the mini ones and not the regular m&ms which might be too big.
• Vanilla Bean Paste: to amp up the yum factor I used vanilla bean paste instead of extract. If you don't have vanilla bean paste then use an equal amount of vanilla extract!

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1: Whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. If you want to cut down on dishes and truly make this one bowl, then skip this step! You can just add all the dry ingredients in step 4.

Step 2: Make sure your melted butter is no longer hot. Add the light brown sugar and white sugar and whisk until smooth.

Step 3: Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla bean paste and whisk again until smooth. It should be quite thick at this stage.

Step 4: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to fold everything together. It will take a few minutes for everything to combine properly. Stir in the mini m&ms.

Step 5: Use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out 24 cookie dough balls. Place them on 2 parchment lined baking sheets. Bake in an oven preheated to 350°Fahrenheit/175°Celsius for 9-12 minutes. Any cookies that aren't being baked right away should be placed in the fridge.

Step 6: Once out of the oven, use a biscuit cutter or large glass to scoot the cookie until it is a perfect circle. Gently press on extra mini m&ms and some flaky sea salt. Enjoy with a glass of milk!

Recipe Tips & Tricks

• Measuring – I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. It makes a huge difference to your baking and is the most accurate way to bake!
• Fluff and Sprinkle Flour – if you aren’t weighing your ingredients and are using a measuring cup, then use the fluff and sprinkle method to measure your flour. Go to this link here to find out how to do that. If you use too much flour then the cookies will be dry instead of soft and chewy!
• Room Temperature Ingredients – make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature before you start baking. Pull out those ingredients from the fridge an hour or two before you start the recipe.
• Bakery Style Cookies – Once the cookies are out of the oven, use a biscuit cutter or a large mug to gently ‘scoot’ the cookies into a perfect circular shape. Then gently press on extra m&ms and some flaky salt! I don't recommend adding a ton of extra m&ms on top before baking as I found that the colors started to bleed into the dough.
• Full Size m&ms - I recommend using a small candy like these mini m&ms, but if you want to use regular m&ms then I suggest chopping them up before adding them to the cookie dough!
• Extra Thick Cookies - if you want your cookies to be even thicker, let the cookie dough balls chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour before baking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Storage and Freezing

Store the baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Freeze the unbaked cookie dough balls in a freezer safe bag or ziplock bag for up to 2 months. When baking the frozen cookie dough balls you may need to add an extra minute or two to the baking time.