This is the easiest, soft-baked M&M cookie recipe with a soft and chewy centre, made according to my grandmother’s traditional recipe.
A brief history of the M&M
M&M’s were inspired by the sugar-coated chocolate treats given to British soldiers during the Spanish Civil War.
Forrest Mars Sr. from the Mars candy company was really impressed by those snacks, so he decided to make his own version.
By March 1941, he got a patent for his way of making them and started production in Newark, New Jersey.
At first, they were sold in cardboard tubes and came in colours like brown, red, orange, yellow, green, and violet.
Once the U.S. joined the war, these candies were mostly sold to the military because their heat-resistant and easy-to-carry design made them perfect for soldiers’ rations.
By the time the war wrapped up, many soldiers had become big fans of them.
And that is how the M&M was born.
These little melt-in-the-mouth chocolate covered treats have always been a firm favourite of mine, ever since I was a small girl.
My kids love them baked into these chewy, soft-baked cookies.
Ingredients
- 200 grams vegetable shortening
- 200 grams light brown soft sugar
- 125 grams caster sugar
- 2 free-range eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 330 grams plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 330 grams chocolate M&Ms
↓ Jump to the full, printable recipe. ↓
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C/170C fan and line a baking tray with baking paper or a silicone mat.
- Cream together the shortening and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
- Sift in the flour, baking soda and salt and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Fold in the M&Ms.
- Using your hands pinch off bits of dough about the size of a walnut. Roll into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheet, flattening slightly.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until light golden. Leave to cool on the baking tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container.
What does vegetable shortening do in cookie recipes?
Shortening traps more air bubbles and has a higher melting point than butter. As a result, recipes that use shortening tend to produce baked goods with more lift and that maintain their shape during baking. The interior texture is also softer and lighter.
The recipe is my Canadian grandmothers, and comes from a time when vegetable shortening was used in home bakes instead of butter.
Recipe Difficulty Levels
Easy
Requires basic cooking skills and ingredients you most likely already have in your kitchen.
Moderate
Requires more experience, preparation and/or cooking time. You may have to source special ingredients.
Challenging
Recipes requiring more advanced skills and experience and maybe some special equipment.
Vintage Soft-baked M&M Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 200 grams vegetable shortening
- 200 grams light brown soft sugar
- 125 grams caster sugar
- 2 free-range eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 330 grams plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp Shetland sea salt
- 330 grams chocolate M&Ms
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C/170C fan and line a baking tray with baking paper or a silicone mat.
- Cream together 200 grams vegetable shortening, 200 grams light brown soft sugar and 125 grams caster sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in 2 free-range eggs and 2 tsp vanilla extract.
- Sift in 330 grams plain flour, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda and 1 tsp Shetland sea salt and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Fold in 330 grams chocolate M&Ms.
- Using your hands pinch off bits of dough about the size of a walnut. Roll into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheet, flattening slightly.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until light golden. Leave to cool on the baking tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container.
The End of the Road – Cycling through Britain’s Most Northern Isles (Part 2)
I have never made cookies but I shall try for my daughter. They look super cute
looks yummy and crunchy
I love m&m cookies, it brings me right back to being a kid again. And these look truly fantastic. Going to have to give them a go!
we took those little porridge pots to Switzerland when we went camping, I am so glad we did. Good luck with your trip
Oh, they look lovely!!
My kids made home-made cookies last Wednesday and sold them around the neighbourhood.
They priced everything, worked out how much to sell them for and made a £15 profit (which they still haven’t spend!!).
OMG!!!
These look so good! will definitely make an attempt to bake something this weekend!
Children’s will really love this.
OMG
these look so good! You’re making me want to bake something this week!
Oh my gosh, these look totally amazing!!! I cannot wait to make these at home with the kids. My cooking skills usually leave a lot to be desired, so I am hoping that I can manage this recipe without it turing into a total disaster !!!
Yummy recipe! Must give it a try! Best of luck on your adventure! Will be interested to know how your homemade instant porridge turned out!! x
1.) These cookies look (like everything you make) AMAZING. 2.) I hear you on the mum guilt… that gremlin is forever on my shoulder! H x
These sound really nice and never mind the kids, i think I would eat them all. I prefer the peanut m&m’s, would this recipe still work with them?
A friend of mine has made M&M cookies before and they are simply a-mazing! Will have to give your recipe a go 🙂
My family would just love these
what a great challenge – wishing you the best of luck! And lovely cookies too!
Definitely a lovely way to ease mum-guilt! They look fantastic.
These look incredible. Cookies and M&M’s sounds like a match made in heaven.
these are an old favourite and you can never go wrong making it
These look so great and I bet they are a lot of fun to make with kids I amy have to make them with my step son this weekend x
These look so yummy and very moreish. I love cookies, and once I have one…. I need more!! Will be trying this recipe out x
Ooooh, what a sweet little treat. Must try these.
I love M&Ms and this recipe sounds delicious. I think I might give these a go.
I want to go back to school just so I can have these as an after school treat! They remind me of Millies cookies x
I definitely now want and need M&M Cookies, and I am not the biggest fan of M&Ms
This recipe looks fun and so creative. I like colourful food. R
Ooh these look so good, definitely going to be giving these a go x
was just searching for some fun cookies recipe that I can bake with my nieces ! your looks so good and pretty easy to make. Yum , cant wait to bake (and taste )them
I could really go for some f these cookies. They’d be so good still warm from the oven! Yum!
