Soft Peanut Butter M&M Cookies
These Soft Peanut Butter M&M Cookies are soft, chewy, and perfectly peanut buttery! You’ll love the peanut butter M&Ms stirred into this easy recipe.
Sometimes, you find a recipe that you just can’t resist making. You just have to make it then and there. Sometimes you find it in a recipe book, on a blog, or the idea for it magically appears in your head.
For me, these recipes and ideas are usually the best ones to grace the site. Something about them clearly stands out as amazing to me, and it seems it does for you all too.
This Oreo Cake, for instance, is one of those, and continues to be one of the most popular recipes on the blog. And how about those Ferrero Rocher-Stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream? I had none of the ingredients…but when that idea came to me, I need to make them now. They inspired a late-night run to the grocery store, and it was oh so worth it.
These cookies are one of those things. I found the recipe for Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies on Averie Cooks, and I needed to make them that minute. However, this time, I had an issue: midterms.
I found them in a break of an 8-hour study sesh for my law and ethics test. No way could I make them that minute. Thankfully, I was headed back to San Diego two days later, and you guessed it: these were the first things to come out of the oven as soon as I got home.
However, I did make a change: I peanut-butterified it. I found the amazingly cute Easter peanut butter M&Ms in the pretty pastel colors and couldn’t resist turning it into a peanut butter cookie with peanut butter M&Ms. I knew Averie would approve, as we’ve been discussing all of our homemade peanut butters recently and she has a darn peanut butter cookbook coming out.
These cookies were everything she described them as being, but with a big hit of peanut butter. Despite my love of peanut butter, peanut butter cookies are usually my least favorite cookie because they tend to be crumbly. These, however, are soft with the slightest chew. They are SO GOOD, and they look so cute with the fun colors!
I wish I had added Easter sprinkles to them. I give you full blessing to do that. And send me pictures. It would be fun. Because…sprinkles are fun.
Make these, love these, and if for some weird reason you don’t like peanut butter, go make Averie’s version. Enjoy!
PrintSoft Peanut Butter M&M Cookies
- Yield: 18 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar (packed)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups peanut butter M&Ms (or another variety of M&Ms, or chocolate chips may be substituted)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium speed (I used 6 on my Kitchen Aid stand mixer) until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use a hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes). Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute. Add the M&Ms and fold in by hand (Don’t try and do this with the mixer – the M&M’s will break!)
- Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping mounds (each ball should be about 2 ounces). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds very slightly with your palm, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat or parchment paper. Place the cookies on the baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 10-13 minutes, until just set (mine were good at 10, 13 produces a crunchier cookie). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Recipe adapted from Averie Cook’s Soft & Chewy M&M Cookies
Thanks for making my cookies and trying them! And yes PB M&Ms vs. just regular M&Ms – can’t go wrong there! I actually have some leftover PB M&Ms from Valentine’s Day that are pink and red and white and if I wasn’t taking pics for the blog, would have used those but that was last month’s holiday :) Glad you loved these and thanks for the linky love to my site and cookbook!
These. Look. Amazing!
M&Ms have always been one of my favorite candies and they are soo much better in cookies! I made some chocolate cookies like this recently, but I think peanut butter would be even better. I wish I would have thought of that, haha. :)
MMMM, peanut butter cookies. They always smell so cozy baking in the oven. I prefer soft cookies and the M & M’s are just icing on the cake!
Peanut butter m&ms are my faaaaaavorite! I saw these on Averie’s site too, and adding all the peanut butter sounds like a great addition! I want BOTH versions! :)
This sounds like the best. cookie. EVER.
These are so pretty with the Easter M&Ms–I love them! I am so excited about Averie’s peanut butter cookbook. One of my favorite ingredients! :)
I love these! Especially with the pb m&m’s, makes them extra peanut buttery!
These sound amazing! How can you go wrong with peanut butter?? I just bought those same M&Ms too : ) They look so pretty in the cookies!
These sound amazing with peanut butter!
I’ll take a dozen, please and thank you. These would make the perfect afternoon snack!
These look great! They look so soft and chewy. Plus they have peanut butter in them.. Awesome!
Peanut butter cookies are my absolute favorite, especially when combined with chocolate! I love the Easter look of these, too :).
I think Averie would defiantly approve! You can never pack in to much peanut butter in a peanut butter cookie as I like to say.
Ahhhh I’m obsessed. The giant pb lover in me adores these cookies!
oh my goodness, how have I missed these?! I love peanut butter M&M cookies. You can’t beat that combination. They look so unbelievably soft, like they would melt in my mouth. amazing :)
Made these over the weekend – AWESOME!!!!! And they look like they will ship well too :) I’m always on the lookout for cookies that ship well because my sister and I give my Dad “Cookie of the Month” every year for Christmas and we take turns sending cookies. Several previous batches have ended up as crumbs (good on ice cream…) by the time it arrives at their house in spite of careful wrapping.
Try packing the cookies in an empty pringles can! You can glue scrapbook paper on the outside to make them look pretty. Keeps the cookies from crumbling! I’ve done this for Christmas and people love the creative side plus no cookie damage.
These came out so yummy! Realized as I was taking them out of the fridge to bake them that I forgot to put the M&Ms in! So the kids had fun pressing the M&Ms into the tops of them. These were a winner for sure. Thanks! BTW just discovered this website today while looking for a cookie recipe. I will be sure to visit again.
Yummy these sound awesome. Thanks for sharing this recipe. Simon