Christmas Cookies

These Christmas cookies are bursting with chocolate, m&m’s, and stuffed with frosting for a festive dessert that’s fun to make. Make them in advance for bake sales, holiday parties, Christmas dinners, and everything in between!

I love M&M cookies, and you can never go wrong with a big dollop of homemade buttercream frosting, especially during the holiday season. Loaded with M&Ms and sprinkles, these sandwich cookies are everything you could ever want in a dessert and then some!

Why You’ll Love These Christmas Cookies

• Perfect for the chocolate lovers in your life and great for gifting.
• Super cute and festive.
• Irresistibly soft and decadent.
• Easy to make and decorate or customize.

Ingredient Notes

• Flour – Forms the base of the cookie dough. I haven’t tested it, but a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour alternative should work if needed. 
• Cornstarch – Creates a tender texture. 
• Baking Soda – Crucial to helping the cookies rise and become extra fluffy.  
• Salt – Fine sea salt enhances the flavors of the rest of the ingredients.
• Butter – Unsalted butter, softened at room temperature, makes for the most decadent sandwich cookies. 
• Sugar – Granulated sugar and light brown sugar combine to form soft, chewy cookies, and powdered sugar is mixed into the frosting filling. 
• Eggs – Adds structure to the cookies giving them shape.
• Vanilla Extract – Takes your M&M sandwich cookies to the next level. 
• Holiday M&Ms – Adds a fun and festive touch perfect for the holiday season. 
• Mini Chocolate Chips – Boosts the chocolate flavor, making these cookies even better. 
• Holiday Sprinkles – You’ll need festive sprinkles for topping. 
• Milk – Whole milk is best for an extra-rich filling. 
• Food Coloring – Green and red food coloring form different layers of colored filling for Instagram-worthy cookies.

How to Make The Cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line sheet trays with parchment paper, and set them aside.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Then, set the bowl aside.
3. In the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the granulated and brown sugar for 3 minutes or until it’s light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time until they’re fully mixed, and stir in the vanilla.
5. Add the flour mixture to the bowl, and slowly stir it in until combined. Scrape down the sides as needed.
6. Add the M&Ms and chocolate chips to the mixture, and stir to combine. Add the sprinkles, and stir again.
7. Take 2 tablespoons of the dough at a time, and roll it into a ball. Form the dough so that the balls are a little bit taller than they are wide, in a spherical shape to avoid too much spreading as they bake. Continue with all the dough.
8. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden brown along the edge and the tops appear dry. Do not overbake! 
9. When your cookies come out of the oven, press more M&M’s, chocolate chips, and sprinkles into the dough for a pretty presentation. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the sheet tray. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. While the cookies are baking, make the filling.

How To Make The Frosting

1. Cream the butter in the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth. 
2. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time until it is fully mixed in. Add the salt, vanilla, and milk. Stir to combine. Then, place the mixer on medium-high speed for 3 minutes or until the mixture is fluffy.
3. Divide the frosting evenly between 3 bowls. Add red food coloring to one bowl and green food coloring to another bowl. Stir each bowl to combine until you reach your desired color of frosting. Leave the last bowl as is.
4. Place the frosting in three piping bags or into three plastic bags, and snip off the end. Pipe a dollop of each color onto the bottom of half of the cookies. Place another cookie on top, and gently press down to form a sandwich. Serve immediately, and enjoy!

Can I Change the Filling? 

Sure! Feel free to use any other filing you prefer. Some ideas include chocolate buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting, and ice cream.

Top Tips

• Shaping the cookie dough in mounds that are taller than they are wide will create less spreading during the baking process. 
• To avoid creating a mess, you can press the additional toppings onto just half of the cookies, and leave the bottoms of the cookie sandwiches as is. Just be sure to press the toppings into the dough well. Otherwise, they may fall off! 
• You do not need to keep these sandwich cookies holiday themed! Feel free to use any color combination you like! Or, just leave the filling white. 
• Make sure you do not overbake the cookies. You want them to be on the softer side so they are easy to sandwich and eat with the filling. 
• You can use this sandwich cookie recipe as a base to make other cookie sandwiches, too!

Storage

Once baked and cooled, these sandwich cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week. Or, they can be frozen for up to 3 months as well. However, they’re best when eaten at room temperature. So, be sure to let them thaw completely, and leave them on the counter to come to room temperature before serving. 

More Recipes You Might Enjoy

• Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
• Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
• Sugar Cookies with Icing
• Cream Cheese Nutella Cookies

Tried these Christmas cookies? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. And consider following me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!