M&M Cookies (Soft Santa Cookies)
Easy M&M Cookies (Santa Christmas Cookies) with simple steps and ONE added ingredient for a soft and chewy experience in LESS THAN 15 minutes!
Servings: 18 - 20 cookies
Calories: 196kcal
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (4 oz | 125 g) stick butter, melted (not spreadable)
- 1/2 cup (3.5 oz / 100 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (2 oz / 55 g) granulated white sugar (or a granulated sweetener that measures 1:1 with sugar)
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup (or coconut syrup, agave, rice malt syrup, maple syrup or honey may be substituted)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 cups (8 oz / 230 g) all purpose or plain flour scooped and levelled -- add more as needed -- only up to 1/4 cup extra)*
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup red and green m&m's, divided
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, (dark or milk chocolates can be used)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Microwave the butter for about 30 seconds to just barely melt it (half soft and half melted).
- Beat the butter with the brown and white sugar/s until creamy and pale in colour and sugar has dissolved. Pour in the syrup, vanilla and the egg, and lightly beat until just mixed through.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, mixing until combined. If needed, add in one tablespoon of the 'extra' flour at a time until the dough is still soft but easy to handle and firm enough to form one large ball (the dough should not be dry. I only needed 3 tablespoons of the extra flour).
- Fold in half of the chocolate chips and m&m's with your hands.
- Scoop out 18-20 balls* and arrange them on a lined baking sheet with parchment paper. Press the remaining candies onto the tops of each cookie.
- Bake for about 10-11 minutes. The cookies will look pale and puffed up, but should be golden around the edges. DO NOT OVER BAKE or your cookies will become hard once they have cooled.
- Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 30 minutes.
Notes
*When measuring your flour, make sure you spoon it into your measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. Try not to pack the flour into your measuring cup as this will cause too much flour being packed in and create cakey cookies instead of crispy cookies.
To make jumbo sized Christmas cookies (like these): Scoop out 12 balls (about 2 tablespoons of dough) and arrange them at least 3 inches apart to give them room to spread. You may need 2 or 3 large baking sheets.
Nutrition
Calories: 196kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 110mg | Potassium: 26mg | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 40IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 0.7mg