Thick and Chewy M&M Cookie Cake | Julie Blanner (2024)

This M&M cookie cake recipe has the ultimate twist – and is thick, chewy, buttery and undeniably delicious! If you’re looking for a fun crowd pleasing dessert, this M&M cake is the perfect choice.

One bite and you’ll never purchase from the store again – it’s a cookie cake that will take you straight back to your childhood!

Thick and Chewy M&M Cookie Cake | Julie Blanner (1)

I take birthday cakes seriously, but after years of cake tasting during my event planning career, I rarely make a traditional cake.

Our middle kiddo, Ani, always requests an M&M Birthday Cake…when you take a bite, you’ll be requesting it for your birthday, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day or the average Saturday just as an excuse!

This pretty M&M cake is even sweeter in a heart shaped dish, but you can make on any baking sheet with a lip, pizza pan, pie dish or tart pan! It’s your choice.

If you love a cute seasonal dessert, don’t skip this incredible Valentine’s Day Toffee Recipe.

Cookie cake was my top request as a child. In fact, I often prefer it over cookies because of its soft and chewy texture. My mom always made it in a pizza pan for a larger, thinner cake, which is also delicious! The thinner it is, the shorter the baking time.

BUT. This is no ordinary M and M Cake. A secret twist makes it out of this world. I make it with my favorite little baking secret, brown butter. One extra step makes this cake stand above the rest. It takes just a few extra minutes and it puts the cake recipe over the edge.

The next time you think to go to the store for a cookie cake, you may want to reconsider. There’s no comparison!

Thick and Chewy M&M Cookie Cake | Julie Blanner (2)

Why You’ll Love this M&M Cake

  • Beautiful
  • Tastes Amazing
  • Easy to Make
  • Foolproof

This cake comes together so quickly with staple ingredients – there’s no need for a cookie mix!

This is not your average sugar cookie dough! Brown butter adds a caramelized flavor to the dough that makes it irresistible. The additional flavor and texture eliminates the need to add frosting on top, though I’ll never judge if you decide to pipe it or smother it in real milk chocolate buttercream!

Thick and Chewy M&M Cookie Cake | Julie Blanner (3)

Ingredients and Substitutions

  • Butter – Salted or unsalted, your preference.
  • White Granulated Sugar – Sweetens with a little crunch, also helps aid in the rise when you beat it with butter producing air pockets.
  • Brown Sugar – Brown sugar sweetens while adding a hint of molasses flavor and adding to the golden brown color.
  • Vanilla Extract – Adds a little flavor.
  • Eggs – Bind ingredients.
  • Baking Soda – One of two leavening agents that gives this cookie cake it’s rise.
  • Baking Powder – One of two leavening agents that gives this cookie cake it’s rise.
  • Salt – Reduce or omit if using salted butter.
  • Flour – All purpose flour is the base for this incredible cookie dough.
  • M&Ms – The star of the show. Fold into the dough and press on top for a picture perfect presentation. Use your favorite colors or holiday M&M’s.

You can find my full list of baking substitutions here.

Variations

  • Reese’s Pieces – Calling peanut butter lovers! Fold into the cake and press on top.
  • Chocolate Chips – If you’re a chocolate chip lover, go ahead and blend in a few milk chocolate chips! For us, the milk chocolate in the candy shell is just the perfect mix.

Thick and Chewy M&M Cookie Cake | Julie Blanner (4)

How to Make

  1. Prep – Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease baking dish.
  2. Combine Dry Ingredients – In a medium mixing bowl, combine baking soda, salt and flour.
  3. Brown Butter(Optional) – For added flavor, brown butter. Warm butter caramelizes sugar giving it a rich, amazing flavor. Allow butter to cool for 5 minutes to prevent scrambling the egg.
  4. Combine Sugars – Meanwhile, combine sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer.
  5. Beat Butter and Sugars – Blend butter in, followed by eggs.
  6. Combine – Gradually add the flour mixture incorporate into the wet mixture.
  7. Fill – Scoop dough into dish just over halfway careful to compensate for rise. For a smooth appearance, cover with wax paper and smooth your hands or a spatula. Press a few M&M’s on top for added measure. It makes the prettiest M&M Birthday Cake! Thick and Chewy M&M Cookie Cake | Julie Blanner (5)
  8. Bake – Bake in preheated oven for 15+ minutes (depending on the depth of your pan).
Thick and Chewy M&M Cookie Cake | Julie Blanner (6)

Tips

  • Don’t over-mix! That’s how you achieve the out of this world texture and thickness!
  • Allow the brown butter to cool a few minutes to prevent frying the egg.
  • Adjust bake time as needed based on your baking dish.
  • For a fully baked cookie cake, avoid pressing dough all the way to edges. Dough will spread. This will ensure a smooth, even rise without leaving the center under baked or edges over baked.

