Brown Butter Oatmeal M&M Cookies
If you love a classic oatmeal cookie but think everything is better with a little chocolate, these Brown Butter Oatmeal M&M Cookies are about to become a favorite.
They’re soft and chewy in the center with golden edges, plenty of old-fashioned oats, chocolate chips and colorful M&M’s in every bite. Browning the butter first gives them an extra rich, slightly nutty flavor that takes a simple oatmeal cookie to another level.
And maybe the best part? You don’t have to chill the cookie dough.
Mix the dough, scoop it onto your baking sheets and bake. They’re easy enough for an after-school treat but good enough to bring to a party, fall sports game, cookie exchange or anywhere else you need a really good batch of homemade cookies.
Why You’ll Love These Oatmeal M&M Cookies
There are a lot of good things happening in this cookie.
Brown butter adds SO much flavor. It gives the cookies a rich, toasted flavor without adding any extra ingredients.
They’re soft and chewy. Old-fashioned oats give the cookies that classic oatmeal texture while the centers stay nice and soft.
They’re loaded with chocolate. You get both chocolate chips and M&M’s, so there’s chocolate in just about every bite.
No chilling required. This cookie dough is actually best baked right away.
They’re easy to customize. Swap the M&M colors for different holidays and you’ve got an easy cookie recipe you can make all year long.
What Does Brown Butter Do to Cookies?
If you’ve never browned butter for cookies before, don’t let the extra step scare you.
Brown butter is simply regular butter that’s cooked until the milk solids begin to toast. As it cooks, the butter develops a deeper, almost caramel-like, nutty flavor.
It’s one of my favorite ways to make a basic cookie taste a little more special.
For these oatmeal cookies, you’ll melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. As it cooks, watch for little golden-brown specks to form on the bottom of the pan and a nutty aroma.
Once you see those golden bits, take the pan off the heat.
And don’t leave the brown bits behind! Scrape all of that goodness into your mixing bowl.
Ingredients for Oatmeal M&M Cookies
Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
I used old-fashioned oats for these cookies because they give them that chewy oatmeal-cookie texture.
I also love finishing the cookies with a little flaky sea salt. It’s optional, but that tiny bit of salt on top is so good with the brown butter and chocolate.
shop the ingredients now:
Don’t Chill This Cookie Dough!
This is one cookie recipe where you can skip waiting for dough to chill in the refrigerator.
In fact, I recommend baking these right away.
Scoop about 3 tablespoons of cookie dough for each cookie and place them about 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake at 350°F for about 11 minutes, or until the cookies have spread and the edges are lightly golden.
Brown Butter Oatmeal M&M Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats (I used Bob's Red Mill protein oats)
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs (room temp)
- 1 large egg yolk (room temp)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/4 cups M&M's (plus more for decorating)
- 2 teaspoons flaky sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and oats. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, brown the butter. Stirring frequently with a rubber spatula, until the butter smells nutty and is a light golden brown color with tiny golden specks on the bottom of the pan.
- Remove from heat and scrape the butter (and any brown butter bits) into a large mixing bowl. Add in both sugars and the vanilla, and mix well to combine, about 2 minutes.
- Mix in the eggs and egg yolk.
- Fold in the dry ingredients, chocolate chunks, and m&ms, mixing just until everything is combined. (Don't chill cookie dough! This cookie dough is best baked right away.)
- Scoop about 3 tablespoons of cookie dough onto the lined baking sheet. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 11 minutes, or until spread out and lightly golden brown in color.
- As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press on some extra M&Ms on top, if desired.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy warm, or transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy!
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Let me know if you try this recipe! I always love hearing your feedback.
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