Table Talk with Tawnie

I don’t know about you, but every year I am not-so-patiently counting down the days until Springtime is here. (And I don’t even live where it snows!) I love all things Spring: the warmer, but not-too hot weather. Plants and flowers blooming. More days of sunshine. The sun going down later in the evening. While I’ve been counting down the days until Spring finally settles in for good, I had SO MUCH fun creating these Spring M&M Cookies. From their soft, chewy texture, to the delicious warm, buttery flavor, to the adorable M&M bunnies – these are my current cookie obsession! 😍 The recipe is really straightforward with pretty standard baking ingredients (that you likely have on hand if you’re used to baking at home). I hope you love them as much as I do! Oh, and please send me pictures when you make them. 📸 Seeing your creations makes me so happy!

If you’re baking these cookies for an Easter celebration and are looking for other recipes to make, check out my Honey Roasted Carrots, Healthy Potato Salad, and Honey Glazed Ham.

Or if a springtime / Easter brunch is more your vibe, you might like my Easy Eggs Benedict Casserole, Everything Bagel Breakfast Casserole, or my Bacon and Cheese Quiche.

A stack of three chewy M&M cookies on a rustic blue plate, topped with pastel candies in the shape of bunnies and chocolate chips. Around the plate are scattered M&Ms and decorative Easter eggs.

Ingredient Notes

(For the full recipe, scroll down to the recipe card below)

A top-down view of baking ingredients for spring-themed M&M cookies arranged on a wooden surface. The ingredients include a bowl of all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, a stick of unsalted butter, an egg, vanilla extract, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, chocolate chips, and pastel-colored M&M candies. Each ingredient is labeled with text overlays.

Unsalted butter: Be sure to let your unsalted butter sit out of the fridge and soften to room temperature.
Sugars: Use both light brown sugar and granulated sugar in these cookies. The caramel-like flavor of the brown sugar (due to its molasses content) contributes to the soft, chewy texture of these cookies.
Large egg: As is the case with most of my cookie recipes, let your egg sit out at room temperature before using in the recipe. This allows for the egg to mix better with the other ingredients.
Vanilla extract: The perfect flavor for these M&M and chocolate chip cookies. I love the way vanilla extract and salt complement each other in recipes like this one!
All purpose flour: As always, it’s very important to make sure you’re using the spoon and level method to measure your flour when baking. Too much flour can result in drier, harder cookies, which you definitely don’t want with these ones!
Cornstarch: This ingredient is a bit of a jack-of-all trades when it comes to what it does in cookie recipes. Cornstarch helps the cookies retain moisture and promotes an overall soft, chewy texture. It also helps the cookies puff up a bit and not spread as much, which is ideal for these Spring M&M Cookies.
Other dry ingredients: baking powder, baking soda, salt
Pastel M&Ms: I’m a sucker for all the different holiday color blends of M&Ms, but these spring, pastel blend M&Ms might actually be my favorite. I like to stock up early in the season – like as soon as I see the stores start putting them out – that way I know I always have them on hand when the mood strikes for some Spring baking.
Semi sweet chocolate chips: Since the M&Ms are milk chocolate, I opt for a semi-sweet chocolate chip to go alongside them. But you could use milk or dark if that’s what you prefer!

Jump to Recipe

A baking sheet lined with parchment paper holding freshly baked M&M cookies decorated with pastel-colored candies arranged in a bunny shape. Surrounding the tray are speckled Easter eggs, a striped dish towel, and a bowl of extra M&Ms.

Step by Step Directions

(For the full recipe, scroll down to the recipe card below)

Two white mixing bowls with flour on a wooden surface. A person is whisking the flour in one of the bowls, while eggshells and small dishes are scattered around.

Whisk dry ingredients

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside. Be sure to properly measure the flour so you don’t end up with dry cookies.

A side-by-side image showing two steps of making cookie dough in a stand mixer. On the left, a mixing bowl contains granulated sugar, brown sugar, and a stick of butter before mixing. On the right, the creamed sugar and butter mixture has an egg added, ready to be mixed further. The background features a wooden surface with various bowls and ingredients.

Cream the wet ingredients

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars for 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and mix again until combined.

