Christmas Cookies with MMs
I’m calling these Christmas cookies with M&Ms because of the colors I’ve chosen for this batch. But the truth is you can make them year round with any candy pieces you please. There’s another reason you might want to put these cookies on regular rotation — they start with a store-bought boxed cake mix. So that makes them super easy to whip up at any time.
Christmas Cookies with M&Ms
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One of the reasons I love making cookies with cake mix is how much easier and faster the process is. Rather than measuring out different ingredients, I’m just opening a package. And then adding very few ingredients after that, so it’s easy to manage. It’s why cake mix is also the basis of these cream cheese thumbprint cookies, too.
My only complaint, if you can even call it that, is the fact that the M&Ms bleed onto the dough during baking. Then again, when I grab a handful of M&Ms to put in my Greek yogurt or shove in my mouth, they stain my hands, too. So I guess it’s just a flaw in the design.
FYI, I love to stock up on red M&Ms during after Valentine’s Day sales.
Ingredients Overview
Step-by-Step Instructions
Before you start this cookie recipe, take the cream cheese and butter out of the refrigerator and let them get to room temperature. Because the softer they are, the easier it will be to make the cookie dough. I let them sit out for about an hour and that was good enough.
Preheat the oven to 350 F or whatever temperature the boxed cake mix recommends.
Add the butter and cream cheese to a bowl and blend until mixed. I used my immersion blender to get the job done. I should have used the Ankarsrum mixer instead as I ended up using a lot of “elbow grease” to get the immersion blender to work.
Add the egg and mix together.
Add cake mix and mix together. Blend well until you have a sticky dough.
I used a melon baller to scoop out the cookies.
After scooping, I place the dough on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
Then I flattened the dough with my hand and placed two red and two green M&M candy pieces in the dough.
I repeated this process until all of the cookies were filled with M&Ms.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown on the edges.
Cool and serve.
Notes
Be careful not to overbake or the M&Ms will start to crack.
Because of the butter and cream cheese, you’ll notice that these cookies have a buttery flavor. So they’re like butter cookies on steroids.
Favorite Cake Mix Recipes
Here are other recipes on this blog that start with boxed cake mix.
Christmas Cookies with M&Ms
Ingredients
- 1 package cake mix
- 1 stick butter
- 1 slab cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 96 M&Ms
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F or whatever temperature the boxed cake mix recommends.
- Add the butter and cream cheese to a bowl and blend until mixed.
- Add the egg and mix together.
- Add cake mix and mix together. Blend well until you have a sticky dough.
- I used a melon baller to scoop out the cookies.
- After rolling the balls of dough in my hands, transfer them to a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
- Then I flattened the dough with my hand and placed two red and two green M&M candy pieces in the dough.
- I repeated this process until all of the cookies were filled with M&Ms.
- Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cookies are a golden color.
- Remove from oven. Take cookies on parchment paper off the hot pan and place it on a cool rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Please note that nutrient values, if included with the recipe, are estimates only. Variations can occur due to product availability/substitution and manner of food preparation. Nutrition may vary based on methods of origin, preparation, freshness of ingredients, and other factors.