Healthy High-Protein M&M Christmas Cookies (2024)

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Feeling festive? Then it’s time to whip up these M&M Christmas Cookies.

But these are not your average Christmas cookies, these cookies are packed with 8g of protein each!

M&M cookies are essentially a classic chocolate chip cookie, but the chocolate chips are swapped out for M&M’s (or added in addition to chocolate chips), making them even more delicious.

This recipe reminds me of Keebler “Chips Deluxe” cookies, which were one of my absolute favorite snacks growing up.

What’s red & green and delicious all over? This Christmas cookie recipe.

How to make High-Protein M&M Christmas Cookies

This Christmas cookie recipe is an adaptation of my6oz Chocolate Chip Protein Cookie, which is one of the most popular recipes here on my blog.

Instead of one giant cookie, we’re going to be making 4 smaller cookies instead, but each M&M cookie is still quite impressive in size. In terms of serving size, these cookies are equal to roughly 2 Chips Ahoy cookies, and yet each cookie contains only 130 calories.

Mix up the cookie dough, adding half of the M&M’s directly into the cookie dough.

I’ve found that the colors from the M&M’s run off slightly into the dough, so you can leave them out of this step if preferred.

Chill the cookie dough for one hour to allow it to firm up, then form the cookie dough into 4 roughly equal-sized pieces.

Troubleshooting these high-protein cookies

As much as I would love for every recipe to turn out perfectly, I know that is not always the case. If you make this recipe and it doesn’t turn out, there are a few likely scenarios:

The wrong type of protein powder. The protein powder I use is a blend of whey & casein protein powder. Most people opt for 100% whey protein because it’s the most common type out there, but the addition of casein protein makes a huge difference for these cookies. We want the cookies to be thick, yet not at all cakey. Whey protein tends to lead to flatter, crispier cookies. Check out my Ultimate Protein Powder Substitution Guide for a deeper breakdown.
Not chilling the dough. Sometimes we get impatient and want to skip a step, so not waiting for the dough to chill and just jumping right into baking the cookies makes sense. However, chilling the dough is extremely important for protein cookies. Without allowing the dough to firm up in the fridge, it’s likely that these cookies will spread too thin and/or become too cakey.
Substituting flour. I’ve experimented with many different types of flour, and I’ve found the combination of oat flour & almond flour to create the most authentic cookie taste (outside of regular All-Purpose flour, of course). If you decide to substitute different types of flavor, it’s likely that your cookies will turn out quite differently.

Protein M&M Christmas Cookies

Yield: 4 Large Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 7 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 47 minutes

Get in the Christmas spirit with these large M&M Christmas Cookies that are packed with protein! These cookies are so soft and decadent that you'd never know they were healthy.

Ingredients

31g Vanilla Whey/Casein Blend Protein (Code "Matt" will save 15% off PEScience)
28g Oat Flour
10g Almond Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
30g Brown Sugar Substitute (or regular brown sugar)
28g (2 Tbsp) Light Butter- I use Country Crock Original Spread
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
20g (1 Tbsp) Canned Pumpkin
Pinch of Salt
14g M&M's (Can certainly use more, I'm sure nobody would complain!)

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix together the butter, canned pumpkin, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Add all of the dry ingredients except for the protein powder and mix it all together until you have a thick paste.
Add your protein powder and mix until you have a thick cookie dough (note that if you substitute a different type of protein powder, this may not turn out as good- see notes below).
Fold in half of the M&M's, leaving more to add later, and refrigerate the dough for one hour.
After one hour, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Break your cookie dough up into 4 pieces and roll each into a ball. Take your additional M&M's and press them into the tops of your cookies (if you're feeling ambitious, you can roll your cookies in M&M's for maximum deliciousness).
Add to a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and bake for 7 minutes.
The cookies will seem cakey and undercooked when you remove them from the oven, but allow them to cool for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, the cookies will have set and be ready to eat.

Notes

If your cookies end up underbaked, remember that this recipe is completely safe to eat raw, so it will not be harmful.
If you do not have canned pumpkin, or do not want to use any, it can be omitted. I love using pumpkin in cookie recipes because it keeps cookies nice and soft inside, but it isn't crucial if it must be omitted.
If you only have whey protein and not a whey/casein blend, the batter is going to be very sticky and liquidy. The same cook time should still work with whey protein, but the dough will likely be quite sticky. To see how different types of protein powder affect cookie recipes, check out my Ultimate Protein Powder Substitution Guide.
Good vanilla extract is key as well. I’ve always used imitation vanilla to save money, but have recently started spending a few extra dollars for a pure vanilla extract, and I can tell you that you can really taste a difference.
Final note: I don’t count sugar substitutes in the carb total since they do not contribute to the overall calories. If you are super strict about carbs, make sure you take the sugar substitute into account.