These soft and chewy 4th of July Cookies are colorful, patriotic, and delicious! Loaded with Red, White, and Blue M&M chocolate candies, they're the perfect treat for Independence Day this summer!
I absolutely love the Fourth of July and all the exciting celebrations that come with it.
Themed food is the perfect addition to make your Independence Day party even more enjoyable, so, of course, I make Patriotic Cookies!
These M&M patriotic cookies are so much fun to make, using a simple cookie dough base with M&Ms and Mini M&Ms providing our color.
They have a great combination of vanilla and chocolatey flavors and patriotic colors, perfect for your Fourth of July dessert table!
For more red, white, and blue cookies, check out my 4th of July Sugar Cookie Bars with Stars, these Red, White, and Blue Star Sandwich Cookies, and my Firecracker 4th of July Cookies.
Shopping List
Wet Ingredients. Butter, Vanilla Extract, Egg
Dry Ingredients. All Purpose Flour, Granulated Sugar, Brown Sugar, Baking Soda, Salt
Chocolate. Red, White, and Blue M&M Chocolate Candies and Red, White, and Blue Mini M&M Candies
How to Make Patriotic 4th of July Cookies with M&M's
Using a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the Butter and Granulated White Sugar together for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add Eggs and Vanilla Extract and continue to cream together until combined.
Then add Brown Sugar and cream for another 2 minutes.
In a separate bowl, combine Flour, Baking Soda, and Salt. Mix the ingredients together.
Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, a little at a time, making sure to combine everything together before adding more.
Hand stir the M&M's and Mini M&M's into the cookie dough mixture.
Scoop the cookie dough into balls using a medium cookie scoop #24.
Place the cookie dough balls onto a well-greased cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Press extra M&M's on top of the cookie dough before baking.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes.
The edges of the cookies will turn a light golden color, and the center will be set when they are done.
Remove from oven and allow to cool on pan for a couple of minutes.
Then move the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Storage & Freezing
Storage: Store 4th of July Cookies once they have cooled in an airtight container for up to 7 days at room temperature. Cookies are generally best if enjoyed within 2-3 days.
Freezing: You can freeze these cookies in a sealed container or Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. Place parchment paper between each cookie, or cover each cookie in plastic wrap, to prevent them from sticking together.
Substitutions & Variations
- Candy. Use a different kind of candy if you can find it in the same colors. A different type of M&M will work just as well, try the crispy M&Ms, peanut M&Ms, peanut butter M&Ms, or even crunchy cookie M&Ms for a variety of textures and flavors. You can buy a tub of Patriotic Peanut M&Ms that only has the red, white, and blue candies in it if you don't want to buy them separately or have to separate the colors.
- Chocolate. Add some white chocolate chips to the cookie dough for extra sweetness, or use some in place of white M&Ms.
- Topping. Top your cookies with a drizzle of powdered sugar icing or melted white chocolate.
- Patriotic Cookie Bars. Make Patriotic M&M Cookie Bars by using patriotic M&Ms instead of regular M&Ms in my M&M Cookie Bars recipe.
- Color. Add even more color to these cookies by putting some drops of food coloring into the cookie dough.
- Sprinkles. Add some patriotic sprinkles to the cookie dough or put some on top while the cookies are still warm.
Pro Tips
To make perfect soft and chewy cookies every time, here are some pro tips you can follow.
Weighing Ingredients.
Baking is a science and adding too much or too little of any of the ingredients will alter the recipe. Weighing and measuring dry ingredients properly makes a world of difference. Investing in a kitchen scale is ideal. When a kitchen scale is not available, make sure to stir and lift ingredients before scooping them into a measuring cup.
| Volume | Ounces | Grams | |
| All Purpose Flour | 1 Cup | 4½ Ounces | 120 Grams |
| Bread Flour | 1 Cup | 4½ Ounces | 120 Grams |
| Granulated Sugar | 1 Cup | 7 Ounces | 200 Grams |
| Brown Sugar | 1 Cup | 7½ Ounces | 213 Grams |
| Confectionary Sugar | 1 Cup | 4 Ounces | 113 Grams |
Cookie Scoop.
Using a cookie scoop keeps each ball of cookie dough the same size, which is essential for ensuring even baking.
Baking Sheets.
You can use an ungreased cookie sheet if you prefer. Using Parchment Paper or a Silicone Mat to line your baking sheets is an easy way to ensure easy cleanup.
Baking Time.
Every oven heats a little differently. I recommend doing a test batch of 1-3 cookies to test the baking time for a perfectly baked cookie before baking the remaining dough.
Cookies.
Cookies are perfectly baked when the edges are set and the centers are no longer glossy.
Cooling Rack.
Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a minute or two before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Kitchen Scale. I use this for accuracy in measuring, and it's a lifesaver when it comes to consistent baking.
- Wire Rack for cooling cookies. I like to have at least two cooling racks.
- Mixing Bowls. A Large Mixing Bowl for mixing ingredients and small and medium mixing bowls for other ingredients.
- Cookie Sheet. Most recipes will take two batches to bake. It's great to have multiple baking sheets available.
- Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mat. Line the Cookie Sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup and to prevent sticking.
- Cookie Scoop. A small #60 Cookie Scoop or a Medium Cookie Scoop #50 are great choices for uniform drops of cookie dough.
- Storage Container. An Airtight Container to store cookies or a Ziploc Bag works great too.
- Additional supplies. Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons along with a silicone spatula, are all helpful.
To find out more, check out my Pro Tips Guide for making the best cookies every time!
Have you tried this 4th of July Cookies with M&M's recipe?
Let me know what you thought of this recipe! Tag @bestcookierecipes on social media so I can see how great your cookies turned out! I would also love to read your comments below. Let me know what you think of these cookies. It really does help!
More Fourth of July Cookies
- Fruit Pizza Cookies
- Root Beer Cookies
- Peanut Butter S'Mores Cookies
- Oh Henry Bars
- Red Hots Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies
- BBQ Grill Cookies
- Festive Red Velvet Cookies
4th of July Cookies with M&M's
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cups Butter Softened
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar 200g
- 1¼ cups Brown Sugar 285g
- 2 Eggs Large
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3¾ cups All Purpose Flour 450g
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¾ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Red, White and Blue Mini M&M's
- 2 cups Red, White, and Blue M&M's
Instructions
- Using a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the Butter and Granulated White Sugar together for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add Eggs and Vanilla Extract and continue to cream together until combined.
- Then add Brown Sugar and cream for another 2 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, combine Flour, Baking Soda, and Salt. Mix the ingredients together.
- Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, a little at a time, making sure to combine everything together before adding more.
- Hand stir the M&M's and Mini M&M's into the cookie dough mixture.
- Scoop cookie dough using a medium cookie scoop #24 onto a well-greased cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Press extra M&M's on top of the cookie dough before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes.
- The edges of the cookies will turn a light golden color, and the center will be set when they are done.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on pan for a couple of minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- Storage: Store 4th of July Cookies once they have cooled in an airtight container for up to 7 days at room temperature. Cookies are generally best if enjoyed within 2-3 days.
- Freezing: You can freeze these cookies in a sealed container or Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. Place parchment paper between each cookie, or cover each cookie in plastic wrap, to prevent them from sticking together. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes.
Rebecca Johnston
As a kid I would always choose the M&M Sugar cookie recipes and would pick out the M&M candies. Years later and I still love them and they seem to taste even better with holiday themed candies too!