Santa’s Favorite Cookies (M&M Pudding Cookies)
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A soft, melt-in-your-mouth butter cookie full of chocolate, marshmallows, and pretzels is Santa’s favorite cookies for a Christmas snack. This tasty cookie has all of Santa’s favorite ingredients, lots of festive Christmas colors, and is perfect recipe for enjoying under the Christmas tree or for Christmas morning.
Why We Love Santa’s Favorite Cookies
- Soft And Gooey Cookies– Buttery cookies that melt in your mouth are the perfect cookie with a cup of hot chocolate. The vanilla pudding mix makes an extra soft and chewy cookie.
- Full Of The Best Mix-Ins– You can make these delicious easy cookies as is with the creamy chocolate, gooey marshmallows and salty crunchy pretzels, or add your own favorite treats mixed into these soft cookies.
- Santa and Elf Approved– Leave these cookies out on Christmas Eve for Santa Claus and your favorite elves and watch these tasty cookies disappear!
Ingredients For M&M Pudding Cookies
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions below in the recipe card.
- unsalted butter softened
- brown sugar
- white sugar
- large eggs
- vanilla extract
- vanilla instant pudding mix must be instant
- flour – all purpose flour
- baking soda
- salt
- chocolate chunks – semisweet, or chips plus extra for decorating
- M&Ms red and green, plus extra for decorating
- mini marshmallows plus extra for decorating
- pretzel pieces – plus extra for decorating
Marshmallow Tip- I love the addition of the gooey marshmallows and slightly salty pretzels, but if you prefer you can substitute them for more M&Ms or chocolate chunks in this recipe.
How To Make Santa’s Favorite Cookies
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar with an electric mixer until well mixed.
- Add the eggs, extra egg yolk, vanilla extract and mix until combined. Pour in the instant pudding and mix well.
- In a separate bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix to combine. Add this dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix with an electric mixer until a dough forms.
- Fold in the chocolate and M&Ms and mix into the dough. With a silicone spatula to keep the pretzels from crushing too much, fold in the marshmallows and pretzel pieces, mixing until just combined.
- Chill the dough for at least 1 hour, but can be overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- With a medium cookie scoop. portion the cookie dough balls into two tablespoon balls. Leave at least two inches between cookies when placing them on the prepared baking sheet. Top each cookie dough ball with several extra chocolate chips, marshmallow pieces, pretzel pieces and M&Ms. Marshmallows on top can be added later for a prettier cookie. See notes at the bottom of the page in the recipe card.
When you add the dough balls to the pan, try not to put a marshmallow that is in the dough in direct contact with the bottom of the pan. The marshmallows do tend to melt if they touch the pan, but are delicious inside or on top of the cookie dough.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until they set at the edges and lightly browned on top. You don’t want to overcook these, it’s better to underbake in the middle slightly.
- Let the cookies cool for 2-3 minutes on the pan, then transfer the cookies to a wire racks to finish cooling completely. Enjoy!
How Long Will These Cookies Last?
Santa’s favorite cookies will last for 4-5 days when stored in a covered airtight container on the counter but will taste their best if eaten within 3 days. Santa usually gobbles them up pretty fast though if he is nearby!
Variation Ideas
These cookies kind of remind me of Panara’s Kitchen Sink Cookies, they have a little bit of everything in them. You can totally get a little creative based on ingredients you may already have in your pantry.
Swap out the Instant Pudding Flavor– Try french vanilla, white chocolate, butterscotch or cheesecake-flavored pudding in these cookies. Since the cookie flavor isn’t a chocolate base I would suggest sticking to a lighter-colored pudding for this recipe. With chocolate pudding, the chocolate flavor may not be strong enough with the butter and brown sugar base of the cookie, but so many of the flavors are delicious!
Sprinkle In Nuts– Try peanuts, walnuts or pecans in these cookies for a delicious crunch, just swap out one of the other mix-ins.
Add Toffee Bits– crunchy, buttery toffee bits are a great addition to these cookies.
Sprinkle Candy Canes– Crushed up Candy Canes can be added to these cookies. I like to sprinkle them over the cookies just as they come out of the oven as the candy cane bits can melt in the oven.
Peppermint Chocolate Bits -Use peppermint chocolate baking chips such as Andes mints or peppermint truffle baking chips. These can usually be found at the grocery store around Christmas.
Other Cookie Recipes You Will Love
The Best Cutout Sugar Cookies (No Spread, No Chill)
Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
Santa’s Favorite Cookies (M&M Pudding Cookies)
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened, 2 sticks
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 large large eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3.4 ounces vanilla instant pudding mix One box, must be instant
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup chocolate chunks semisweet, or chips plus extra for decorating
- ¼ cup M&Ms red and green, plus extra for decorating
- ¼ cup mini marshmallows plus extra for decorating
- ¼ cup pretzel pieces plus extra for decorating
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar with an electric mixer until well mixed.
- Add the eggs, extra egg yolk, vanilla extract and mix until combined. Pour in the instant pudding and mix well.
- In a separate bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix to combine. Add this dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix with an electric mixer until a dough forms.
- Fold in the chocolate and M&Ms and mix into the dough. With a silicone spatula to keep the pretzels from crushing too much, fold in the marshmallows and pretzel pieces, mixing until just combined.
- Chill the dough for at least 1 hour, but can be overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- With a medium cookie scoop. portion the dough into two tablespoon dough balls. Leave at least two inches between cookies when placing on the prepared cookie sheet. Top each cookie dough ball with several extra chocolate chips, marshmallow pieces, pretzel pieces and M&Ms. See notes.
- Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes, until they set at the edges and lightly browned on top. You don’t want to overcook these, it's better to underbake in the middle slightly.
- Let the cookies cool for 2-3 minutes on the pan, then transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely. Enjoy!
Notes
Toppings
I love the addition of the gooey marshmallows and slightly salty pretzels, but if you prefer you can substitute them for more M&Ms or chocolate chunks in this recipe.Marshmallow Baking Tips
Marshmallows melt wherever they touch the pan. This gives the cookies a delicious caramelly flavor, but can look a little messier. I try not to put the marshmallows that are in the dough straight on the pan. After the cookies cool you can break off any of the caramelized bits that hit the pan. If you add the marshmallows to the top of the cookie right after baking while the cookies are still warm, the marshmallows will hold their shape and look pretty. You can add the marshmallows to the top of the cookie in the last 1-2 minutes of baking to get marshmallows that have a little golden brown on them without melting too much. This is what I did for the photos to have an even prettier cookie presentation where the marshmallows are golden brown.Nutrition
Did You Make This?
I would love to see it! Share your thoughts with me in the comments below!
This were a hit for Christmas! We will make them again.