These look amazing! I’d definitely accept them as a guilt offering if I was your kids 😉
Seriously, though, you’ve no need to feel guilty – you’re teaching your children to follow their dreams, and raising money for an amazing cause, all in one go! Well done you <3
Well done for raising £515 that is brilliant! Those M&M cookies look like a delicious snack I could have with milk.
Yum! This looks delicious, and so colourful, too.
Oh my gosh I need these in my life!!
It’s making my mouth water.
I need to bake them, and have them with a glass of milk!
Oh my goodness these sound amazing – hands up I do love a good cookie and M&Ms so perfect mix for me! x
Oh my I want them now hahah. Last cookies I made were white chocolate and honeycomb!
I have a seven year old boy who would just love these, great recipe.
These look yummy! What a beautiful site you have…and you’re another Canadian blogger too! I’m torn between wanting to be the mom who only makes healthy treats…and the mom who bakes the best cookies. I don’t have to deal with that yet as my daughter is only 16 months old, so its only healthy stuff so far…but I guess when she gets older I’ll just apply the 80/20 rule and 20% of the time I’ll relax and just let her enjoy a few treats. I’ll try these but will swap the Crisco for butter for taste & health reasons.
I can’t resist M&Ms and I wouldn’t be able to resist these cookies either! Thanks for entering into #TreatPetite
M&M’s are such a classic in cookies – these look so good. Thanks for entering them into Treat Petite.
I love your cookies,sounds like so yummy,you made my mouth watering,thanks for sharing this recipe..
Lovely cookies! My kids love m&Ms and would love these too! It sounds like you’re off on a fantastic adventure so hope you have an amazing time.
Yum Yum, this looks so yummy. I need to come over for cooking/baking lessons.
I am so going to be making these with Monkey over the Summer holidays!! I can imagine his face now espically as he loves m&ms!
Thanks for the recipe, they look delicious! Will need to bake a stash this evening!!
Sandra x
rustedbones.co.uk
These look delicious, I think my kiddies would love to help me make these – and eat them! Will save this recipe for a rainy day xx
Should i say you posted this remarkable recipe because of me??? It came at the right time, for i have been thinking hard on better stuff to prepare for my kids on our next picnic these days. Thanks for sharing, kudos!!!
if it’s Grand’ma’s (though may be not stickly speaking) it might be one for the #inheritancerecipes. Have a great time on your road trip,
I can’t wait to see your porridge recipe, I would like to make some too for camping trips. The cookies look delicious, I should bake a batch these days.
The cookies look fab – my kids would definitely love them, and I’m pinning to try with them at some point. You must be so excited now about your trip, I cant wait to read all about it when you return and I hope you have the most amazing time – wishing you all the best x
Ooh these M&M cookies look delicious as though they could melt in your mouth! How divine!
These looks so yummy! Your photography is amazing, your food always looks so enticing x
These look and sound delicious! I need to try them so badly! Got to love a good cookie!
How can I have those cookies? Lol. I have some M&M stock here; might as well make some cookies haha.
The cookies themselves look delicious, but M&M’s are probably the only sweets I don’t like.
I made some like this recently and they didn’t look half as good as yours!
My house is similar to yours except there’s laundry absolutely everywhere and no excuse other than have no time to put it away! I love the look of these cookies – the kids would go bananas over them!
I LOVE homemade cookies. They look so tasty
Ooh good luck on your adventures, I’m sure the cookies made up a little bit for your being away 🙂 such a lovely sounding recipe and they turned out great! x
These look fantastic I might make some for our next school bake sale.
I am loving this recipe, they look amazing and really tasty.
Mmmmm. Those m&m cookies look so good. I love m&m’s!
“My house looks like a Mountain Warehouse has exploded inside of it.” <– haha! This really made me laugh. You're going to be so well prepared for your trip 😀 These cookies look brilliant, why don't I bake more often?!
Well done on raising the money for a good cause! I love M&Ms cookies, looking at the pictures is making me want to go to the kitchen and bake my own! Thanks for linking to my soft monster cookies 🙂
Wow M&M Cookies yes they sound A-Mazing!
Oh these look and sound so delicious. Well done on your fund raising, what you have raised is brilliant. Kaz x
They look amazing, I love M&Ms so think I’m going to have to try them out.
Love the bright M&Ms peeping out of these cookies, bet they taste amazing! Good luck with your adventure and well done on the money you have raised so far:0(
These sound amazing, thanks for posting the recipe!
These cookies look amazing! Every time I attempt to make cookies, they seem to melt into one massive cookie in the oven.
These look amazing and sound it too. May have to try these with my other half and little girl x
Just saw this image on your instagram, the cookies look great. I can never get mine to cook like this and always end up with slightly blackended edges x
nice simple cookie recipe! I think I like the sound of it better with the M & Ms vs. Smarties for sure!
Everything is better with M&Ms in it I think! We are going to be doing some cookie baking this weekend and I might just throw some M&Ms in them.
Yummy the kids will love these and it’s my toddler’s birthday at the weekend so these could be a big hit!
I saw these on Pinterest and they made my mouth water. Yum!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I love cookies, cookies with m&m’s inside even more so! Yours looks like a fab recipe – and well done to you on raising money for such a fantastic cause!
I want them asap !! The M&M cookies look absolutely perfect . Can gobble all of them right away 🙂
This sounds so yummy and good luck with the cycling and climbing challenge. Angela