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Our Christmas Chocolate Cookies are thick, chewy, and loaded with red and green candy! These double chocolate chip cookies are ready in just 20 minutes!
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We’ve always loved double chocolate chip cookies – so rich and fudgy and loaded with chocolate – so it was only right that we create a Christmas version!
In true Buns In My Oven fashion, we kept these chocolate Christmas cookies as easy as possible with our 20 minute cookie dough that gets it’s festive looks from red and green m&m’s! I love an easy holiday treat!
If you’re looking for a Christmas chocolate cookie that you can whip up in no time, that people will rave about, and that the kids can help with – this is the one!
I’ve been making my own version of those double chocolate chip cookies for awhile now and I’ve shared my chocolate peanut butter cookies before. They’re every bit as delightful as these.
This recipe is a riff on my perfect chocolate chip cookies. I added in some cocoa powder to make the dough chocolate and then stirred in chocolate chips and red and green m&m candies to dress them up for Christmas.
These are so simple that it’s honestly kind of dangerous. Who can resist whipping up a batch when it only takes 20 minutes?!
Ingredient Notes:
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Chocolate Cookie Dough – You’ll need all the standard cookie dough ingredients like flour, sugar, egg, and butter as well as cocoa powder. We use Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder to get that deep color and flavor.
Espresso Powder – This is an optional ingredient but it’ll really enhance the rich flavor of these chocolate cookies and it won’t taste like coffee!
Chocolate Chips – You can use whatever brand of semi-sweet chocolate chips you like!
Candies – I’m using red and green m&m candies for these Christmas double chocolate chip cookies! Other red and green colored candies would work too, or switch it up with different holiday themed candies!
What Readers are Saying!
“These are my kids’ favorite and they call them hot cocoa cookies!
I came across this recipe a few weeks before Christmas and have made several times. They come out perfect every time and never disappoint. I also love how they’re smaller batches so you can have fresh ones whenever. Easy to make and delicious!” – Brianne
How to Make Double Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Make Cookie Dough: To get started you’ll need a large mixing bowl. Add in the melted butter along with the white and brown sugars and mix until well combined. Add in an egg and some vanilla and stir again.
Finally, stir in your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, espresso powder (optional), and salt. These are all basic cookie ingredients here!
Chocolate Candy: Once you have combined all the cookie dough ingredients into a nice thick dough, let’s turn these into double chocolate cookies by dumping in some chocolate chips and holiday m&m’s!
It’s hard to tell from the photos, but these are BIG chocolate cookies. I love big bakery cookies like this and think they’re so much more fun than a bunch of tiny cookies.
Helpful Tip!
Feel free to swap out the m&m candies for any holiday themed candies or just leave them out entirely and stick to a more classic style double chocolate chip cookie!
Bake: Portion the chocolate chip cookie dough into 9 large balls of dough. They’re big, but don’t be scared. You won’t regret these thick chewy cookies!
Bake these chocolate cookies for 11 minutes exactly. It’s okay if they look a bit underdone – they’ll finish up on the hot baking sheet.
Let them cool for at least 5 minutes before digging in.
FAQs:
It should last 2 to 4 days in a sealed airtight container. I would recommend freezing the cookie dough if it is any longer than that.
I scoop the double chocolate chip cookie dough out in balls and then flash freeze on a tray before adding to a freezer bag. You do not need to thaw to bake, just add a minute or two to the bake time.
My heart says yes, but science says no. The raw egg and flour could contain potentially harmful bacteria so you shouldn’t eat this cookie dough raw. Instead you should just try out my edible sugar cookie dough recipe!
The easiest way to ensure perfectly uniform cookies is to use a cookie scoop! If you have an ice cream scoop, that’ll work too.
MORE CHRISTMAS TREATS!
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies for Christmas
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons butter melted
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup red and green m&m candies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Add the butter and sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until well combined with the paddle attachment.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt to the mix and stir until a soft dough forms.
- Stir in the chocolate chips and candies by hand.
- Portion dough into 9 large balls and place on a large parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 11 minutes exactly. Cookies will look underdone, but will continue to set up while cooling.
- Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool before serving.
- Store in an air-tight container.
Wendi says
Hi Karly, I made these cookies for Christmas and they turned out terrific! Everyone loved them! I admit, I was a little skeptical about the espresso, but it truly added richness to the chocolate. Absolutely delicious! Thank you.
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you enjoyed these! Merry Christmas!
Bryn Conway says
I have made these three times this holiday season. I made the last two batches with mint Christmas M&Ms and my family loves them. I asked if I should make the last batch as plain and the vote was for the mint. Give it a try. Delicious!
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you all enjoy the recipe! We make them with mint m&ms at St. Patrick’s Day…so good! 🙂
Felicia Doughty says
I baked these cookies at Christmas they were great! Today my husband asked that I bake some today. I have a bag of Christmas M&M’s left, so I just removed the green M&M’s to make them into a Valentines cookie. I’ve prepared the cookie dough ahead of time and placed in the fridge. I will be baking the cookies this afternoon.
Karly says
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked out certain colors of m&m’s to make them for different holidays! Haha! Enjoy! 🙂
Felicia Doughty says
I baked these cookies for Christmas they were great! Today my husband requested these cookies, I have all the ingredients on hand. I have a bag of Christmas M&M’s left so I just took out the green M&M’s, to make them into Valentine’s cookies. I’ve prepared the cookie dough and have it sitting in the fridge, and will be baking the cookies this afternoon.
Brianne says
These are my kids’ favorite and they call them hot cocoa cookies!
I came across this recipe a few weeks before Christmas and have made several times. They come out perfect every time and never disappoint. I also love how they’re smaller batches so you can have fresh ones whenever. Easy to make and delicious!
Karly says
Thanks, Brianne! Love to hear that!
Rebecca says
Can this recipe be doubled
Karly says
Hi Rebecca! You can double this recipe, but we think they taste best as a single batch. If you double them, they seem to either have a bit too much flour or not quite enough.
Jen says
Excited to try these for family cookie exchange
If I stretch each out to make 12 instead of 9 cookies per batch, do you think the cook time will still be the same or should I shorten it a bit since they will be slightly smaller cookies.
Thank you ?
Karly says
Hi Jen! I shorten it to 9-10 minutes for a dozen. 🙂
Stephie Scat says
These look great. Can you please tell me if this recipe uses regular unsweetned cocoa powder or dutch processed cocoa powder? Thank you.
Karly says
You’ll want to use natural cocoa powder here. 🙂
Amelia K. says
Hi! Can you make the dough in advance for these cookies and then freeze it (including the m&ms) for 4 days?
Karly says
Yep, this freezes great! Bake from frozen and just add a couple of minutes to the bake time.
Liz says
Use salted or unsalted butter?
Karly says
I always use salted.
Liz says
Thanks!
Amy Hamilton says
Hi, do you know if a double batch will turn out the same as a single batch? I can make it in 2 batches, but it would be so much easier to make a double batch. Thanks!
Karly says
Hi Amy! This is one of the few cookie recipes that I find works better as a single batch. I’ve been trying to figure out what ingredients it needs more/less of to double it, but I haven’t quite nailed it down yet. They do work as a double, but are better in a single batch. 🙂
Rose says
These are delicious but more importantly I just wanted to say thank you for posting recipes that when replicated at home actually look just like your pictures! So many of these other blogs I’ve tried I make the recipe and follow it to a T with results that are a far cry from their pictures, and despite many others with the same results the blogger is always like it must be you guys doing something wrong. So thank you thank you for having accurate recipes, it’s awesome trusting the time and ingredients won’t go to waste when following any of your recipes!
Karly says
Thanks, Rose! Glad you’re enjoying the recipes!
Danielle Andre says
Loved these cookies. Thick, chewy and oh so delish
I used Nestle triple chocolate chips with M&M’s
Will be making again?
Megan | 3 Scoops of Sugar says
WOW! These looks absolutely amazing and need to be in my hand right now!! Can’t wait to try them!