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Chewy Christmas Snickerdoodles with pockets of melted chocolate – these cookies are so yummmmy! Made with browned butter, holiday M&Ms, pretzels, chocolate chips, and chunks of dark chocolate. Each cookie dough ball is rolled with cinnamon sugar for that classic Snickerdoodle finish before baking to perfection. There’s nothing not to love about these sweet chocolate Christmas cookies. Each bite is slightly crisp on the edges but soft and gooey in the center, with just a little salty pretzel crunch throughout.
Let the countdown begin! Twenty-five days until Christmas – Happy December everyone! I know I’ve been saying this all week, but I’m so excited for the holiday season, I just know it will be magical!
I have so many fun new recipes to share with you all, and on a personal note, I can’t wait to enjoy the season! Watch all the holiday movies, find the perfect gifts, and bake all the cookies!!
As I prepare to share my 2023 cookie box, I’m sharing a few new recipes in advance! My Hot Chocolate Cookies went live on Tuesday, and today, we’ve got Snickerdoodles!
These are special snickerdoodles. They’re chewy like a Snickerdoodle with that classic cinnamon sugar coating. But they have similar mix-ins to my Christmas Monster Cookies – holiday M&M’s, pretzels, and both chocolate chips and chunks.
They’re Christmas time in a nice big, chewy, snickerdoodle cookie. And they just might become a new holiday favorite. I love how easy they are, with no chilling required!
Here are the details
Step 1: brown the butter
Start by browning half of your butter, it really does add so much flavor that it’s worth the extra step.
Add one stick of butter to a skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the butter begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes, but no longer.
Using one stick of browned butter and one stick of soft butter gives you the flavor of browned butter but leaves you with cookies that have great texture too.
Step 2: mix the dough
Grab the brown butter from the freezer and the stick of softened butter. Beat the two together with the brown sugar. I use dark brown sugar, but you can use whatever you have in the pantry.
Once the sugar is creamed into the butter, add the eggs. This dough requires 2 large eggs and 1 egg yolk.
Mix in the vanilla and then add all the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, and salt.
Step 3: the stir-ins,
These are the most important part. You’ll need salted pretzel twists, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and chunks of dark chocolate. And then, plenty of red and green holiday M&M’s, which really make these cookies!
Mix the stir-ins into your dough, then scoop the dough into scant 1/4 cup dough balls. A decent size but not too big.
Step 4: the cinnamon sugar
In classic Snickerdoodle form, roll each dough ball with cinnamon sugar.
I like to do a light roll, as I don’t like my cookies to be overly sweet.
Step 5: bake
Bake the cookies up until they are barely set on the edges.
To get the M&M’s to really pop, I like to add in a few just before the cookies finish baking completely. This way each cookie has a bit of the festive M&M’s right on top.
Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. The cookies will continue to bake on the warm sheet.
These cookies have chewy edges with soft and gooey centers. They’ve got a nice crunch plus a little saltiness from the pretzels – the best kind of cookies.
I’m excited to include these in the year’s Christmas cookie box. They’re perfect for packing up and gifting to friends for the holidays!
Looking for other Christmas cookies? Here are my favorites:
Easy Vanilla Bean Christmas Lights Cookies
Easy Hot Chocolate Lace Cookies
Lastly, if you make these Chewy Christmas Snickerdoodles, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Chewy Christmas Snickerdoodles
Servings: 20 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 250 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cups holiday M&M’s
- 1 cup mini pretzel sticks crushed
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate chunks
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- 1. Add 1 stick of butter to a skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the butter begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Freeze for 10-15 minutes, but no longer.2. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.3. In a bowl, beat together the remaining stick of butter, the cooled browned butter, and the brown sugar until combined. Beat in the eggs and 1 egg yolk, one at a time, until combined. Add the vanilla, beating until creamy. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. 4. Fold in 3/4 cup of the M&M's, pretzels, chocolate chips, and chocolate chunks.5. Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Roll the dough into rounded 2-3 tablespoon-size balls and then roll through the cinnamon sugar. Place 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.6. Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate the pan and push the remaining M&M's into the cookies. Bake for 2-3 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit on the baking sheet.7. Eat warm or let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
These were a disappointment. I made these exactly as recipe is written – as others have noted the texture is off, and cookies did not spread. They are overwhelmingly sweet and you don’t get any taste of cinnamon.