Scaling up, down or substituting? You’ll love this printable Measurement Conversion Chart!

Shortcuts

  • Use store-bought cookie dough.
  • Skip browning the butter.

Serving Suggestions

  • Of course you can add frosting on top of M and M Cake for extra credit, but it’s not needed. It’s simply amazing as is!
  • Warm, with a scoop of No Churn Vanilla Ice Cream
  • Drizzled with Chocolate Sauce
  • Top with Sugar Cookie Buttercream Frosting
  • If you prefer, divide into two smaller dishes.

How to Store

  • At Room Temperature – Cover with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container up to 3 days at room temperature. Add a piece of bread to the container to soften, if needed.
  • Refrigerate – Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 7 days.
  • Freeze – Freeze in an airtight container and covered in plastic wrap to prevent odors from seeping in, up to 3 months.
Thick and Chewy M&M Cookie Cake | Julie Blanner (7)

Dietary Considerations

  • Nut Free
  • Vegetarian

I hope you love this M&M Birthday Cake, holiday cake or just because you deserve it cake as much as we do!

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Thick and Chewy M&M Cookie Cake | Julie Blanner (12)

5 from 11 votes

Click stars ↑ to rate and leave a review!

M&M Cake

By Julie Blanner

This M&M Cake has the ultimate twist – and is thick, chewy, buttery and undeniably delicious! M and M Cake is fun for every occasion including birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and so much more!

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 15 minutes mins

Total: 25 minutes mins

Servings: 24

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Ingredients

Topping

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease baking dish.

  • In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Swirl until brown in color and it has a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

  • Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, combine sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Gradually blend in cooled brown butter.

  • Gently blend in eggs, careful not to over mix, until just combined.

  • Sprinkle baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour over mixture and fold until combined.

  • Allow batter to cool slightly and fold in M&Ms.

  • Scoop dough into greased baking dish or pan until just over half full. (You can freeze excess dough).

  • Press M&M’s into the top of the cake and bake 15 – 20 minutes or until golden brown, depending how thick your cake is.

Julie’s Tips

Tips

  • Don’t over-mix.
  • Allow butter to cool.
  • To prevent edges from over baking, don’t press dough all the way to the edges. Allow 1/2″ perimeter. Bring it to It will spread.
  • For perfect M&M’s you can press them in IMMEDIATELY after baking, I put them in before, but don’t mind a few cracks.

How to Store

  • At Room Temperature – Cover with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container up to 3 days at room temperature. Add a piece of bread to the container to soften, if needed.
  • Refrigerate – Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 7 days.
  • Freeze – Freeze in an airtight container and covered in plastic wrap to prevent odors from seeping in, up to 3 months.

Calories: 255kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 161mg | Potassium: 46mg | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 285IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1mg

Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.

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Thick and Chewy M&M Cookie Cake | Julie Blanner (2024)

FAQs

What kind of cookie is chewy and cake-like? ›

A drop cookie is any cookie that's made by dropping spoonfuls of dough directly onto a baking sheet. This means lots of cookies can be drop cookies such as chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and more. They have a soft, cake-like texture and are extremely versatile.

Why does cookie cake taste different? ›

Cookie cakes taste different than cookies because they have a different texture due to longer bake times (needed to cook center of the cake through) and the different ratios of ingredients used in the recipe.

How do you put M&Ms in a cake? ›

Absolutely. You will find that you like the outcome as well. You can put peanut butter chips in as well. putting M&M's and peanut butter chips in the batter, then coat the top (after it's baked) in melted chocolate, let that cool and then coat with a peanut butter, or peanut butter frosting.. would be delicious.

