These Valentine’s Day cookies are soft, chewy, and studded with pink, red, and white M&M’s. They make the cutest Valentine’s treat for classroom parties and family night.
The dough mixes up fast, and the pops of chocolate make every bite sweet and festive.
What makes this recipe special is the texture, tender centers with just-set edges, plus the candy crunch on top. You can prep the dough in minutes, bake up in under 10, and have a whole tray ready before the kids finish homework.
We’ve made it for years because it’s just so simple and so delicious!
If you love these, try a few more favorites like Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies, Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Strawberry Cookies.
Why we think you’ll love it:
- Quick and easy. As with most easy cookie recipes, these are ready in under 20 minutes!
- M&Ms make everything better. This classic twist is a flavorful favorite. Who doesn’t love M&Ms?! These are a great go-to Valentine’s Dessert!
- Absolutely adorable. These pink and red cookies are great for after-school treats, a class party, or a family Valentine’s dinner.
Valentines Day Cookie Ingredients
- Granulated sugar (1 cup) – Sugar adds sweetness and helps the edges set with a light crisp.
- Brown sugar (1 cup) – It brings moisture and chew, and the gentle molasses flavor deepens the overall taste.
- Butter, softened (½ cup) – It provides richness and a tender texture when creamed with the sugars. If it’s too cold, the butter can’t incorporate as well, and if it’s too warm, the cookies will spread and flatten. See our post on How to Soften Butter Quickly.
- Vegetable oil (½ cup) – Oil keeps the crumb extra soft and helps the cookies stay moist for a few days.
- Eggs (2) – Eggs bind the dough and add structure so the cookies hold their shape. Room temperature eggs incorporate best with the other ingredients.
- Baking powder (1 teaspoon) – It gives a gentle lift for thicker, softer centers.
- Salt (1 teaspoon) – Salt balances the sweetness and sharpens the chocolate flavor. Reduce or omit if you use salted butter.
- Baking soda (1 teaspoon) – It encourages spread and browning for that classic cookie look and taste.
- Vanilla extract (1 teaspoon) – Vanilla rounds out the dough with a warm, bakery-style aroma; or use almond extract.
- All purpose flour (3 cups) – Flour forms the base and traps air from creaming for a soft bite. See How to Measure Flour for tips.
- Plain M&M’s, red, pink and white, chopped and whole, separated (2 cups) – Plain chocolate M&M’s work best in this recipe. Since these cookies are geared toward Valentine’s, I chose to use pink, red, and white. We also added a few Mini M&M’s to the top for extra decoration.
- variations – Valentine-shaped sprinkles, Jimmies, or festive sugar crystal sprinkles to the tops instead of extra M&M’s
How to Make Valentines Day Cookies
PREP. Preheat oven to 350°F.
CREAM. In the large bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment on, cream granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter, and oil.
MIX. Add eggs and beat until fluffy. Add dry ingredients, baking powder, salt, baking soda, all-purpose flour, and vanilla extract.
M&M’S. Mix in chopped M&Ms {however many you want}.
SHAPE. Form the dough into balls and place them on a greased pan. Top each with 5 M&Ms and Valentine’s sprinkles.
BAKE. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Let sit on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Kristyn’s Recipe Tips
- For a chewier cookie, increase the brown sugar and reduce the white sugar by the same amount. Using 1⅓ cups of brown sugar and ⅔ cup white sugar is a good place to start.
- Use a nut chopper, food processor, large knife & a cutting board, or place them in a Ziploc and crush them with the bottom of a cup.
- Avoid flat cookies by keeping the butter and dough from getting too warm. If needed, chilling the dough will help keep the butter in the dough cold and keep the cookies from spreading.
Valentine Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups plain M&M's, red, pink & white, chopped and whole, separated
- Valentine's sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cream together brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and oil.
- Add eggs and beat until fluffy.
- Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla.
- Mix in 1½ cups chopped M&Ms {or however many you want}.
- Place the balls on a greased pan, and insert 5 M&Ms on top, and add sprinkles.
