Soft M&M’s Pudding Cookies — The softest, thickest, best M&M’s cookies ever! People love these big cookies loaded with M&M’s! Instant vanilla pudding mix keeps them super soft and pillowy!
Table of Contents
These M&M’s pudding cookies are thick enough to sink your teeth into, and they’re so very soft and moist. There’s a hint of chewiness at the base and edges, and it’s just enough to balance the softness and give me the mouthfeel I’m looking for in a perfectly baked cookie.
The texture is dense yet light, and they remind me a bit of the texture in the Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies, minus the cream cheese.
The crunchy candy coating shells of the M&M’s also breaks up the soft, buttery dough and is a perfect texture contrast to the smooth, melted semi-sweet chocolate chips.
These vanilla pudding M&M’s cookies get my vote as my new chocolate chip cookie dough base to beat, and that’s a big statement.
The Science Behind Baking with Pudding Mix
This is some of the best cookie dough I’ve ever made. The cookies are great, but the dough base itself, wow. Allow me to explain. If you don’t care about cookie science, scroll down to the recipe. But if you do, pour a cup of coffee and enjoy.
For nearly the past two years, when I make chocolate chip cookies, I use this recipe. It produces amazingly consistent chocolate chip cookies, and one reason the cookies always turn out beautifully is from the cornstarch in the dough. I’ve used cornstarch in about 20+ cookie recipes because it helps create softbatch-style cookies that are so soft, moist, and supple, without turning cakey.
However, for these chewy M&M’s cookies, rather than using cornstarch, I used 1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix. Pudding mix is mostly modified food starch (aka cornstarch) and some sugary flavorings. So it turns out pudding cookies and cornstarch cookies really aren’t that far apart!
Ingredients for the Cookies
To make these easy vanilla pudding cookies using M&M’s cookies, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Instant vanilla pudding mix
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- M&M’s
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make M&M’s Pudding Cookies
The dough for these cookies comes together quickly! Here are the basic recipe steps:
- Cream together the butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla.
- Stir in the dry ingredients.
- Fold in the M&M’s and chocolate chips.
- Shape the cookie dough into balls using a 1/4 cup scoop, then press more M&M’s into the top. Chill for at least 2 hours before baking.
- Once the dough has had time to chill, bake until the edges have set and the tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center.
Tip for Making Pretty Cookies
I added 3/4 cup M&M’s into the dough, formed the mounds, and then inserted another tablespoon of M&M’s onto the tops for a nice visual pop. I want to really knowing I’m eating M&M’s cookies.
Cookie FAQs
The pudding cookie craze is nothing new, but not everyone likes or has access to pudding mix. If that’s you, rather than using pudding mix, use 2 teaspoons cornstarch, which means you’re back at my gold standard dough base (which is still great!).
Note that this recipe calls for instant vanilla pudding mix, NOT cook and serve. You also can’t use sugar-free pudding mix.
Yes! As with all my cookies, I chilled the dough before baking. It’s absolutely crucial for thick, puffy, full cookies. If you bake with warm, limp dough, your cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter. Why bother? Plan ahead and chill your dough.
Yes! I made this pudding mix M&M’s cookie recipe for Valentine’s Day, but you can make them for another holiday by using different colored M&M’s!
Go for it! I didn’t use many chocolate chips, only 3/4 cup for the whole batch, but it’s just enough to boost up the chocolate profile. Since the M&M’s are milk chocolate, a little semi-sweet is nice, but use whatever kind you like.
Storage Instructions
Baked cookies: Will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Raw cookie dough: Can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Video Tutorial
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Soft M&M’s Pudding Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup instant vanilla pudding mix*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 ¼ cups milk chocolate M&M’s, divided, (3/4 cup for mixing into the dough + 1/2 cup for placing on top of the dough mounds)
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 4 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, pudding mix (or cornstarch), baking soda, optional salt, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the chocolate chips, 3/4 cup M&M’s, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.
- Using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or your hands, form 15 equal-sized mounds of dough, roll into balls, and flatten slightly.
- Add about 1 tablespoon M&M’s to the top of each dough mound.
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet).
- Bake for 11 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center. Cookies firm up as they cool.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Cookies Made with Pudding Mix:
Soft Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies — These chocolate-dipped peanut butter cookies are SOFT AND CHEWY on the inside thanks to the addition of pudding mix in the cookie dough! Dipping them in dark chocolate makes for the PERFECT flavor combo!!
The Best Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies — One of my absolute favorite recipes for chocolate chip cookies thanks to a special ingredient! Just one bite and I think you’ll agree!!
Quadruple Chocolate Pudding Cookies — These pudding cookies are packed with cocoa powder, chocolate chips and chunks, and chocolate pudding mix to deliver seriously chocolatey flavor!
Double Malted Milk Cookies — Soft and chewy malted milk cookies loaded with Whoppers and chocolate chips! One of my favorite malted milk powder recipes!
Chocolate Chip Andes Mint Cookies — These quadruple chocolate Andes mint cookies are big, bakery-style cookies that are rich, not overly sweet, and loaded with chocolate and mint chips.
Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies – You won’t miss the butter in these olive oil chocolate chip cookies!! They’re soft and chewy, loaded with chocolate, and have a unique flavor from the olive oil but it’s not overpowering!
Quadruple Chocolate Rolo Cookies — Soft and chewy cookies made with four kinds of chocolate and stuffed with Rolo candies! Ooey, gooey, and addictive!
