These incredibly chewy healthier M&M cookies are 100% whole grain, dairy-free and are made with coconut oil, coconut sugar and whole wheat or spelt flour. The best part? They don’t actually taste healthy!
After a bunch of baking flops, I was so really pleased with myself when I took a bite of these. After I took the pictures, I googled “monster cookies” to see what other peoples’ cookies looked like, and then I saw it. Monster cookies involve peanut butter. Whoops. So here we are with peanut butter-less monster cookies!
I’m posting my M&M cookies, anyway. They are tasty. Just missing a really important ingredient.
These cookies are so fat and chewy. The way a cookie should be, right? I adapted these from my oatmeal raisin cookies. I reduced the sugar because of all the added sweetness from the M&Ms and chocolate chips, but feel free to reduce it even more. These were basically as sweet as a normal cookie but not overly sweet!
Hey, have any of you made any peanut butter cookie recipes that use natural peanut butter and that actually taste as good as cookies with normal peanut butter? Natural peanut butter is nice for raw stuff but whenever it gets baked, I don’t know… it’s just not as good as the unhealthy stuff! I’ve tried coming up with my own creations using natural peanut butter but none of them have been worthy of sharing. I suppose I’ll just have to keep plugging away at it!
I’m sure some of you are cringing at the M&Ms and I get it. I totally admit to using M&Ms because of their bright colors. If I hadn’t needed to take pictures, I would have used some naturally colored M&M type of candies from Aldi. If they don’t have those at American Aldi, Unreal Milk Chocolate Gems (previously called: Candy Coated Chocolates) are made without artificial ingredients. I’ve never tried them but apparently you can find them at CVS, Target, and Michael’s. Or if you don’t like the thought of either alternative, just add more chocolate chips or whatever add-ins you’d like!
Healthier M&M Cookies (whole grain, dairy-free)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 18-20 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (190 grams) whole spelt or whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (168 grams) coconut oil
- 1 cup (200 grams) raw or coconut sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 3/4 cups (260 grams) oats (I used half rolled and half quick oats)
- 2/3 cup (200 grams) M&Ms (use Choco No No's for dairy-free)
- 1/3 cup (57 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips (use dairy-free chocolate chips, if necessary)
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (175°C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the coconut oil in the microwave. Add the sugar, eggs, and vanilla and stir.
- Add the dry mix to the wet mix and stir just until combined. Stir in the oats, M&Ms, chocolate chips and stir until combined.
- Form the dough into balls, about two tablespoons in size, and press the balls down into cookie shape. These don't spread very much so be sure to flatten them.
- Bake for 9 - 12 minutes or until the middle appears to be set. The cookies will still appear very, very light, even when they're done.
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59 comments on “Healthier M&M Cookies” — Add one!
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These cookies are delicious! Those M&M’s though just would not stick to the dough. Anyone else have the same problem? It was messy and time consuming to get those littles M&M’s to sick.
Is it necessary to melt the coconut oil?
I’m glad you enjoyed them! :) You could try without melting the coconut oil. I’ve never done it but think it’d work. Thanks for your feedback!
Can I take out chocolate chips?
Of course! :)
This recipe sounds great and I have all the ingredients except for cornstarch.. can I substitute it with anything else? :)
You can just omit it. :)
Wow! I am super late in reading this, hehe. I’ve been searching endlessly for a good oatmeal m&m cookies recipe and this looks delicious! I was thinking about cutting the sugar in half, keeping the m&ms and doing away with the extra chocolate chips. Think it will still taste good?
I think cutting the sugar in half won’t work out well. It’ll make the cookies very cakey and I’m thinking they may not even hold together. The cookies actually aren’t all that sweet (even with all the sugar) so I also don’t think they’d taste very good. Doing away with the extra chocolate chips and some of the M&Ms would totally be okay, though. :)
I made these and they were a hit! To cut down on the refined sugar, I substituted 3/4 cup of maple syrup for the sugar and just took out about 3 tablespoons of the coconut oil and they were still great!
That sounds like a great change! I’m so happy that it worked out for you. Thanks for the feedback! :)
I’ve made these so many times, I felt I should probably officially thank you specifically for this recipe:-) Everyone in this household loves them!
Aww, thanks! I’m so happy that your family likes them. Thanks a bunch for your feedback! :)
My kids (5,3, 18m) and I made these. They are super yummy! So great and I don’t feel bad about letting them be eaten for breakfast. I did use about 1/2 the sugar, cause that’s how we like it, but we will make them again and again and again. Thanks for the recipe.
Wow! 1/2 the sugar?! That’s awesome. I need to try that! I’m always for less sugar. I’m happy that you and your kids enjoyed the cookies! Thanks a bunch for your feedback. :)
I just made these this morning and I think they’re even better than regular oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and coming from a LOVER of cookies that is a lot!!
That’s great! I’m so happy that you enjoyed them. Thanks for the feedback! :)
Just made these last night with Unreal Candy’s healthier version of M&M’s (no thank you toxic food dyes in M&Ms – the Europeans SO have it figured out) and they are amazing – kids, adults … all LOVED them! Thank you so much!
Hi Barb! So sorry for the slow reply. I’m happy that you and the kids enjoyed the cookies! :) And we have M&Ms with all kinds of dye over here in Germany so I don’t know if it’s really so much better. I wish we had Unreal! Thanks so much for your feedback and rating. :)
I finally got to make these cookies and I must say THEY ARE AWESOME! Had to substitute butter & br. sugar but they came out just fine. Will all this peanut butter talk I decided to use the peanut butter M&M’s :) Thanks for sharing!!
Yay! I’m so happy that you liked them. And butter and brown sugar sounds good to me. ;) And peanut butter M&Ms?! Yum! Thanks for your feedback!
