My granddaddy used to work for M&M Mars, so M&M cookies were a big tradition at our house growing up. It is one of those traditions that I want to continue with my own family. My family’s recipe is amazing, but I wanted one that had less butter and would translate better as a gluten-free cookie. I searched the net and came across this recipe at Recipetips.com. I was intrigued by the sour cream because sour cream does great things in gluten-free baking! I liked that this recipe had less butter than my family’s traditional recipe and that this recipe happened to be egg-free. My friend, Lesley, is allergic to eggs, so this recipe is one we can enjoy together! I loved the results. You can take this cookie to an office party and no one would know that it was gluten-free. In fact, as I was sitting on the floor with my toddler feeding him one of these M&M cookies (or “Mims” cookies in toddler-speak), my mind started wandering and I forgot I was eating a gluten-free cookie. I almost spit it out! I laughed at my own silliness.
SOUR CREAM M&M COOKIES
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup salted butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1.5 teaspoons vanilla
1 3/4 cup Pamela’s Baking Mix (or other gluten-free flour combination with leavening)
1 cup M&Ms
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix butter, sour cream, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and oil in a medium-sized bowl. Once the mixture is fluffy, add the baking mix a little at a time until combined. Stir in the M&Ms. Drop on greased cookie sheets in teaspoonfuls. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until slightly browned.
Makes about 2.5 dozen cookies
Update: These cookies were made for a friend with an egg-allergy; you will need to add an egg and/or xanthan gum if you are not using Pamela’s or a gluten-free flour mix with leavening and xanthan gum.
As with all gluten-free cookie recipes, make sure you refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight) before baking your cookies.
Note: M&Ms are gluten-free in the U.S. at the time of this post (not the crispy ones) but not in other parts of the world. Always check with the manufacturer about whether an item is gluten-free.
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Posted on April 19th, 2007 by Natalie
Filed under: Baked Goods, Celiac, Cookies, Egg-free, Gluten Free, Holidays
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Oh my…I know what my baking project is going to be this weekend! They look amazing. What kind of levening do you think is necessary? Baking powder or soda? I don’t have a premade mix, so I’d have to add levening. Hmmmm…OH I CANNOT WAIT. Also will be trying the Monkey bars this weekend…It’s going to be fattening here!
I have not tried this recipe without Pamela’s yet, but here is my advice.
If you are going to use the cookie dough right away, use baking soda. It will react with the acidity in the sour cream. I would try using 25% more of the baking soda than in the original recipe, but not too much more because you dont want the cookies to have a bitter taste. If you are planning on freezing or refrigerating the dough, use baking powder instead. And if you use xanthan gum for cookies, I would use about 1/4 teaspoon. Hope that helps. Let me know how it turns out. I will be trying a flour mix next!
Thanks, I cannot wait to try this. My daughter cannot have wheat, corn, or egg and I haven’t tried cookies yet. I think this one is manageable, I will sub something for the m & M’s because I think they have corn syrup, will have to check to make sure. Thanks again. I can’t wait to try this. MY friend who is egg free because of her religion says that she subs cream cheese for eggs in baking, I haven’t tried it yet, but I thought it might be worth a mention.
Thanks for the tip! I will keep that in mind!
I just made this with my 9-year old son for Cub Scout project. This is the first gluten-free thing I have ever made or eaten! I used a gluten-free flour and had to add my own leavening…which I used a half tsp. of both soda and powder! They have turned out fine…though a bit soft. When we tasted the batter (a fine tradition!) my daughter thought they tasted like vegetables…so I was a tidge worried. However…once baked…oooooh, they are very yummy. The same child who didn’t care for the batter, has happily carried off cookies, one in each hand! Thanks Natalie!!!
Which gluten-free flour(s) did you use?
These look wonderful, and I actually have all the ingredients in my cupboard. I will definately be making these.
I used Bob’s Red Mill GF All purpose baking flour. It’s what they had in my local grocery store organic/health food section! I think if I am to have available Pamela’s baking mix, I’ll have to order it online! These really were a big hit…my kiddos even took them out to the neighbors to share…and the whole plate is gone already!
Meg- I’m glad they liked the cookies! Bob’s Red Mill is not my favorite for cookies because it has bean flour in it. It is fun experimenting with all the different flour combinations.