- Bake at 350°F for 7-8 minutes.
Notes
- For a chewier cookie, increase the brown sugar and reduce the white sugar by the same amount. Using 1⅓ cups of brown sugar and ⅔ cup white sugar is a good place to start.
- Use a nut chopper, food processor, large knife & a cutting board, or place them in a Ziploc and crush them with the bottom of a cup.
- Avoid flat cookies by keeping the butter and dough from getting too warm. If needed, chilling the dough will help keep the butter in the dough cold and keep the cookies from spreading.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
Wrap the cookie dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 days. Freeze the dough for 3-4 months. See How to Freeze Cookie Dough for tips.
Keep cooled Valentine’s M&M cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days. Add a piece of white bread into the container to keep the cookies soft. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
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This recipe was originally published January 2021.
Didn’t turn out well. Tasted like oil and we flat.
These tasted like vegetable oil. They were actually gross, I don’t recommend. They were also very flat and didn’t have much a flavor besides that of the oil.
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy the cookies. Thanks for the feedback and for giving the recipe a try.
Easy to make with kids and delicous!
Can you make these in the shape of a heart?!
I suppose you could! That would be festive and fun!
These were really oily, super sweet and came out very flat. They were also very soft and I baked them for 10 minutes instead of the max of 8 minutes. I don’t really think the 1/2 cup of oil was necessary. The sugar could also be reduced because of the chocolate m&ms that are added.
Thanks for the feedback and for giving the recipe a try!
This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe. No chilling required and it is both sturdy and so soft.
I made this Valentine cookies 3 times already within one week my family loves them I changed the recipe just a little in the sugar instead of one cup of white sugar and 1 cup of white Brown sugar I just used a 1/2 a cup of white sugar and a 1/2 a cup of light Brown sugarand instead of M&M I use valentines sprinkles small balls red and pink whites perfect thank you for this recipe.
Oh I’m so glad to hear you all love the cookies! Thanks for sharing what you did too.
My favorite colors of m&m’s!! They are pretty, soft, & so yummy!
Made these today with my 6 year old. He had so much fun adding the Valentines M&M’s. These were so easy to make and so soft to eat.
I love anything that has to do with Valentines Day. The food and all the cuteness that goes with it! These cookies are so yummy and colorful!
We loved all of these Valentine cookies but the m&m ones were my kids favorite!! So yummy!
These were such a hit and so festive for Valentine’s Day! I made them for my son’s preschool class and everyone loved them.
These were a hit with my kids friends over the weekend. My son wants me to make them again for his school party so thank you for making such an easy recipe!
So good!!!
I made these and have never had so many compliments over a cookie recipe. Everyone just loved them and I was pretty impressed myself
Oh I’m so happy to hear that!!
We love to make these cookies several times a year. They turn out every single time!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
Awesome!!!
I made this without the M&Ms and it turned out great! This is a very easy and delicious sugar cookie recipe. The cookies were soft and chewy. They turned out great even though I didn’t have a mixer.
Love to hear that! Thank you so much for trying them!
Question. I’m in Texas. Grandkids in Missouri. Will this recipe work well to mail? Thanks!
They should! I would make sure they have completely cooled (and possibly even freeze them before packing them up). You could probably google a few cookie mailing tips too. Hope they enjoy!
This is my all time favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. Adding the colored M&m was a festive twist.
I love these cookies for Valentine’s Day. There just so perfect and colorful.
This is such a beautiful and chewy recipe for cookies. Not only perfect for Valentine’s day but for other special occasions too! My family enjoyed the first batch that I made for them, will definitely make another batch soon. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us.
How big should I make the balls of dough
There is no wrong answer. You can make them as big or as small as you’d like. I used like a tablespoon scoop, but made them a little bigger.
So pretty! As soon as my daughter saw these she betted to make them! 🙂
I love that there are both chopped and whole M&Ms in this recipe! The texture and flavor are so much better than if they are only whole! Yum!!
Love Valentine’s Day & these are so perfect with the pink, white, & red m&m’s! Love giving them to friends for a special treat!