Air fryer M&M cookies are sure to be a family favorite! These cookies are crispy outside with a soft center and are just loaded with brightly colored M&Ms candy.
When you bake cookies in air fryer you can have delicious, warm, homemade cookies fast! This recipe makes a small batch of 16 air fryer cookies which is perfect for an easy dessert. These tasty cookies are hard to resist eating, especially when they are warm, fresh and full of melted chocolate candy.
Why You Will Love Air Fryer M&M Cookies
- These cookies are simple to make.
- There are no fancy or hard to find ingredients needed.
- This is a small batch recipe, perfect for a family dessert.
- Using the air fryer to bake cookies means you won’t heat up your kitchen.
- They are delicious and very pretty too. 🙂
Looking for more dessert ideas using M&Ms candy? Check out my recipes for White Chocolate Popcorn with M&Ms or Gingerbread Cookie Bars!
Key Ingredients
This air fryer cookie recipe includes all the standard ingredients you’d expect to find in homemade cookies, plus M&Ms candy.
- Butter – Either salted or unsalted butter works fine. The butter should be a little bit softened, so take it out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before starting..
- Brown sugar – Using brown sugar only makes the cookies chewier.
- Egg
- Vanilla
- Flour – use white flour
- Baking soda – This makes the cookies rise and gives them their texture.
- Salt
- M&M’s – I used mini M&Ms for these pictures, but I have also made the recipe with regular sized candy and the recipe works fine. I prefer to use the mini M&Ms because then there is candy in every bite and the air fryer M&M cookies are more colorful!
How to Bake Cookies in the Air Fryer
1. Make the Cookie Batter
Start by combining the butter and brown sugar together in a bowl. Beat them together with a mixer until they are combined, which will take a minute or two.
Then add the egg and vanilla and mix until everything is smooth and creamy.
In another bowl mix the flour with the baking soda and salt and add it to the mixer bowl. If you are using a hand mixer don’t add all of the flour mixture at once or it will end up making a mess.
Continue to add and mix the flour in until it is just combined. Don’t overmix or the dough will become too sticky.
Then add the M&M’s to the batter and quickly mix then in, again being careful not to mix them too much.
2. Form the Cookies
Set the air fryer to preheat at 350 degrees F for about 3 minutes while you scoop out the batter. Use a cookie scoop or two spoons to make tablespoon sized cookie balls, which are about an 3/4 of an inch to an inch in diameter. Using a cookie scoop makes it simple to make uniformly sized cookie balls!
Tip: The dough will be a little sticky. You can refrigerate it for 30 minutes before making the cookie balls, which will make it easier to make them perfectly round. But I am impatient and not a perfectionist, so I never bother and my cookies are round enough.
3. Air Fry the Cookies
Once the air fryer is preheated take the basket out and put in a piece of parchment paper. You can buy parchment paper which is precut to fit your air fryer and has holes in it, which is very convenient.
The holes in the parchment paper let the air circulate easily. You can also just cut a pieces of parchment paper to fit your air fryer basket, but add a few holes if you are doing this.
Tip: Don’t put the parchment paper in the basket until after preheating or it will fly up and stick to the heating element and then you will have to clean your air fryer instead of baking cookies.
Put the dough balls into the air fryer, spacing them apart on the parchment paper. Gently press down on each ball to flatten the cookies.
The cookie dough will not spread as much as it will in the oven, so you need to flatten the them slightly. I find 8 or 9 cookies fit well in my 5.8 quart Cosori air fryer.
Air fry the M&M cookies at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes. At this point the tops will be starting to brown and they should be cooked through.
Keep the air fryer basket closed and let them stay inside for another 1-2 minutes. Then take them out and put them on a wire rack to cool.
In my air fryer this recipes makes 2 batches of cookies. If you have a smaller air fryer you might need to make more batches.
How to Serve
These M&M cookies are excellent warm or cold and of course should be served with a big glass of milk!
How to Store
You can store leftover M&M cookie in an air tight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. At my house these are gone in 24 hours though!
You can also store the dough, uncooked in the refrigerator. It will keep fine in a bowl, which you can scoop out and cook as desired for about 5 days. Or you can roll it into balls and store the balls in the refrigerator, uncooked, for 5 days.
Variations and Tips
- Other types of M&M’s will work with this recipe. The mini M&M’s are milk chocolate, but you could use dark chocolate or peppermint or candy corn M&M’s and make these for Christmas or Halloween. Peanut M&M’s are probably too big, but almost anything else should work.
- These would also be excellent with half chocolate chips and half M&M’s for a more chocolate chip cookie flavor.
- Don’t make the cookies too large or they won’t be cooked in the center. If you want giant sized M&M cookies you need a different recipe.
FAQ
If the dough is too sticky to make into balls it probably means the butter was too soft or the dough was overmixed. It is easy to fix this by refrigerating the dough for 30 minutes. Then bake it as directed.
Yes, you can freeze the cookie dough in balls and cook them from frozen. Cook frozen dough at 350 degrees F for 7 minutes total.
Just make sure you flatten the dough balls and freeze them flat on tray overnight. Then put them in a freezer bag and baked them whenever you like.
Find More Air Fryer Desserts
Air Fryer M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup Mini M&Ms
Instructions
- Combine the butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Mix until combined with a mixer.1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy.1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt and stir. Add to the batter and mix until just combined. If you are using a hand mixer don’t add the flour all at once or it will make a mess. Add it in 2-3 additions.1 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Fold in the mini M&Ms.1/2 cup Mini M&Ms
- Set the air fryer to preheat at 350 degrees F for 3 minutes.
- Form the dough into balls using a cookie scoop or two spoons.
- Once the air fryer is preheated put parchment paper in the basket. Then add the dough balls, keeping them spaced a bit apart.
- Press down lightly on the cookie dough balls to flatten them before air frying.
- Air fry at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes. Leave the air fryer closed for another 1-2 minutes, then remove the cookies and make another batch.
Notes
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Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