Yes to the silpat, but I just checked my flour and no its NOT King Arthur. I wonder if the brand of flour really changes them?? I will try to find that flour and then make them again with it, I am interested to see if there is a difference! Thanks for the tips :)
KAF all-purpose has about an 11% gluten content. Other flours have less; usually in the 8-9% range. Doesn’t seem like a big difference until we’re talking structure and stability (prevention of spreading) and then it becomes very important. So yes, brand of flour does matter! When I’m traveling outside of the U.S. and can’t get KAF, I notice a marked increase in the amount of spreading in cookies and cakes and muffins being prone to falling upon cooling.
I made these yesterday to share with coworkers today, and while they taste phenomenal, they don’t look at all like yours! I followed ALL of your cookie making tips, even chilled the dough 6 hours, and they still came out pretty flat. Oh well, I guess the taste is most important and these definitely had that goin on!!! :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad they taste great. Are you baking with King Arthur flour on a Silpat? Those two things REALLY help me achieve thick cookies. Not sure what other suggestions I can offer if you say you’ve already tried all my tips. Let me know what kind of flour you bake with since I do think it matters.
Thank you so much for these instructions, I made these with peanut m&ms for my boyfriend and they turned out beautiful!!!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you with the peanut M&Ms! I bet your boyf was a happy camper :)
Can I use cook and serve pudding?? That’s all I have :(
I haven’t tried it so not sure what will happen.
I have these cookies cooling right now but I am worried they look sooo doughy on the inside! I even baked them for 15 minutes instead of 11. I seem to run into this problem a lot with cookies and low bake times. I know they will harden up a little bit as they cool but geez 11 minutes would be hardly cooked. Is that how they are suppose to be? Thanks
It sounds like your oven runs slow/cool if this happens to you frequently when you bake….so as long as you know that I’d recommend baking longer than most recipes suggest. Bake until a normal point of done-ness. Don’t overbake, but they need to be set and not raw. And I would also get your oven checked out since this seems to be an issue for you. Good luck!
have you ever used this dough to make A cookie cake?
I think you’ll probably like this! https://www.averiecooks.com/loaded-soft-and-chewy-mm-cookie-pie/
I baked these for my boyfriend and he (and all of his coworkers) loved them!
Hi. I love the sound of your cookies. Problem. I live in New Zealand and our ingredients are quite different. One example is our butter is salted. Light brown sugar (is that our raw sugar) Wonder if our instant pudding is the same as your pudding mix?Guess I just have to try. I’ve seen so many yummy American biscuit Or cookie receipes but to scared to try as they may not come out the same. Any ideas greatly received with thanks
Guess I just have to try. = YES the best and really only way to know for sure with baking and cooking! I’m sure for this recipe, your brown sugar will be fine as will your salted butter. Your instant pudding is probably the same as ours (I use Jell-O brand or generic storebrand that’s like Jell-O but half the price).
Read this post for cookie spreading issues and troubleshooting. https://www.averiecooks.com/the-best-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/
I just wanted to let you this is the best recipe I have tried. I have made them several times and my husband loves them. He is a cookie king and is very particular. I will be experimenting with peanut butter, so wish me luck!
Glad you think it’s the best recipe you’ve tried and they’re a hit with your cookie king as well :)
Can you use coconut oil in these cookies in place of the butter?
Thanks for the recipe!
I haven’t personally tried it with coconut oil in this recipe, but I have made many recipes that are similar using coconut oil, so I would say yes, make sure it’s solid-state (freeze it for a few mins to get it solidify if it’s not already solid) so you can cream it with the egg, sugars, etc. Please LMK how it goes!
if I use a regular size cookie scoop, would I decrease the baking time?
Yes by a few minutes I would imagine.
These cookies came out amazing!!! Thank you for the great recipe, I can’t wait to try out your other cookie recipes!
Thanks so much for trying these & glad you love them and plan to try other recipes. LMK how they go for you!
These cookies are delicious, however, mine didn’t turn out a pretty as yours. The first batch, I took the cookies out at exactly 11 minutes and they were way undercooked, so I put them back in for another minute and cooled them on the cookie sheet as instructed. After waiting 10 minutes, they were still undercooked. I finally got a good consistency leaving them in for 12-13 minutes, but they still weren’t the color or height of yours.
Read this post about my cookie making tips https://www.averiecooks.com/2014/02/the-best-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
King Arthur flour, Silpat, etc. I think if you employ those tweaks, in general, you will have better success.
All ovens vary and 12-13 mins isn’t unheard of but the height will likely come with those other things I discuss :)
The recipe looks great but… How much is a cup? I have tried looking it up online but different sources say different things.
Well it depends on what’s being measured if you’re asking in terms of weight. 1 cup of raisins would weigh more than 1 cup of Corn Flakes. Use google to find what you need for conversion tables.
What did I do wrong if my “dough” turned out to be more like a thick cake batter?
It’s really hard to say since I wasn’t with you and can’t see the dough and can’t see what you did. They’re one of my most popular cookies and I’ve made them tons and never have any problems. Maybe retry the recipe and just make sure you’re using high quality ingredients and I’d try using King Arthur brand all-purpose flour. It’s the best flour for baking and worth the extra couple bucks for me personally.
Hello! Sorry if this is a duplicate comment but wanted to know of I could quaduaple the recipe?
Thanks!
I haven’t personally tried but I’m sure you could if you have a mixer big enough to hold it all! I maybe would double it, twice, for mixing ease.