July 4th m&m Cookies Recipe
July 4th m&m cookies-Chewy, moist and topped with patriotic candies. It's the perfect summer dessert that you can make year-round changing the m&m's by the seasons and holidays.
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Chocolate chip cookies are a must have at a party because everyone likes them. You can't go wrong with them, it's an easy grab dessert that doesn't require holding a plate and a spoon.
These July 4th m&m cookies are a must have at your July celebrations. And honestly homemade cookies are so much better than store bought baked cookies.
Why you'll love these July 4th M&M Cookies
- Easy recipe: make the dough ahead of time and bake the morning before you need them
- Festive: Change the m&m according to the holidays or skip by adding extra chocolate chips. I make an easter m&m cookie with this recipe
- Great way to get kids involved: My kids love place extra m&m's at the tops of the cookies before baking. A few get skipped and are consumed instead.
- Simple ingredients: Pantry staples that do require some red white and blue m&m's but can be found in grocery stores
July 4th M&M Cookies Ingredients:
- Flour: All-purpose flour works best for these cookies, but I love mixing a blend of bread flour and cake flour.
- Baking Soda: Don't substitute with baking powder, it works in two different ways. Read more here about baking soda and baking powder.
- Salt: I always use sea salt, but salt helps balance the sweetness of the cookies.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter at room temperature.
- Sugar/Brown Sugar: A blend of white sugar and brown sugar is needed to create the best M&M cookies. Light brown sugar and Dark brown sugar are both great. I like to use dark brown sugar for a darker cookie sometimes.
- Eggs: This recipe use 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk. The extra egg yolk is added for extra richness and fat.
- Vanilla Extract: If you notice that vanilla extract doesn't make a difference with vanilla extract it means you're not using enough, or your vanilla extract is poor quality. A good quality vanilla extract should give you a flavorful cookie.
- Chocolate chips: I used semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe but feel free to use your favorite chocolate chips. Milk chocolate is fine too!
- M&MS: Use any m&ms or any seasonal ones you've like.
Full measurements are listed on recipe card below
Let's Bake July 4th M&M cookies
Preheat your oven to 350°F and line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
With a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment cream together the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Crack eggs one at a time, saving the egg white for later use and then add the vanilla extract, continue to mix until eggs are just mixed in.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just barely combined.
Add M&Ms and chocolate chips if using. Mix on low speed being careful not to break the M&M's. Reserve a few M&Ms to press on top of the cookies before baking.
Use a medium cookie scoop (2 tablespoons of dough) and scoop cookies and refrigerate to allow the cookies to set.
Once dough has chilled place on prepared baking sheet leaving them 2 inches apart.
Press extra m&m and extra chocolate chips into the tops of each cookie dough balls before baking.
Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden, and the centers are set.
Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring them to cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Baker's Tips for Best Results:
- Use room temperature ingredients
- A kitchen scale is best when measuring flour as too much flour can cause a hard and dry cookie.
- For a thicker cookie freeze dough and bake from cold.
- Scooting: If you skipped the chilling part in the recipe and the cookie spread too much grab a small bowl just bigger than your cookie or a cookie cutter and gently swirl the cookie to reshape it into a round cookie with perfect round edges. You can also use a spoon and press the edges of the cookies in.
- Underbake cookies for soft center and crispy edges, the cookies may not look fully set on top but just allow the cookies to set before enjoying.
Storage:
Scoop cookie dough balls and freeze in Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen but add an additional 2 or 3 minutes.
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 to 4 days.
Variations:
- White chocolate chips
- Mini M&M's
- Seasonal M&M's
- Dark Chocolate Chunks or chips
- Milk Chocolate chips
- July 4th sprinkles for the best fourth of July cookies
Can these be baked into cookie bars?
Yes! Press them onto an 8x8inch pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the sides are golden brown and center is set.
July 4th m&m Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 8 ounces Unsalted Butter room temperature 2 sticks
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 large Egg Yolk
- 12 ounce bag M&M
- ½ cup Chocolate chips Semi sweet or milk chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- With a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment cream together the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Crack eggs one at a time, saving the egg white for later use and then add the vanilla extract, continue to mix until eggs are just mixed in.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until just barely combined.
- Add M&Ms and chocolate chips if using. Mix on low speed being careful not to break the M&M's. Reserve a few M&Ms to press on top of the cookies before baking.
- Use a medium cookie scoop (2 tablespoons of dough) and scoop cookies and refrigerate to allow the cookies to set.
- You can also skip the above step and just refrigerate the dough wrapped in plastic wrap. But I like to scoop cookie dough before refrigerating as it's easier to scoop.
- Once dough has chilled place on prepared cookie sheet leaving them 2 inches apart.
- Press extra m&m and extra chocolate chips into the tops of each cookie dough balls before baking.
- Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden, and the centers are set.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for a couple of minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!
