Chocolate M&M Cookies

I love M&M Cookies for several reasons.

First, they taste good. And second, M&M cookies are fun to make since there are so many kinds of M&Ms available these days.

M&M cookies make easy festive holiday cookies too since holiday colored M&Ms are now available for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day and Easter.

When you don't have time to make cut out sugar cookies, opt for easy holiday cookies made with holiday M&Ms instead.

And for a change of pace, here's a couple recipes for Chocolate M&M Cookies that pack a double dose of chocolate from cocoa powder in the cookie dough and the M&Ms.

Easy Chocolate M&M Cookies Recipe

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup M&Ms chocolate candies (plus more for decorating the tops)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them; set aside.
In large bowl, beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer until well blended.
Beat in egg and vanilla. Scrape down sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure everything gets blended.
In medium bowl, stir flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt until combined.
Add flour mixture to butter-sugar mixture.
Stir in M&Ms Chocolate Candies and nuts, if using.
Place heaping tablespoonfuls of cookie dough about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
Press a few more M&Ms into the top of the mounds of cookie dough.
Bake 12 to 14 minutes for chewy cookies or 14 to 16 minutes for crispy cookies.
Remove from the oven and transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Store in tightly covered container.

This recipe yields about 4 dozen Chocolate M&M Cookies.

Oatmeal Walnut M&M Cookies Recipe

1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 cup unbleached flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup M&Ms, plus more for decorating cookie tops
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl stir together the oats, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl beat the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and well blended.
Beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure all the ingredients are well combined.
Stir the flour mixture into the butter-sugar mixture a little at a time until blended.
Stir in the M&Ms and walnuts.
Place tablespoonfuls of dough about 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets.
Lightly press a few more M&Ms on top of each mound of cookie dough.
Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cookies cool on the cookie sheets for about 2 minutes and then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

This recipe yields about 5 dozen Oatmeal Walnut M&M Cookies.