There are subtle Easter cookies and then there are these cookies. These are not subtle. These are big, bold, colorful, completely covered in pastel M&Ms and Easter sprinkles, loaded with white chocolate chips, and absolutely impossible to look at without smiling. They are the cookie equivalent of an Easter basket and they taste exactly as good as they look.
The base is a classic buttery soft and chewy cookie dough — the kind with more brown sugar than white for chewiness, cornstarch for that impossibly soft texture, and a short rest in the refrigerator that makes all the difference between a flat cookie and one with that perfect thick and chewy center.
Into that dough goes white chocolate chips for creamy sweetness, pastel Easter M&Ms for color and chocolate crunch, and Easter sprinkles baked right into every bite. The sprinkles on the outside get that slight crunch and the ones inside the cookie soften slightly and bleed the most beautiful pastel colors into the dough.
I made these for an Easter gathering last year and they were gone inside twenty minutes. People kept picking them up and photographing them before eating them because they look that good.
FYI — the secret to getting those gorgeous chunky sprinkles and M&Ms on the outside of every cookie is pressing extra mix-ins onto the top of each dough ball right before baking. It takes thirty seconds and makes the presentation look completely professional. Let me show you exactly how to make them.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They look absolutely incredible. The combination of white chocolate chips, pastel M&Ms, and colorful Easter sprinkles pressed into every cookie makes these look like they came from a specialty cookie shop. The colors alone make people stop and stare before they even take a bite.
- That soft and chewy texture is non-negotiable. Cornstarch in the dough, more brown sugar than white, an extra egg yolk, and a chill time that most people skip — these four things together give you a thick, soft, chewy cookie with perfectly crispy edges every single time.
- White chocolate chips are the perfect base. Unlike semi-sweet chocolate chips which can compete with the pastel colors and flavors, white chocolate chips melt into creamy pools of sweetness that let the M&Ms and sprinkles shine as the stars of the cookie.
- One bowl and under an hour. No complicated technique, no special equipment beyond a hand mixer, and a total time that fits into even a busy Easter morning schedule.
- Kids are obsessed with making these. The mix-in step — folding all those colorful candies and sprinkles into the dough — and the pressing-extra-toppings-on-top step are the kind of hands-on activities that make kids feel like real bakers. And the results make everyone feel like celebrating.
- Completely customizable. Swap the Easter sprinkles for Christmas sprinkles and pastel M&Ms for red and green M&Ms and you have a Christmas cookie. Change the colors for any holiday and this base recipe works year round.
Ingredients
For the Cookie Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened — room temperature only. Properly softened butter creams with the sugar to create air pockets that give you a lighter, more tender cookie. If you press your finger into it and it leaves an indent without resistance but the butter still holds its shape, it is at the right temperature. Melted butter gives you a flat greasy cookie. Cold butter does not cream properly.
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar — the higher proportion of brown sugar to white is intentional. Brown sugar contains molasses which adds moisture, chewiness, and a subtle caramel depth that makes these cookies far more interesting than a straight white sugar dough.
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar — balances the brown sugar and helps the edges crisp up slightly during baking.
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk — room temperature. The extra yolk adds richness and fat that contributes directly to that soft, fudgy center everyone loves. It is a small addition with a noticeable result.
- 2 tsp vanilla extract — pure vanilla, not imitation. It rounds out the sweetness of the white chocolate and M&Ms and adds warmth to the whole cookie.
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour — spooned into the measuring cup and leveled off. Do not scoop directly from the bag — packed flour makes dense cookies.
- 1 tsp baking soda — gives the cookies just the right amount of lift without making them cakey.
- 1 tsp cornstarch — the single most underrated ingredient in soft cookie baking. Cornstarch inhibits gluten development and keeps the texture pillowy soft for days after baking. Do not leave it out.
- 1/2 tsp salt — balances all the sweetness from the white chocolate, M&Ms, and sprinkles. Essential and not negotiable.
For the Mix-Ins
- 1 cup white chocolate chips — use good quality white chocolate chips here. Ghirardelli or Guittard are both excellent choices that melt into beautiful creamy pools rather than waxy puddles. The white chocolate is the flavor anchor of these cookies and quality matters.
- 1 cup pastel Easter M&Ms — the pastel Easter M&Ms in pink, purple, green, blue, and yellow are available at most grocery and big box stores starting several weeks before Easter. They add color, crunch, and a classic milk chocolate hit that plays beautifully against the white chocolate base. Reserve about 1/4 cup to press on top of the cookies before baking.
- 1/2 cup Easter sprinkles — use a mix of jimmies, nonpareils, and shaped sprinkles for maximum visual impact. The variety of shapes and sizes gives every cookie a completely unique look. Reserve about 3 tablespoons to press on top of the cookies before baking for that bakery-worthy presentation.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the Cookie Dough
- Beat the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture is pale, light, and fluffy. Do not rush this step — proper creaming incorporates air into the dough and is what gives you a light and chewy cookie rather than a dense flat one.
- Add the eggs and extra egg yolk one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl between each egg.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix on low until combined.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt in a separate medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until just combined — stop as soon as you no longer see streaks of flour. A few small streaks are fine. Overmixing develops gluten and makes the cookies tough.
Step 2: Fold in the Mix-Ins
- Add the white chocolate chips, pastel Easter M&Ms, and Easter sprinkles to the dough and fold gently with a rubber spatula until evenly distributed throughout. The dough will be thick and slightly sticky. Work gently to avoid crushing the M&Ms and breaking up the sprinkles too much.
- Reserve about 1/4 cup of M&Ms and 3 tablespoons of sprinkles in a small bowl to press onto the tops of the cookies before baking. This is the step that takes these cookies from homemade to bakery-level presentation and it costs you about thirty extra seconds.