Natalie, I just saw a comment you made at the Learning Umbrella about homeschooling your children. I too keep a blog about homeschooling my preschool daughter. I hope you might take a peek.
Your cookies sound yummy but not so good for us. We have a low gluten diet but our biggest challenge is dairy. My dd3 is serverly lactose intolerant. We have always been dairy free but couldn’t figure out her problem until we realized all the hidden dairy we occassionaly consumed. Anyway, I’m looking for a dairy free birthday cake recipe.
Nina-
I will definitely come take a peek! I will keep an eye out for a good casein free cake recipe. Have you tried searching recipezaar?
Dear Meg, I, too, tried one of Natalie’s recipes substituting the Bob Red Mill’s but was terribly disappointed. It is amazing how much she has experimented with GF mixes and combinations only to have resolved the sweet/salty variety of of baking.
As her mom with the picky tastebud gene, I am duely impressed!
Natalie,
Do you think this recipe would work subbing chocolate chips for the M&M’s?
Thanks,
~M
M-
I haven’t tried it, but I am sure that would work great!
Thanks, Natalie! You know what I just though of?! This dough can be eaten “raw” as it has no eggs! I might save a cookie’s worth and crumble it on top of vanilla ice cream to make cookie dough ice cream! MMM!
That would be wonderful! Let me know how it turns out! I couldn’t help eating the dough for the same reason.
Natalie - I wanted to leave a comment about this FANTASTIC recipe. They turned out wonderfully and are very tastey! They were a hit at a recent family gathering! You are exactly right! No one would ever know they are gluten and egg free. Mmmm mmmm!
Hi Natalie, I’ve just come across your blog, it’s awesome. I’ve been looking for cookie recipies but I’m going to have to give choc chips a go because m&ms aren’t gluten-free in Australia! How annoying that the same product uses different ingredients in different countries
Your granola recipe also looks especially yummy, can’t wait to get into the kitchen! Blessings, Karyn
Karyn- Thanks for the note about the M&Ms, I have updated the post to reflect that in case others from Australia came across it.
i live in a very small omunity and i am the only celiac most of my friends have ever met or heard of so last night i went to a pampered chef party and i took these cookies and my ds and neihbors dd claimed best cookies they ever had
i used bobs red mill pancake mix which i added 1/2 cup dry milk and 1/2 cup almond meal and half a box of pectin to the whloe package then measured out what i needed for the recipe the cookies were crunchy but chewy and thin and light so good thank you for this wonderful recipe
I made these exactly the way the recipe called for, and they turned out very, very flat and stuck to the greased cookie sheet. Is there anything you can suggest?? I used Pamela’s baking mix for pancakes etc. and used real salted butter. Anything you can suggest, I like a softer fluffier cookie, more like a cake like cookie.
Sharon- Hmmm… Did you refrigerate the dough before baking? Gluten free cookies are notorious for that. This one will definitely spread if it is not cold enough. This recipe gives a chewy cookie. Go to the recipes section and my apple quinoa cookies fit the bill for a softer cookie….pretty much any of my other recipes will give you a softer cookie. You will have better luck with the other recipes, I promise!
Thanks Natalie, I didn’t know about the refrigeration, I will try that next time.
Leaving the dough in the refrigerator is a necessity for many gluten free doughs. Also leaving the cookies for 24 hours after cooking often seems to result in a tastier outcome and a slightly more moist cookie. Of course persuading the kids to wait 24 hours is a problem.
I love your website and have been checking in frequently. I tried these cookies on Saturday. I refrigerated the dough for 4 hours before baking them and I had the same problem as Sharon, very very flat cookies which stuck to the greased cookie sheet. Any suggestions? Maybe I should refrigerate them longer, like 24 hours? I followed the recipe exactly.
Amy, I am sorry! The only thing I can tell you is that I can not make this recipe work without Pamela’s mix. I am not sure why. I have tried troubleshooting this recipe because others have had problems. My family loved these cookies and I had beautiful results (no spreading) without eggs- which is why I posted the recipe- because it works well without eggs. Some people have had problems and others haven’t and I can’t figure out why. I keep this recipe up because there are lots of people who have liked it, but I hate that it has proved to be inconsistent. I will probably ultimately replace it with one that is more consistent (that contains eggs) in the future. My other cookie recipes are a lot more consistent and it is easier to help because I don’t use baking mixes in the others.