Chocolate M&M Cookies
October has flown by just like all the other months this year. Here is it the 21st and I still haven’t posted a single pink recipe for my Power of Pink Challenge. As a reminder, to participate in the challenge, make something pink and link back to the original post, and you will be entered to win a great pink prize. Be sure to check out the roundup from last year if you need some pink inspiration.
The easiest way to make something pink is to simply decorate it with pink decorations. That’s what I did this time around. Pink M&Ms have been around for a few years now and I’m glad they finally have the big bags. I grabbed two from Bed Bath and Beyond a couple weeks ago and threw them in the freezer (frozen M&Ms are the best!) I wanted to make sure I baked with them before Hubby and I worked our way through the frozen M&M a handful at a time… So I set out to make some M&M cookies.
Now, I’ve done M&M cookies before. I’ve also done M&M blondies. So I decided to hit up my Google Recipe for a new recipe to try with M&Ms in them. Let me just say, if you like chocolatey cookies, go home and make these tonight. They’re very very chocolatey and delicious. I decided to give them to Hubby’s sister for her birthday so I wouldn’t eat the whole batch.
Chocolate M&M Cookies
Yield: 3.5 dozen
Ingredients:
2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder - I used 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder and 1/2 cup regular cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. unsalted butter
2/3 c. granulated sugar
2/3 c. packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 c. m&m candies
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla in large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Gradually beat in flour mixture in two or three additions. Mixture will be quite thick. Stir in m&m pieces with a wooden spoon (I let my KitchenAid mixer do all the work there). Drop by large rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets *see note below*. Bake for 9 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to wire cooking rack.
A note about these cookies. For the first dozen that went into the oven, I just used my cookie scoop. One of those cookies is shown on the left in the picture below. Not too pretty and they didn't expand very much at all.
So for the next dozen, I decided to portion the dough out with the scooper and then roll it into a ball. One of those cookies is shown in the middle. Those didn't expand much either, but had a smoother finish.
For the last 1.5 dozen, I portioned the dough with the scooper, rolled it into a ball, then flattened it with the bottom of a wet glass and pressed 3 M&Ms into the top. You can see on the right that these cookies spread quite a bit more and they look prettier. I like the contrast between the dark chocolate cookie dough and the colorful M&Ms.
Long story short, my recommendation is roll the dough with your hands, then flatten it, and press 3 M&M into the top of the dough like I did to yield the cookie on the right.
Recipe from One Ordinary Day
As a reminder, don’t forget to enter in my autographed Alton Brown cookbook giveaway.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I love freezing dough but somehow most ends up in my tummy unbaked when I do that 🙂
What a great gift! I’m thinking that would be wonderful for all sorts of occasions. Thanks for the idea!
These are adorable and I love that idea! Two questions, though: 1) Were these as good as the cookies from the other recipes? and 2) When you freeze them, do you bake right from frozen?
Great questions Carly – As far as comparing them to the other cookies. I enjoyed the chocolate M&M cookies the best, but they were REALLY chocolatey. The other non-chocolate M&M cookies were a bit more chewy and they had nuts in them, so they had a different vibe. This recipe was more of a classic M&M cookie for sure.
As far as baking from frozen, you can def just go straight from freezer to oven. Bake them ~13 minutes instead of ~11 and take them out when they look done.
these were delicious!
they look so cute all frozen up 🙂
I love the pink and red M&Ms. Thanks for the idea of freezing the cookie dough.
I was going to ask you the same thing as Carly, well the first question. These cookies are cute. Your freezing method reminded me that I have a bunch of sugar cookies still in the freezer! Do you know how long cookies can stay in the freezer?
I don’t know how long they will last in the freezer. I have a tendency to forget about things in my freezer… I’d guess a couple months? Anyone have ideas?
What festive little cookies 🙂 I love them! I also like the fact that you froze them. I bet they were delicious. Make sure to enter the All Through the Year Cheer event for Valentine’s Day 🙂
I think that sounds like a great way to spend valentine’s day. It can be intimidating the way it’s so hyped up. The cookies look very festive, love ’em!
We don’t do “valentine’s day” either since my MIL was born on the 14th and daughter’s birthday is the 15th – besides, its more important to say you love someone everyday, not just one day out of the year. Love the idea about freezing the cookie dough in preshaped form and giving that away. Wonderful idea!
I am looking for cookies that travel well for my soldier adopted through Soldier’s Angels and these look like a winner!!
Mmm, these were so tasty! Happy Valentine’s Day!
These are just too cute!! I love M&M cookies too!!
http://www.singforyoursupperblog.com
Just had to add my two cents on the idea of giving cookie dough frozen and ready to be baked – genius! For some reason, I’ve never thought of that, even though I’ve given cookies frozen to people to be defrosted when they’re ready to eat. I love the dough idea!
YUM-these look absolutely delicious! I love the pink and red M&Ms!