Step 3: Chill the Dough
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Chilling is non-negotiable for this recipe. It firms up the butter so the cookies hold their shape and spread to the right thickness in the oven rather than going flat and thin. It also allows the flour to fully hydrate and the flavors to develop. If you can chill overnight, do it — the flavor and texture improvement is remarkable.
Step 4: Scoop and Bake
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop the chilled dough using a medium cookie scoop or two tablespoons — about 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie. Roll each portion lightly between your palms into a smooth ball and place 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. These cookies spread so give them adequate room.
- Press the reserved M&Ms and sprinkles firmly onto the top of each dough ball before baking. Be generous — press them in so they stick and are clearly visible. This is what makes every cookie look completely covered in color and completely irresistible.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are set and lightly golden but the centers still look slightly underdone and glossy. This is intentional. The cookies continue to cook on the hot baking sheet after you pull them from the oven and will be perfectly soft and chewy once they cool. Waiting until the centers look fully done in the oven means overbaked, dry cookies by the time they cool.
Step 5: Finish the Cookies
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes without moving them. They are still setting up during this time and will fall apart if moved too soon.
- While the cookies are still warm, press a few more M&Ms and sprinkles onto the tops if you want extra color and visual impact. The residual heat from the cookies will help them adhere.
- Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. The centers will be perfectly soft and chewy and the edges will have that slight crispness that makes every bite satisfying.
Serving Suggestions
These Easter Cookies are festive enough to stand completely on their own but here are some ways to serve and enjoy them:
- Pile them high on a white cake stand as a centerpiece for your Easter dessert table. The colors of the sprinkles and M&Ms against the golden cookie are visually stunning when stacked and the height makes them look like a celebration all on their own.
- Serve alongside the Cadbury Egg Cookies and Italian Easter Cookies for a full Easter cookie spread that covers every flavor and style. A dessert table with all three is something people talk about.
- Pack two or three in a cellophane bag tied with a pastel ribbon as an Easter party favor or gift. They are cheerful, generous, and feel genuinely special in a way that store-bought candy simply does not.
- Set up a cookie decorating station for kids with extra M&Ms and sprinkles to press onto the warm cookies as they come out of the oven. It keeps little hands busy and makes every child feel like they made something truly their own.
- Serve with cold milk or hot chocolate. The white chocolate and pastel M&Ms in these cookies pair beautifully with both and make for a genuinely satisfying Easter treat any time of day.
- Add them to Easter baskets alongside the candy and small gifts. A homemade cookie in an Easter basket is always the item that gets mentioned first.
Storage Tips
- Room Temperature: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Place a slice of bread in the container to maintain softness — the bread releases just enough moisture to keep the cookies from drying out. The sprinkles may bleed slightly into the cookie surface over time which actually looks quite pretty.
- Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature before eating or warm for 10 seconds in the microwave for that fresh-baked feel.
- Freezer — Baked Cookies: Cool completely then layer in a freezer-safe container with parchment paper between layers. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Note that the sprinkle colors may bleed slightly after freezing and thawing — it does not affect the flavor at all.
- Freezer — Cookie Dough Balls: This is the best freezing method for these cookies. Scoop the dough into balls and press the reserved M&Ms and sprinkles on top, then freeze on a parchment-lined baking sheet until solid. Transfer to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen at 375°F adding 2 to 3 extra minutes. Fresh Easter cookies on demand throughout the season.
- Make-Ahead Option: Make the dough up to 3 days ahead and keep covered in the refrigerator. The extended chill actually improves both flavor and texture. This is one of the easiest Easter baking projects to get completely ahead of — make the dough Wednesday, bake on Friday, serve on Sunday.
Make the Most Colorful Thing on Your Easter Table
Some recipes exist to impress. Some exist to comfort. These Easter Cookies manage to do both at the same time and look absolutely stunning while doing it. The moment you set a plate of these on the table — all those pastel M&Ms, that riot of colorful sprinkles, those pools of white chocolate visible through the golden dough — people stop what they are doing and come over to look. And then they eat one. And then they eat two more.
That is what a really good festive cookie does. It makes a moment. It makes the holiday feel like the holiday. And the fact that it takes less than an hour and uses ingredients that anyone can find at any grocery store in the weeks before Easter is just everything. IMO this is the Easter baking project worth making room for on your schedule this year.
Make a batch — or honestly a double batch — and let me know in the comments how they turned out. Tag me on Pinterest or Instagram if you make them because those sprinkle and M&M photos are some of my absolute favorites to see. Happy baking this Easter.
— Kip
Easter Cookies with White Chocolate, M&Ms and Sprinkles (The Most Festive Cookie You Will Ever Make)
Description
A buttery soft and chewy cookie dough packed with white chocolate chips, pastel Easter M&Ms, and colorful sprinkles baked into every single bite. These cookies look like a Easter celebration and taste even better than they look. One bowl, simple ingredients, and under an hour from start to finish.
Ingredients
For the Cookie Dough:
For the Mix-Ins:
Instructions
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Beat softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-high for 3 to 4 minutes until pale and fluffy.
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Add eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating well after each. Mix in vanilla.
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Whisk flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt together. Add to butter mixture and mix on low until just combined.
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Fold in white chocolate chips, pastel M&Ms, and Easter sprinkles gently with a rubber spatula. Reserve some M&Ms and sprinkles for topping.
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Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Scoop 2-tablespoon portions and roll into balls. Place 3 inches apart on prepared sheets. Press reserved M&Ms and sprinkles firmly on top of each ball.
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Bake 10 to 12 minutes until edges are set and centers look slightly underdone.
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Rest on baking sheet 5 minutes. Press extra M&Ms and sprinkles on top while warm if desired. Transfer to wire rack and cool 10 minutes before serving.
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