Christmas Chocolate Chip Cookies
A brown sugar cookie dough is packed with holiday red and green M&Ms, milk and semisweet chocolate chips, festive sprinkles, and stuffed with Nutella. It is THE cookie to make for the holidays.
I have been making this cookie for decades now and it is perfect in so many ways. To start, it is packed full of chocolate and Christmas cheer. It is a tall, soft, and chewy style of cookie that stays fresh and soft for days! They are easy to make and take less than 10 minutes to whip up the dough. It’s also a wonderful cookie if you have helping little hands in your house. My kids love to add the chocolate chips and M&M candies at the end. They also sneak little bites of dough when I’m not looking.
I like to make these cookies in bulk at the start of December. I’m talking about 8 dozen or so of these little one-ounce tasty morsels, portioned out, and chilling in my freezer ready to be baked up fresh every week to gift to anyone and everyone I know. It has become a tradition to make enough extra dough for any of my friends who have kids so they can bake them up with their kiddos on Christmas Eve to leave cookies out for Santa. My niece and nephew are big fans, although they are older and most of the Christmas magic has faded, now they can enjoy a batch of cookies without worrying about sharing.
My father was notorious for sneaking cookie dough when I was younger, the torch he has confidently passed on to my husband who now sneaks bites of cookie dough for a late-night holiday snack. I can’t imagine going a year without making them and if I ever do stop making them there better be a darn good reason why. I even made them when I had emergency surgery Christmas Eve in 2014. That’s how dedicated I have been to these cookies making an appearance every year.
This year I decided to not only make dozens of one ounce bite sized cookies, I also decided to stuff them with Nutella which is something I would do for my holiday menu when my home bakery was open. The Nutella is nostalgic to me for a time that I was hustling to sell as many cookies as I could during the hectic holiday months. Boy were they hectic! If you know or purchase from a local baker this season, be sure to give them a big fat tip and a warm thank you as they are working hard to create beautiful works of art for others to enjoy.
I will be sharing a dozen or so of these beautiful little cookies with family and friends this weekend, my hope is that this recipe will inspire you to also bake up a few batches to share and spread some holiday cheer as well!
Why I Love This Recipe
Flavor-This is a brown sugar cookie dough base that I have added a vanilla pudding packet too. This gives the cookie a great vanilla flavor which is enhanced by adding a touch more vanilla, via vanilla extract in the dough. There are 3 types of chocolate in this cookie, semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, and M&Ms which are a candy-coated milk chocolate. All this chocolate leads to a cookie that is filled with different chocolate in every bite which is what every chocolate chip cookie lover wants, equal parts chocolate and cookie dough. The Nutella filling also adds another layer of creamy chocolate in the center and creates a chocolate chip cookie that is very lush and holiday worthy.
Texture-The cookie itself is a soft baked style cookie. It has crisp edges when it is first baked but the cookie does soften with time from the addition of the vanilla pudding packet to the dough. The vanilla pudding has a cornstarch which helps to create a cookie that stays soft and moist without losing any flavor. The M&Ms and sprinkles create a crunchy texture within the cookie and the Nutella center create a creamy center that is wonderfully indulgent.
Made to Share-With the holiday sprinkles and the festive M&Ms there is no way you can’t share these! They are the perfect size, as one-ounce cookie bites, to add to any holiday cookie boxes you are making. They are also a hit for cookie exchanges.
Easy Recipe-This recipe is snap your fingers easy. It takes minutes to prepare, there is no chill time for the dough, and you can bake so many at a time. Even if you choose to stuff the cookies with Nutella, it only adds about 5 minutes to your prep time. The best thing about this recipe for me is that I can make the cookie dough far in advance, portion them, freeze them in a sealed plastic bag, then take out and bake from frozen to have Christmas cookies ready in less than 20 minutes. It’s that easy. These are my favorite cookies to make for the holidays, hands down.
Ingredients You Need
-Butter- unsalted room temperature butter.
-Brown & Granulated Sugar
-Eggs
-Vanilla pudding mix- I use instant pudding in a 3.04-ounce box. This will give the cookie a soft texture and extra vanilla flavor.
-Vanilla Extract
-Salt-for flavor.
-Baking Soda & Baking Powder- this will help the rise and spread of the cookie when baking.
-Flour
-Milk Chocolate Chips
-Semisweet Chocolate Chips
-M&Ms- I used the holiday red and green minis. I like baking with mini M&Ms because I think they disperse better in the dough. Plus, I make smaller cookies with this recipe and I like how the minis bake in a smaller one-ounce cookie.
