Rich and chocolatey Valentine Cookies with pink, red, and white M&Mโs and chocolate chips. These small fudgey cookies make the perfect festive treat!
authorโs note
These Cookies Are Basically a Valentine Card You Can Eat!
Iโve been making these chocolate crinkle cookies for years, and theyโre truly the best. With Valentineโs Day right around the corner, I wanted to make the holiday extra fun for my kids, so I decided to whip up a batch.
Then I had an idea: what if I skipped the powdered sugar coating and pressed some Valentineโs-themed M&Mโs inside and on top instead? The result? The same delicious, fudgy cookies that I, and my readers, love, now with a fun Valentineโs twist.
These are truly the best cookies and the perfect way to show someone just how much you love them.
Letโs Talk Cocoa Powder
Cocoa powder is key in these chocolate cookies.
Use Dutch-process cocoa powder, not regular cocoa powder, as it adds more moisture and flavor. Regular cocoa powder can make the cookies dry and bland. Hereโs the exact cocoa powder I use, plus a quick guide to the differences between cocoa powders.
How To Make Valentine Cookies
- Preheat: Make sure your oven is fully preheated for even baking.
- Mix the dry ingredients: Use Dutch-process cocoa powder for richer flavor.
- Cream butter and sugar: Room-temp butter mixes better and gives cookies a softer texture. Add eggs and vanilla.
- Combine wet and dry: Avoid overmixing to keep the cookies soft and fudgy.
- Chill: Chilling the dough helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much.
- Dough balls: Roll dough into balls and bake for 10-12 mins.
Baking Tips For Valentine Cookies
- Once the dough has chilled, scoop out dough balls using a 1-tbsp measure to keep them even in size. This helps them bake evenly.
- If the dough warms up, chill the balls on the pan for 10 mins before baking to prevent spreading.
- Press a few chocolate chips or M&Mโs on top. This adds a fun touch and makes sure each bite has chocolate!
Quick Tip
The best way to get fudgy cookies? Under-bake them. 7-8 mins is perfect. Once the top isnโt glossy, remove them and let them firm up on the sheet pan.
Storage
Valentine Cookies last about 3-4 days in an airtight container at room temp.
For longer storage, freeze the dough balls and bake them straight from frozen, adding a few extra mins to the bake time.
More Valentineโs Fun:
Desserts
Chilis Lava Cake
Quick And Easy
Valentine Snack Mix
Desserts
Best Crรจme Brรปlรฉe Recipe
Desserts
Chocolate Covered Raspberries
Valentine Cookies
Equipment
- Large sheet pan (15" x 21")
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream full-fat, at room temperature
- 1 small drop almond extract optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder see note 1
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips see note 2
- 1/2 cup Valentineโs Day M&Mโs plus some extra for topping the cookies
Instructionsย
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy (the mixture should resemble peanut butter). Beat in egg, sour cream, almond extract, and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add in chocolate chips and Valentineโs M&Mโs. Stir to combine.
- Combine wet and dry and mix until just combined, being careful to not overmix. Cover the dough and chill for at least 30 minutes and preferably 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Use a tablespoon measuring spoon to measure exact cookie dough balls (each ball should be 1 tablespoon of dough; you should get around 45 cookies). Place on the prepared sheet pan, no more than 9 cookies per pan. Place the pan of cookies in the fridge for another 10 minutes.
- Bake for 7โ10 minutes or until set (just until the top is no longer glossy; this is around 8 minutes for me). Be careful to not overbake. A soft, very slightly underbaked cookie is the best for a delicious fudgy texture! Once the cookies come out of the oven, let them stand on cookie sheet for 5โ7 minutes. If desired, press a few additional M&Mโs and/or chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies (makes them pretty). Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These were so delicious!
So glad you enjoyed! Thanks Taylor! ๐
These are the bomb! My grandson loved them.Iโm making a batch for work too(if they make it that far!) Love all your recipes!
So happy to hear that!! Thanks so much Karen ๐ <3
I am a 71 year old lady and I LOVE PINK. Everyone I am around long knows it too. HA!! Canโt halt. The color just makes me feel good.
My husband would love these chocolate cookies.
Haha! ๐ Itโs just a good color ๐ Thanks so much Charlotte! <3
I love the color anything close to red, itโs just a cheery color (like you said) You are in my prayers! ๐