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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 a Snickerdoodle cookie recipe!
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 candies, 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. Using an electric mixer, beat the two together in a large bowl 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 into the cinnamon sugar mixture.
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 or making for a Christmas cookie exchange!
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.
Watch the How-To Reel
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.
This post was originally published on December 1, 2023
This recipe was a new add to our cookie day! Huge huge success! Everything turned out perfect! They are absolutely delicious and are now taking a permanent position in the cookie day lineup! Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Hey Amy,
Happy Sunday! Thanks a lot for making this recipe and your comment, so glad it turned out nicely for you!
Have a great holiday!🎄🎁
These are delish! I made them for a work event, but had trouble keeping my kids from eating them all. I followed the directions as stated and they turned out great. Thank you for creating such a wonderful treat.
Hey Katey,
Yay! Love to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you, I appreciate you making it! Happy Holidays!
Must be way too much flour because these were SO dry and ended up like balls. I normally love HBH recipes, so this is an anomaly!
Hi Brianna,
So very sorry to hear this! How much flour did you use? Let me know how I can help!
unfortunately mine also stayed in a ball. I am not sure what happened here. The only thing I did not have was salted butter and used unsalted instead.
Hi Rosalba,
So sorry to hear you had some issues with these cookies! Next time, you can try tapping your baking sheet on the counter for a flatter cookie. I hope this helps! xx
Big hit for my cookie exchange! Lots of steps but worth it for a special cookie.
Thanks so much, Nicole!!
These babies are DELICIOUS! Our family is normally a less sweet cookie crew, but I wanted to try something outside the box for Christmastime. My husband just downed one and declared, these cookies are GOOD. Another hit! Thank you!
Hey Delia,
Happy Holidays!🎄🎁☃️ Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I’m so glad to hear it turned out well! XxT
Can you make these a day or two early before baking and store dough balls in the fridge? Or should store in freezer?
Hey Ashley,
Totally, that will work nicely for you! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions!
Happy Holidays!
This is a miss for me. Followed the recipe exactly and 1- why do you call for such a huge amount of the add ins only to use 3/4 a cup? Definitely reduce all that stuff. 2- mine did not spread out. They stayed in balls. 3- they were dry.
Hi Kristen,
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this recipe. You are just adding 3/4 cup of M&M’s in step 4, plus everything else. The remaining M&M’s are added in step 6. Did you chill your dough at all? For a flatter cookie just tap your baking sheet on the counter. I’m not sure why they were dry. Again, so sorry! xx
These are my new favorite Christmas cookies! The recipe was easy to follow, and they turned out perfectly! I love the combination of snickerdoodle with chocolate! Gives you everything you want in a cookie!
Hi Denise,
Fantastic!! I’m so glad to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks a bunch for making it! Have the best week!🎄☃️ xT
8 min + 3min was not nearly enough time I had to put mine back in after waiting for them to cool to try
Hey Felicia,
Thanks for trying this recipe and your feedback. So sorry to hear you had to bake longer. I hope they tasted okay! xx