How many calories are in a M&M cookie cake? ›

Great American Cookies Original Cookie Cake, 16 inch Square with M&M's (3.04 oz) contains 52g total carbs, 51g net carbs, 17g fat, 3g protein, and 360 calories.

What makes cookies cakey vs chewy? ›

The ingredients you use and how you shape your cookies both play an important role in whether your cookies turn out crispy or chewy. The type of flour and sugar you use, if your cookie dough contains eggs, and whether you use melted or softened butter all factor into the crispy-chewy equation, too.

What is the best selling cookie in the world? ›

Oreo is the best-selling cookie in the world. It is now sold in over 100 countries. Oreo was first produced in 1912 by the National Biscuit Company, now known as Na-Bis-Co. But did you know Oreos are a copycat product?

Is there a difference between cookies and cookie cake? ›

A cookie cake is a dessert that consists of a large cookie, which is baked similarly to a batch of regular-sized cookies and usually decorated with frosting. Cookie cakes are made with cookie dough, generally by adjusting the portions of existing cookie recipes to match the size of the pan used for baking.

Why did my cookie cake sink? ›

Your cake is often subject to sinking in the middle due to various factors, including inaccurate oven temperature, excessive or insufficient leavening agent, overmixing of the batter, or premature opening of the oven door. Moisture loss or incorrect ingredient ratios may also play a role.

Why are my toll house cookies cake like? ›

Using too much flour will make your cookies too cakey, so try reducing the flour amount by two tablespoons. Avoid using cake flour instead; try a mix of all-purpose flour and bread flour for a more dense and chewy texture.

Can I bake with regular M&M's? ›

Mini M&Ms: You can use any M&Ms, but I recommend mini so there's more in each bite. If the M&Ms are larger, such as peanut M&Ms or peanut butter M&Ms, roughly chop them first. If desired, grab an extra 2 Tablespoons of M&Ms and press a few into the top of each cookie when they're warm from the oven.

What flavor are the M&Ms cake? ›

Birthday Cake M&M's are a flavor of M&M's that was made in the 2010's. As their title states, they taste like chocolate cake. Usually, the six M&M's used in packages are red, orange, yellow, green, blue and brown. However, the M&M's in this flavor are red, yellow and light blue.

Why don t M&Ms melt in the oven? ›

M&Ms are made with a hard candy shell that protects the chocolate in the center from melting. However, during baking the candy shell might slightly crack from the heat or become more incorporated into the dough. Don't worry, they still taste just as delicious!

How many grams of sugar are in a M&M cookie? ›

Region: US
ServingIngredientCalories
7.84 gramsbrown sugar30
3.55 gramssugar14
7.28 gramsshortening66
3.55 gramsegg5
5 more rows
Dec 20, 2017

How many calories are in a 12 inch cookie cake? ›

Nutrition Facts
NutrientValue
Calories600
Fats30g
Saturated fats14g
Trans fats
83 more rows

How many calories is one slice of cookie cake? ›

The Slice Cookie Cakes (1 serving) contains 83g total carbs, 81g net carbs, 27g fat, 5g protein, and 580 calories.

What is a chewy cookie? ›

Well, the long and short answer to chewy cookies is it's all about the moisture content. Cookies that are dense and chewy incorporate more moisture into the batter. This can be achieved by making substitutions with wet and dry ingredients, or even just changing the way you incorporate certain ingredients.

Why do my cookies feel like cake? ›

Using too much flour will make your cookies too cakey, so try reducing the flour amount by two tablespoons. Avoid using cake flour instead; try a mix of all-purpose flour and bread flour for a more dense and chewy texture. Using too much baking powder. According to the science geeks at Serious Eats—we love you!

What kind of cookies are similar to cakes usually baked in square pans & cut into squares? ›

Dessert bars or simply bars or squares are a type of American "bar cookie" that has the texture of a firm cake or softer than usual cookie. They are prepared in a pan and then baked in the oven. They are cut into squares or rectangles.

What are the 4 cookie types? ›

Here are the 4 main types of cookies:
  • Session cookies. These are temporary web cookies that are only present as long as your web browser stays open or your session is active. ...
  • Persistent cookies. ...
  • Third-party cookies. ...
  • First-party cookies. ...
  • User experience. ...
  • Advertising and marketing. ...
  • Analytics and web optimization.
May 22, 2023

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