I was just wondering, instead of coconut oil and coconut sugar, are there any substitutes I’d be able to use?
I was thinking about honey for the sugar, but I’m clueless with regards to the oil!
Thank you so much for a lovely recipe, like always ;)
You can use regular brown sugar or unrefined sugar for the coconut sugar. Honey is a tricky sub just because of the liquid issue. For coconut oil you could use butter, but I’m not positive if they’ll come out exactly the same. Good luck! I hope you’ll enjoy them. :)
Wow these cookies are awesome, my daughter made them, I made them with shredded coconut and ground walnuts and they were delicious as I am not huge fan of M&M’s. any idea of the calories count?
I’m so sorry for the slow reply, Susan! I was in the US for most of June and as you can see, I was really bad with the comments. I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed the cookies! :) Unfortunately, I don’t know the calorie count. You can enter the recipe on CalorieCount or SparkPeople and that should give you a good estimate! Thanks a ton for your feedback. :)
Just made these. Very yummy & a great way to get oats into my kids as a treat. They are very messy to work with. They stuck all over my hands, but got much easier when I decided to just scoop it directly to cookie sheet & smusged with a fork. I made 25 cookies with this recipe.
Yay, happy you liked them! If they're sticky, you can also use wet hands to form them or chill the dough first. But like you said, a spoon works just as well. Thanks a ton for the feedback and the tip! It's most appreciated. :)
Yum, yum, yum! Made these yesterday morning and took them to a playgroup and they were a hit. More with the moms than the kids (who hunted for the m&ms;). I blame that in the dark chocolate that I used vs. chocolate chips. But the dark chocolate was great! The recipe is a keeper. Thanks for the great work here!!!
Sorry for the slow reply, Jax! I didn't see this until now. I'm so happy that you all liked them. :) And I pick out the M&Ms;, too. They're just so much more fun than boring old chocolate chips. ;) I appreciate the feedback so thanks again!
I made a few substitutions in these based on what I had on hand, but they are DELICIOUS! I was planning to add peanut butter but, GASP, turns out didn't have enough left. So your pb oversight worked out in my favor :) Thanks for sharing!
Haha, yay! I'm so happy that you liked them. :) I'm wondering what they would be like with peanut butter, though. Probably even yummier because peanut butter just makes everything better, right? ;) Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate it.
I also had no clue that monster cookies have to have peanut butter in them, so you could have totally sold these to me as monster cookies. They look so nice and thick!
Wow – these look so thick and incredible! I think I would eat way more than my fair share of them. M&M; cookies are one of my favorites!
Oh my heavens! Yes, please! I'd like a dozen of these beauties :)
Wow, this looks so great :D It's hard to be pregnant and then watch all those wonderful food blogs like yours!!
Aww, thank you! And sorry to torture you with the goodies. ;)
Erin, you rock! Reminds me of my sister who made banana bread once without bananas :) Not quite as interesting, though! Since everyone warns against natural pb in baking, I've never tried it. Plus, it tastes so good on its own. I'd be miffed if I had to throw any of it away!
Haha. That is pretty bad. I often make things like chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips or blueberry muffins without the blueberries but those are just add-ins, you know. ;) And it stinks that natural peanut butter isn't good in baking. I'm guessing most of the people who read this blog prefer using it and I feel guilty whenever I post a normal peanut butter recipe!
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I've been CRAVING these cookies like mad lately!!
These cookies are total dreamboats, Erin! I've gotta make a batch asap.
cornstarch, coconut oil, coconut sugar… I need to make these!! I want a huge plate of these right now Erin. Who cares if there is no PB! Whatever. ;) I've never baked with coconut sugar before.
Who cares that they arent actually "monster" cookies? You made up your own cookie then :) And if they taste good, then thats all that matters :) These look amazing. I love M&M;'s in cookies. YUM!
wow i love how thick and chewy these look…and thanks for sharing the info on the unreal brand of m&m..i;'ve been wanting to get away from artificial food coloring. and no I don't have any recipes with natural pb – sometimes i just use anyway and hope for the best lol…it just makes me nervous using regular pb with so many recalls.
Thanks! So you do use natural peanut butter in baking? I've tried it before but stuff just comes out… bla.
These look fantastic! Love oatmeal cookies and these are perfectly thick and chewy!
These look delicious! And I don't mind that they're peanut butter-less – they still look fab to me. =)
Your version looks so nice and chunky! I just bought 4 large bags of unreal candies and we love them so I should make some more of these cookies, I just hope the natural candies don't bleed :-)
Let me know if they do! Then I can update my post. :D
I just made these- they're a hit at my household. I even used the coconut sugar- fabulous. Thanks!
Hey Robin! Thanks a lot for your feedback. I'm shocked you made them so quickly and I'm happy you all liked them! Thanks again. :)
I just made them- Delicious! Wish I could share a picture-but you're a great photographer!
These dont need peanut butter, they look just as scrumptious without!
I don't care if these cookies don't have peanut butter in them these look freaking soft and delicious! I think I might try them out this weekend maybe. Besides its nice for people with peanut allergies if theres no peanut butter in these.
Happy Monday!
You always see the positive in things, don't you? :) I made monster cookies for people with peanut allergies! Aww. That sounds so sweet of me! If only it weren't a mistake. ;)
For me, it's good they don't have peanut butter in as I'm allergic! These look so good, I love cookies!! I'm definitely going to make these nut free ones :D
Yay! I'm happy to hear that you want to make them plus you like that they're peanut butter! Somebody can benefit from my mistake. Yippie. :)
These cookies look perfect – so fat and puffy!
Holy Moly, these look good! I will happily help you eat these. :D Mmm!