Soft and Nutty Peanut Butter M&M cookies

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Sarah Wenzel

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Okay, question for you guys: are Reeses Pieces the same thing as Peanut Butter M&Ms?

I came across a bag of Mini Peanut Butter M&Ms at the grocery store and immediately knew they would taste amazing in a peanut butter cookie recipe

While these were baking in the oven I thought, what else could be added to bake these delicious cookies? Reeses Pieces perhaps?

Further, Reeses Pieces do exist in a miniature form! So, are they the same thing?

I was surprised to find out that they are not, and despite their similarity in shape and flavor, they are made by completely different manufacturers

Hershey owns and manufactures Reeses Pieces, while Mars owns the M&M brand. Interesing huh?

So, when deciding between Resses Pieces and Mini Peanut Butter M&Ms for this recipe, it really doesnt matter beyond preference.

I find Reeses Pieces to have a much stronger artificial peanut butter flavor and, because of this, enjoy the M&M version more for the chocolate and peanut butter balance in the M&Ms

The Ingredients

All Purpose Flour: This is the only flour I have tried with this recipe, so I cannot speak to the consistency of recipes made with different kinds of flour. APF perfectly provides a dense, sweet cookie so I stick to the basics for this one

Granulated sugar: A little bit in the cookie and a little bit on the cookie. I have found that thicker and bigger granuales of sugar add to a more aesthetic, shimmering sugary cookie

Brown Sugar: I used light brown sugar for this, but if you only have dark brown sugar on hand you will still have great results. Dark brown sugar will make for moister cookies due to the molasses content, but the difference shouldn’t be extreme

Butter: One stick and room temperature! I am notoriously the “I can change him” girlfriend, pulling cold butter out of the fridge and hoping to mix it fast enough that it softens as I mix. Don’t be me, you can’t fix him, leave your butter on the counter before you bake it, you’ll thank me later

Egg: Same thing with the butter, room temperature. Though it’s not as important as the butter being room temperature, it will slightly alter the overally texture of the dough if you skip this.

Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

Sarah Wenzel
Peanut butter lovers rejoice, for this nutty cookie is sure to butter your peanut after the first bite 😉
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Cooling time 5 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 24 cookies

Equipment

  • 1 Baking sheet
  • 1 Large Bowl
  • 1 Spatula

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup peanut butter do not use natural peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup Unsalted butter softened
  • 1 egg room temperature
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar light brown preferred
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup peanut butter M&Ms minis or Reeses Pieces
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter M&Ms minis
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar for coating

Instructions
 

  • Set your oven to 350℉
  • Mix together your softened butter and peanut butter until fully combined, about 2-3 minutes
  • Add in white and brown sugar and mix until fully combined
  • Add in the remaining wet ingredients (vanilla and egg) and mix until fully combined. Be sure to scrape the sides as you go
  • Combine your dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt) and slowly mix into your wet ingredients. As it comes together it may appear crumbly and dry, continue to mix until it forms a uniform dough
  • Once the dough is formed, use a rubber spatula to fold in the M&Ms until they are evenly dispresed into the dough. Be careful not to mix for several minutes in an effort to evenly incorperate them, if there are spots missing an M&M we will add them in the next step
  • Roll your dough into a ball and coat in granulated sugar, then place onto your baking sheet
  • (Optional) Use a fork to create the cross-cross (+) design on your cookies. It may be tricky with the protruding M&M’s so just do what you can
  • Lightly push the remaining M&Ms into the tops of the cookies to cover any sparse areas of your cookies, this will create a colorful and textured cookie after baking
  • Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges
  • Remove from the oven once done and leave to cool for 5-10 miunutes (or eagerly eat them right out of the oven and burn your tongue like I usually do)

Notes

Why use Mini M&Ms instead of regular sized? 
I have found the regular sized M&Ms do not incorperate into the dough like mini M&Ms do. The mini’s create perfect pockets of chocolate peanut butter in our cookies. Does this mean you cannot use regular sized M&Ms? Absolutely not! It’s mostly up to preference, and if that is all you have on hand, use em’!
Why not use natural peanut butter? 
Natural peanut butter has a tendency to seperate, leaving a uneven mixture of oil and peanut butter. Brands like Jif and Skippy are best for recipes like this because these versions do not have the same seperation. 
What if I don’t have M&Ms? 
No problem! You can make this recipe without them, or you can add something else! You could try (1 cup of)… 
– crushed peanuts 
– chocolate chips 
– peanut butter chips 
– crushed reeses peanut butter cups 
You could even turn this recipe into peanut butter blossoms if you so desire! Just place a hershey’s kiss or peanut butter cup into the center of a thick cookie directly after baking and you have yourself a delicious peanut butter blossom! 
 
Keyword baking, cookie, M&M, peanut butter

And that, my friends, is how you make a baller peanut butter M&M cookie. What did you think? Share your thoughts below 🙂