These peanut M&M cookies are an easy treat to make any night of the week. They have a chewy, simple brown sugar cookie dough and crunchy, chocolatey peanut candies mixed in. They're perfect for any occasion!
These peanut M&M cookies are a classic treat! The base is inspired by these chocolate chipless cookies. Crunchy, chocolate coated peanut M&Ms are swirled into the cookie dough. Once they're baked, the colorful candies poke out! They melt in your mouth and ooze chocolate with every bite.
These are easy to throw together any night of the week. The dough comes together in minutes and doesn't require any special equipment. Just chill overnight and bake up the next day! They're perfect for parties, in your holiday cookie box, or enjoyed on the couch after dinner.
If you're a peanut or peanut butter lover, make these brown butter peanut butter cookies and peanut butter brownie cookies. For more delicious cookie recipes, try chocolate chip sugar cookies, lavender sugar cookies, and raspberry chocolate chip cookies.
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Ingredient Notes
Here are some notes about the ingredients used. For the full list and quantities, see the recipe card below.
- Melted butter- Unsalted melted butter encourages the cookies to spread and helps create golden, crisp edges. Use unsalted butter so you have full control over the flavor.
- Sugars- These cookies are made with white and brown sugar. The addition of brown sugar makes them chewy with a warm flavor. You can use light or dark brown sugar, just make sure it's fresh.
- Egg & egg yolk- A large egg holds the ingredients together while the egg yolk adds richness and chew. Take them out of the refrigerator an hour before baking to reach room temperature. They'll mix into the dough better!
- All purpose flour- Measure the flour in grams with a kitchen scale for the best results. It's easy to overmeasure flour using cup measurements, and too much flour creates dry cookies that don't spread.
- Baking powder & baking soda- These ingredients work together to leaven the dough, making it spread and rise in the oven. Leaveners expire pretty quickly and lose potency, so check the date before using.
- Peanut M&Ms- The star of the recipe! Any chocolate covered peanut candy works.
Substitutions & Variations
- For gluten free cookies, substitute the all purpose flour with gluten free all purpose flour. My favorite is Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour.
- If you don't like peanut M&Ms, you can use regular M&Ms, mini M&Ms, or another flavor like peanut butter or pretzel.
Step by Step Instructions
STEP 1: First, melt the butter and let it cool slightly. Vigorously whisk the melted butter, white sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl until well combined.
STEP 2: Whisk in the room temperature egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. The mixture will look like a thin paste.
STEP 3: Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the bowl. Fold the dry ingredients in with a rubber spatula until a few dry streaks remain. The dough will be quite wet.
STEP 4: Next, fold in the peanut M&Ms until they're evenly distributed throughout the dough. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and let it chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
STEP 5: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (for easy clean up). Scoop balls of cookie dough with a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop onto the cookie sheet, leaving 1-2 inches between each so there's room to spread.
Bake for 10-14 minutes or until the edges are golden and the middles still look puffy and underdone.
STEP 6: Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the hot tray for about 5 minutes. They'll continue baking slightly.
Carefully transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack, let them cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes), and enjoy!
Expert Baking Tips
- Measure the flour correctly. I highly recommend weighing the flour in grams with a kitchen scale for the best results. Overmeasuring the flour will make your cookies dry! Metric measurements are in the recipe card below.
- Don't overmix. Mix the ingredients until they're just combined. Overmixing the dough results in dense, gummy cookies.
- Don't skip the chill time. The chill time makes a huge difference! It allows the dough to hydrate and soak up more flavor. If you skip it, your cookies will spread in the oven and be flat as a pancake.
- Reshape the cookies. For perfectly round cookies, place a round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter over each cookie immediately after taking them out of the oven and scoot around the edges.
Storage & Freezing
Store the peanut M&M cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days. I don't recommend refrigerating them because the edges will lose their crispness.
Freezing Baked Cookies
After they've cooled completely, place the cookies in an airtight container with wax paper between each layer to keep them from sticking together. Freeze for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes before eating.
Freezing Cookie Dough
M&M cookie dough freezes really well! After it has chilled, scoop the dough on a lined cookie sheet and freeze for 2 hours. Once frozen solid, transfer the dough balls to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Bake the frozen cookie dough at 350°F/180°C and add a couple extra minutes on to the bake time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nope! You can use any flavor M&Ms you like. Use seasonal ones for different holidays like Halloween, 4th of July, and Christmas! You can also use chocolate chips, nuts, or different chocolate candies instead.
Yes, you can try adding ½ cup (125g) of creamy peanut butter. Processed peanut butter (like JIF or Skippy) work best. Mix it in with the butter and sugars in step 1.
If your cookies are super flat, I'm guessing you skipped the chill time! Chilling the dough for at least 2 hours keeps the cookies from spreading too much as they bake.
More Cookie Recipes to Try
📖 Recipe
Peanut M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 226 grams unsalted butter melted
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 100 grams brown sugar light or dark
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 335 grams all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 180 grams peanut M&Ms
Instructions
- Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. Whisk the melted butter, sugar, and brown sugar together in a large bowl until well combined.226 grams unsalted butter, 100 grams granulated sugar, 100 grams brown sugar
- Whisk in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.1 large egg, 1 egg yolk, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Fold the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in with a rubber spatula until a few dry streaks of flour are left.335 grams all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Fold in the peanut M&Ms until evenly distributed. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and let chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.180 grams peanut M&Ms
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop cookie dough onto the cookie sheet, leaving 1-2 inches between each.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the middles look puffy and slightly underdone.
- Remove the cookies from the oven. Let cool on the hot tray for 5 minutes before transferring to wire cooling rack. Allow to cool completely and enjoy.
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