During my childhood, the Safeway grocery store downtown sold a 16-count variety pack of jumbo cookies for $5. The box contained four each of oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, chocolate chip, and M&M sugar cookies. They were slightly crisp around the edges, chewy in the middle, and about as big as my 5-year-old sized head!
Mom rarely bought the cookies, mainly on the select few weeknights where we had piano lesson directly followed by church choir and barely had time to stop by the deli for premade subway sandwiches for dinner. If we behaved throughout the evening, she picked up a box of those gigantic cookies as a treat.
She generally split the cookies in half: part for me, part for my younger brother. We always saved the “best” flavors for last (and I still do that!), so we asked for the peanut butter and oatmeal raisin first, leaving the chocolate chip and M&M sugar cookies for the end. But between the two, I couldn’t pick a favorite… Both had chocolate and lots of chewy cookie!
However, I can never find those cookies anymore. Safeway’s bakery only sells a 2-pack of the same flavor of cookies now… And they’re much smaller than they used to be. That’s probably slightly better for me, seeing as I’ve grown a little and would eat an entire cookie all by myself! Or maybe two…
So when I started craving those this week, I baked my own, but I combined our two favorites into these Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies! Extremely chewy cookies, two types of chocolate, and cute colors. What more could you want??
This easy recipe kicks of Cookie Week on Amy’s Healthy Baking! I have four more recipes coming your way, and they’re perfect for the holiday baking season, festive party cookie trays, and giving to friends and family. So stay tuned and tell me which recipe is your favorite!
Now let’s talk about the cookie dough for a quick second. You have two options: (a) chilling or (b) not. Chilling stiffens up the cookie dough and prevents it from spreading while baking, yielding thick cookies. Baking as soon as you mix up the dough results in wider, flatter cookies that do spread while baking, and if you make them on a rainy day like I did, they may spread even more than usual!
The choice is up to you. Thick or flat… Chilled or baked asap… But either way, they’ll still taste the same!
I always like to press a few of the mix-ins into the tops of the cookie dough just before baking. It adds a cute and inviting touch! Although with the M&Ms, I wanted to pick them off and eat them separately instead… Just like I did with those sugar cookies as a kid!
So grab a glass of milk and let the holiday baking begin!
These chewy cookies are full of chocolate and lots of cute colors! They’ll stay soft for up to a week if stored in an airtight container—if they last that long!
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the brown sugar, smearing out any clumps along the side of the bowl. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of mini M&Ms. (Optional: Chill the dough for 30 minutes, or up to 3 hours, for thicker cookies that do not spread while baking.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Divide the cookie dough into 12 rounded scoops on the prepared baking sheets. (If chilled, flatten slightly.) Press the remaining mini M&Ms into the tops. Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Other M&M cookie recipes created by my food blogger friends…
♥ M&M Sugar Cookies by Crazy for Crust
♥ Big Soft M&M Cookies by Pinch of Yum
♥ Loaded Soft & Chewy M&M Cookie Pie by Averie Cooks
♥ Butterscotch M&M Pudding Cookies by Inside BruCrew Life
I have been craving these for years!!!
I can’t believe the description, I totally used to save the M&M ones for last… Wow! Gotta try this.
It sounds like it was meant to be Taylor! I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to save the M&M ones for last. 😉 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the cookies!
I made 4 batches of these this weekend for Father’s Day. I chilled the second batch and found it was much easier to roll them into balls (I also found they expanded more this way). Added a few dashes of cinnamon to the 3rd and 4th batches and they were a huge hit! My brother’s exact words were “make a lot of these for me…like A LOT!” haha. This one has been added to the recipe book 🙂
I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed the cookies Samantha! Your brother’s comment and the fact that you’ve added the recipe to your recipe book means so much to me — thank you for sharing that! 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful Father’s Day with your family today!
Sooo dissapointed! I tried 2 different times to makes the large M/M cookies and it didn’t work! They look great but mine didn’t turn out !! What did I do wrong x 2? ☕️????
That sounds frustrating Tess. Can you describe what you mean when you say your cookies didn’t turn out? Was it the taste, texture, thickness, etc? That will really help us solve the issues that you saw! 🙂
I measured everything correctly including the flour as instructed but the dough is so dry I had to mix with my hands to incorporate everything. I’m afraid they will not turn out since you said the dough should be sticky. Is there any way to salvage before baking?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Danica! You can try adding milk, 1-2 teaspoons at a time, until the cookie dough comes together. Did you make any substitutions, by chance? And what method of measuring did you use to measure the flour? If the dough was that dry, it really does sound like there was too much… Unless you happened to make a substitution, which is why I asked! 🙂
Hi Amy
Can I substitute white whole wheat flour?