Hey Ashely! I am really sorry this recipe didn’t turn out for you! Thank you for the feedback! xT
The cookies tasted great but for some reason they did not spread the way they were supposed to. Any suggestions or recommendations? I followed the recipe exactly but they stayed close to a ball form. Thank you!
Hi Becca! Hmm I would maybe press the dough balls down a tiny bit if you’re wanting them to spread more! xT
I am making this recipe now and doubling it. I had two cups of butter before browning and now i have one after browning. I assume i need to add in more butter now because otherwise won’t the cookies be very dry because of the loss of moisture?
Do I add in extra softened butter? This seems like a waste of ingredients to me.
I made these and they taste great but the texture was off. How would you change the recipe to adjust for high altitude?
Hi there! Hmm did they taste too dry or too doughy? xT
I just made these and I will probably make a second batch to share with neighbors. So good and flavorful and easy. I haven’t made snickerdoodle since I was a kid and that initial cinnamon note definitely brought the nostalgia factor. YUM!
Thank you for this feedback Jordan! xT
Just made these for a cookie contest at work and they came out great! Very chocolately which I loved and the pretzel added a really nice salty touch! Will definitely be making for Christmas
Hi there! Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! So glad you enjoyed it! xT
Just ok. You only taste the chocolate and not the cinnamon at all. Definitely not snickerdoodles.
Amazing! Enjoyed by all! Thank you!
These are really yummy! Very, very sweet, so beware if that’s not your jam. I used my kid’s leftover Halloween M&M’s and didn’t have chocolate chunks (so left them out). My batch made 24 cookies
Wondering how well they’d freeze?
Hey Laura! Thank you so much! These should freeze pretty well! 🙂 xT
These are good, but they are not a snickerdoodle. There’s no cream of tartar and it does not spread and crackle like a snickerdoodle. If you’re looking for a chewy chocolate chip cookie rolled in cinnamon with M&Ms in it, then this is for you.
These turned out really dry and the did not have much flavor. May try to make again and try adding some granulated sugar along wi the the brown sugar
I’m so sorry about that! Thank you for letting me know! xT
Jenny…If you haven’t weighed the dry ingredients in baking goods, it might help w the dry issue. I began measuring most of the dry ingredients on a scale in grams after having the same problem and it has solved most of my dry issues. There’s lots of sites that provide weights online.
I made these cookies today & they came out perfect & are delicious! My family loves them.
I was out of dark chocolate chunks so I used semi-sweet chunks instead. Next time I want to try the dark chocolate.
This is definitely a 5-star recipe!
Wow thank you so so much Joy! xT
Sounds yummy! You said you made these into bars for your box. If you didn’t roll into balls, did you sprinkle the top? Please clarify size of pan, temp, and cooking time. Thanks!
Hi Joy!
I’ve learned that when making cookies into bars, the best practice is to multiply the baking time by 2.5! So in this case she baked them as cookies for 8 minutes so I would put them in for 20!
Hope this helps!
Hi I would like to know this as well! Looking for a Christmas Bar to add to my box 🙂
I made these wonderful cookies for a company Christmas party. They were a hit! Everyone loved them and they also looked so lovely on my Christmas plate. I will definitely bake these again for my family.
Thank you so so much! Sooo glad you enjoyed this recipe! Have a wonderful weekend! 🙂 xT
would not make again lol
Hey Meg! So sorry this recipe wasn’t enjoyed! Is there any feedback you have so I can improve this recipe? xT
These were very tasty! Mine were definitely rounded and had way too much of the fillings. Next time, I’ll omit maybe two of the fillings (depending on my mood) and probably bake these a bit longer. I don’t mind a gooey cookie but even baking on the longer side, they still had a batter flavor to them. Could also just be the pan I was using?
What brand of cookie sheets do you find work the best .thx Debbie