Is there anything better than having a warm and gooey cookie at any time you want it? Our M&M cookie recipe is a perfect cookie for freezing and enjoying whenever you need a quick dessert to share with family and friends (or, if we're honest, when you need a quick chocolate fix).
This recipe is just like our original M&M cookie recipe but has been updated with specific instructions for freezing the dough. The cookies are chewy and filled with the perfect amount of chocolate, and we know that you're going to love them!
Tutorial
Step 1: Gather all of the ingredients.
You'll need:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup of white (granulated) sugar
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (We highly recommend Ghirardelli 60% Cacao baking chips!)
- 1 cup of M&Ms plus extras for the top of the cookies (We typically buy the Sharing Size bag - 10.70oz. There might be a few leftover pieces that you can snack on!)
- 2 baking pans lined with parchment paper or your favorite baking mats
- Cookie/ice cream scoop (We prefer a medium-sized scoop. We use the Farberware Ice Cream Scoop to portion these cookies.)
- Large bowl and mixer (You can use a fancy mixing machine or a hand mixer...they both work perfectly!)
Step 2: Create the cookie dough!
- Put the 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, 3/4 cup white (granulated) sugar, and 1 cup brown sugar into your mixing bowl. Make sure your butter is softened a little (either leave it out on the counter for 30 minutes before creating the dough OR place the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds).
- Mix the butter and sugars together for 1 to 2 minutes. Don't cheat here. Set a timer for at least a minute and mix away!
- Add 2 eggs to your creamed butter/sugar mixture. Mix together until combined.
- Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Mix again until combined.
- Add 3 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of salt to the bowl with the other ingredients. Mix everything together until combined. Don't over mix at this point! Just make sure your dry ingredients have "disappeared" into the dough.
- Add the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and the 1 cup of M&Ms to the dough. You can stir these into the dough with a spoon or you can "cheat" like me and run the mixer a few times to combine the chocolate goodies with the dough.
Step 3: Prep cookies for freezing
- Make sure you have at least 1 baking pan ready and lined with parchment paper or a baking mat.
- Scoop dough using a cookie/ice cream scoop and place dough balls onto prepared baking pan. (Remember, we're using a medium-sized scoop in this tutorial.) The dough balls can be placed close together, but they should not touch.
- Don't miss this important step! Place several M&M pieces on the top of the dough. Be sure to spread them out, even adding them to the sides of the cookie dough ball. We add at least 4-5 M&M pieces per cookie. Add more if you want the top of your cookie covered with M&M goodness!
- Place the baking pan in the freezer and allow the cookies to freeze until solid. They should be in the freezer for at least 5 hours. I have left them in the freezer overnight, and that works well too!
- Once the dough balls are frozen, remove the baking pan from the freezer and then place the dough balls into a freezer bag or container. Be sure to press out as much air as possible while closing the freezer bag.
- Cookies can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. I typically label my freezer bag with the date prepared so that I can keep up with the freshness of the cookie dough.
Step 4: Bake cookies
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Make sure you have baking pans ready and lined with parchment paper or baking mats.
- Remove dough balls from freezer bag and place them onto prepared baking pans at least 1.5 inches apart.
- Place baking pans in a preheated 375° F oven.
- Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes or until the cookie edges have slightly browned. Since these cookies are being prepared from frozen dough, you may find that the cookies require 10-12 minutes to fully bake/brown. Just watch the cookies carefully! Important Note: We recommend rotating pans from top/bottom racks at the 4-5 minute mark. This will ensure that both pans of cookies brown evenly.
- Remove pans from the oven. Allow cookies to rest on the pans for 2 to 3 minutes before placing cookies on cooling rack or parchment-lined countertop.
Printable Recipe
