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Santa’s Favorite Cookies are loaded chocolate chip cookies packed with pretzels, potato chips, M&Ms, chocolate chips, and festive sprinkles. Ready in about an hour with simple ingredients, they’re perfect for leaving out on Christmas Eve or sharing at holiday parties.

Hand grabbing one of Santa's favorite cookies.

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Santa says these are the one.

Santa’s got a long night ahead, so we’re not messing around with plain cookies.

This is the night for Santa’s Favorite Cookies, which pack in pretzels, potato chips, M&Ms, chocolate chips, and sprinkles because if you’re leaving cookies for the big guy, you might as well go all out.

Here’s the best part: they’re just loaded chocolate chip cookies. No fancy techniques, no complicated steps – just throw everything in and let the festive chaos happen.

Rich, thick, chewy…all the good things about a CCC.

We leave these out every Christmas Eve, and they’re always gone by morning. (Santa’s confirmed they’re his favorite. We asked.)

♥ 3 Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe:

Sweet & Salty: We love the combination of sweet and salty flavors going on in these cookies! The pretzels and potato chips add a bit of crunch as well!

Festive without any fuss – The red and green M&Ms and sprinkles make them look Christmas-ready with zero decorating required.

Customizable: You can use any combo of candies or chips that you like! You can even use other colored candy for different holidays.

Ingredients, Swaps, & Tips:

Ingredients in christmas chocolate chip cookies.

Dry Ingredients: Flour, baking soda, and salt. Measure the flour with the spoon and level method so the cookies turn out with the right soft texture.

Butter: Use softened butter for the best texture. We use salted butter.

Crushed Pretzels: It adds crunchy salty flavor! You can use pretzel sticks, twists, or whatever kind of pretzel as long as it is crushed up and can fit into the dough.

Crushed Potato Chips: Just like the pretzels! It’ll add crunch and salty flavor that’ll contrast nicely with all the sweetness. We like Ruffles potato chips for this but you could use other brands if you like.

Candy & Chocolate: We’re loading the cookies with festive red and green M&M candies and lots of chocolate chips and chocolate chunks! Feel free to switch these up as you like. We used milk chocolate and semisweet chocolate.

Red & Green Sprinkles: Any kind of sprinkles will be fine, though some do melt and fade as the cookies bake. We like these red and green sprinkles best.

Make ahead: The dough needs to chill anyway, so make it a day ahead and bake fresh when you need them.

Keep them thick: Roll the dough into a slight cylinder shape before placing on the sheet. Helps them stay thick and bakery-style.

Step by Step:

Creamed butter and sugar with egg in mixing bowl. — Cream together the butter and sugar and then beat in the eggs and vanilla until creamy.

Dry ingredients for cookies in mixing bowl. — Add the dry ingredients to the dough and then stir in all the mix-ins.

Cookie dough shaped in a cylinder. — Portion out the dough and then shape it into cylinders for thicker, chewier cookies.

Santa's favorite cookies on baking sheet. — Bake the cookies and then press extra candy, chips, and pretzels on top to make them extra festive.

Serving Suggestions:

If you’re having a Christmas party this year then you’re going to need the treats, and your guests won’t be disappointed with these cookies!

These colorful cookies will look just right on a big plate loaded with other Christmas goodies.

A glass of milk + a couple of Santa’s Favorite Cookies are the perfect fuel for a late night wrapping sesh, as well.

Storage:

Room temperature: Store in a sealed container for up to 1 week
Freezer: Freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months (thaw at room temperature)
Cookie dough: Freeze dough balls for up to 3 months (bake from frozen, add 1-2 minutes to bake time)