-Sprinkles-I used red and green sprinkles I found in the dollar section at Target. Any color of sprinkle will do however, I’ve used rainbow sprinkles before and loved the look of it as well.
-OPTIONAL-if you don’t want a chocolate heavy cookie you can replace a cup of the chocolate chips with a cup of chopped roasted walnuts. I usually make my mom a batch with less chocolate chips since she isn’t a fan of too much chocolate. She loves that the walnuts pair well still with the chocolate chips in the cookie and make them taste less sweet as well.
Let’s Cookie
To preface, these cookies can be made into smaller one-ounce portions or larger 2-ounce portions that are stuffed with Nutella. I will explain how to achieve each style in the paragraphs below. Whether you keep them small and simple or, bigger and stuffed, these cookies can be made, portioned, and frozen to bake later. This will save you time and sanity during the fast-approaching holiday and I highly recommend preparing your cookie dough in advance to take one less thing off your plate. Bake from frozen at the suggested temperatures with 2-3 minutes added to make up for the dough being frozen.
I place the butter and both types of sugars into the bowl of my stand mixer with a paddle attachment. A handheld mixer would work just as well here too. I cream the butter and sugars on medium high speed for 4 minutes or until the mixture is pale, fluffy, and creamy.
I scrape down the sides of the bowl then add in the eggs one at a time. I make sure the egg is completely mixed in before adding the next one. I add in the vanilla and scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to make sure everything is evenly mixed.
I add the dry ingredients, flour, pudding mix, baking soda and powder, and salt and mix on low speed. I let it mix just until the dough comes together. The dough will look quite thick and smell of vanilla.
Next, I add in the milk chocolate chips, semisweet chocolate chips, sprinkles, and M&Ms then mix just until incorporated. I take the paddle attachment out and give the dough a few turns to make sure the mix-ins are evenly distributed in the dough.
Option 1: Mini Cookies (unstuffed)
Using a 3/4-ounce cookie scoop or a tablespoon, portion out 12 pieces of dough per parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake at 350*F for 8-9 minutes or until the dough is golden on the edges and top. I use a lower heat to bake the smaller cookies to ensure the bottoms don’t burn.
Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. They are so cute and delicious, and everybody will love them!
Option 2: Nutella Stuffed
I use a 2-ounce cookie scoop, I have also used a 3-ounce scoop if you want extra large stuffed cookies, take a portion of cookie dough in the scoop.
I make a well in the center either using my thumb or a small spoon, then place a half teaspoon of Nutella inside the well. I pinch the top of the dough closed over the Nutella which will seal it in. I release the scoop of cookie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet.
I place 4-6 rounds of cookie dough per baking sheet at 375*F for 10-12 minutes. The cookies are done when they are golden brown on the tops and sides.
I let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
The best Christmas chocolate chip cookies to make this holiday season. Enjoy!
If you try this recipe and love it as much as I do, please tag, follow, and like @sunshinetxcookies on Instagram and Facebook. New posts every Thursday so be sure to follow me for more delicious cookie recipes. Happy Baking!
Christmas Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 pckg vanilla instant pudding 3.40 ounce box
- 1 tspn vanilla extract
- ½ tspn baking soda
- ½ tspn baking powder
- ½ tspn salt
- 2½ cups flour
- 1 cup M&Ms I used holiday minis that were red and green.
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips I used Guittard chocolate chips
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips I used Guittard chocolate chips
- ½ cup sprinkles I used red and green small sprinkles.
- ½ cup Nutella Optional if you want stuffed cookies.
Instructions
- In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until pale and creamy, around 3-5 minutes. I used my stand mixer with the paddle attachment, a hand mixer works great too.
- Add in eggs one at a time making sure they are fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then add in vanilla extract and mix for another 30 seconds.
- Add the dry pudding mix, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour and mix on low until the mixture just comes together in a dough. Do not overmix.
- Next, add in the chocolate chips, sprinkles, and M&Ms and mix on low until they are mixed in. Take a spatula to turn the dough a few times to make sure they are mixed evenly in the dough.
Unstuffed Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350*F.
- Using a ¾ ounce cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop out 12 rounds of dough per parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes or until edges and top are golden brown.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool and enjoy!
Nutella Stuffed Cookies
- Preheat oven to 375*F.
- Using a 2 ounce cookie scoop, scoop out a portion of cookie dough.
- Make a well in the center of the dough while it is still in the scoop.
- Fill the well with a ½ teaspoon of Nutella.
- Pinch the dough closed over the Nutella, release onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
- Bake 6-8 cookies per baking sheet at 375*F for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown on the edges and sides.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