A side-by-side image showing two stages of mixing cookie dough. On the left, a person is adding dry ingredients, including flour and baking powder, to the wet mixture in a mixing bowl with a spatula. On the right, pastel-colored M&Ms and chocolate chips are being poured into the fully mixed dough. The bowls sit on a rustic wooden surface with eggshells and measuring spoons scattered around.

Add dry ingredients & chocolate

Add in the dry ingredients and use the mixer to combine until incorporated, being careful to not over-mix. Use a rubber spatula to stir in the pastel M&Ms and chocolate chips.

A cookie scoop is being used to portion out the cookie dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Scoop & bake

Use a 2-Tbsp. cookie scoop and scoop the cookies directly onto prepared baking sheets. At 350F, bake ~6-8 cookies at a time, for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will look underbaked, but they set as they cool. Swirl a circular cup or cookie cutter (something larger than the cookies) around the cookies right out of the oven to give them a perfect circular look.

A side-by-side image showing the final stages of decorating and baking cookies. On the left, a person is placing pastel-colored M&Ms onto freshly baked cookies to create bunny designs on a parchment-lined baking sheet. On the right, a full tray of completed cookies with colorful M&M bunny decorations sits on a wooden surface, surrounded by festive Easter decorations, including speckled eggs, a striped dish towel, and a bowl of extra M&Ms.

Decorate and enjoy!

While the cookies are warm, place 1 whole M&M into the cookie (make the logo face side down). Cut another M&M in half to create the ears and place the bunny ears on top. Add a few more semi-sweet chocolate chips and sprinkle with flaky sea salt if desired.

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Expert Tips

Properly measure the flour: As with any baking recipe, make sure spoon the flour into your measuring cup and use the back of a knife to level off the top. Do not scoop the flour out of the container/bag with your measuring cup because you could end up with 50% more than you need.
Don’t over-mix: When you’re mixing together the wet ingredients and later when you add in the dry ingredients, make sure you’re only mixing until the ingredients are just incorporated. Over-mixing can lead to cookies that are more dry and dense, which is not what we want with these soft & chewy Spring M&M Cookies.
Do not crowd the baking sheet: I like to bake 6-8 cookies at a time. Overcrowding the cookies can lead to them baking into each other and creating wonky shapes. We want the heat to circulate evenly around the cookies, so if you find your cookies are spreading too much, bake fewer cookies on your sheet at one time.
Do not over bake: These cookies look very soft and slightly underbaked when you take them out of the oven. This is what you want! You will add the M&Ms to create the bunny designs, and then the cookies will finish baking on the warm baking sheet.

PS: Did you know?

Want perfectly circular cookies? While the cookies are still warm, place a circle cookie cutter or a circular drinking glass around one of the cookies (it should be larger than the cookie so you don’t cut off any edges) and give the cookies a spin. Swirling the cookie helps to smooth out any uneven edges and make the cookies perfectly circular – which is just SO cute!

A small blue plate with two M&M cookies on a striped dish towel. One cookie is topped with pink and yellow candies, while the other features blue and green candies. The background includes a basket of cookies and pastel Easter decorations.

Variations / Substitutions

Chocolate chips: Give this recipe a try using different types of chocolate chips! You can try milk chocolate, dark chocolate, even white chocolate if you’d like!
Peanut butter chips: Want to add a bit of peanut butter flavor to these cookies? When you mix the chocolate chips and M&Ms into the dough, do half the amount of chocolate chips the recipe calls for, and use peanut butter chips for the other half. (Or, you could omit the chocolate chips completely and just use peanut butter chips!
Flower design: Instead of bunnies, you can use the M&Ms to create a flower design on your cookies! Put one M&M in the center of the cookie and then surround it by others of the same color to make a cute flower shape!

A woven Easter basket filled with speckled decorative eggs and a single M&M cookie decorated with pastel candies in the shape of a bunny. The background includes additional cookies and a spring-themed table setting.

Storage / Freezing

Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To freeze, scoop the dough into 2 Tbsp. balls and freeze in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 3 months. You can bake the frozen cookie dough from frozen, just add an extra minute or so to your bake time. Ovens vary. Or let the frozen cookie dough balls come to room temperature then bake as directed.
Make Ahead: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 2–3 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue to bake as directed.