Elf Mischief Munch Cookies

These thick, soft and chewy Elf Mischief Munch Cookies are a playful nod to that iconic scene in the movie Elf, where Buddy devours his spaghetti breakfast! The cookie dough swaps the usual vanilla for warm maple syrup and is packed with chocolate M&Ms, crunchy salted pretzels, chewy toasted marshmallows, and a sprinkle of festive sugar strands. Sure, they lean on the sweet side – but that’s exactly what elves love!

Your Ingredients List

For the cookie dough:

• Unsalted butter: Gives the cookies their rich, buttery base. Melting it first helps create that soft, chewy, bakery style texture.
• Caster sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the edges crisp up.
• Light brown sugar: Brings a warm, caramel-like flavour and keeps the centres soft and chewy.
• Maple syrup: Adds festive sweetness that elves LOVE (it’s one of their 4 main food groups)! Feel free to swap for vanilla extract if needed.
• One egg + one egg yolk: The egg binds everything together, while the extra yolk boosts richness and chewiness.
• Self-raising flour: Gives the cookies a gentle lift and spread without making them cakey.
• Cornflour: Helps the dough stay soft and tender, giving that melt-in-the-middle texture.
• Salt: Just enough to balance the sweetness and bring out all the flavours.

For the mix-ins:

• Red & green M&Ms: The festive crunch and colour that makes these cookies look like elves decorated them themselves.
• Salted pretzels (roughly crushed): Adds crunch and that sweet–salty magic that makes every bite more addictive.
• Mini marshmallows: Melt into gooey little toasted pockets inside the cookies.
• Christmas sprinkles: For maximum festive energy and that colourful, bakery-style finish.

Buddy the Elf would definitely approve of these Mischief Munch cookies ❤️💚💛

RECIPE NOTES

TASTE

Sweet, salty, chocolatey chaos! All baked into a rich, buttery, maple-flavoured cookie dough.

TEXTURE

Soft and chewy in the middle, golden around the edges, with pops of crunch, gooey bits and creamy chocolate. They’re the kind of cookies that feel like a handful of Christmas snacks baked right into one.

SKILL

Super easy and very forgiving, perfect if you want a fuss-free festive bake.

SERVES

Makes 12–14 bakery-style cookies, depending how generous you are with the dough scoops. (No judgment if you make 10 giant ones. It is Christmas, after all.)

Think of This as Your Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookie Recipe

These Elf Mischief Munch Cookies are basically the Christmas version of a classic “everything but the kitchen sink” cookie – soft, chewy, and absolutely packed with mix-ins. The idea is simple: throw in anything fun lurking in your treat cupboard. Leftover Christmas chocolates? In they go. Crushed candy canes? Why not. Mini festive sweets? Elf-approved. The magic is in the balance, loads of sweetness with a hit of something salty, like pretzels or salted chocolate, to keep things from getting too sugary. This recipe uses M&Ms, mini marshmallows, salted pretzels and Christmas sprinkles for a colourful, crunchy, gooey mix that tastes like holiday chaos in the best possible way.

How To Make Elf Mischief Munch Cookies

Step 1: Prep the maple cookie dough

First things first, melt your butter then stir in the sugars. Mix in the maple syrup, the egg, and that extra yolk (the secret to extra chewy cookies). Once that’s all combined, add the dry ingredients and fold until you’ve got a lovely cookie dough. It’ll look a bit soft at this point, which is totally what you want.

Step 2: Fold in the mischief munch mix-ins

Now for the fun bit. Tip in your M&Ms, crushed pretzels, and mini marshmallows, and fold it all together. It should look like a Christmas party in cookie dough form.

Step 3: Scoop and chill the cookie dough

Scoop out nice big tablespoons of dough and roll them into rough cookie balls. They don’t need to look perfect – a bit messy just adds charm. Once they’re all lined up, cover the whole tray with clingfilm and pop it in the fridge for two hours. This little rest helps the flavours deepen and firms up the dough, which means thicker, chewier, tastier cookies once baked.

Step 4: Dunk in sprinkles and bake!

Right before baking, pour some Christmas sprinkles onto a plate and dunk each cookie dough ball into the sprinkles to coat the tops. The more sprinkles, the better! Bake these Elf Mischief Munch Cookies for 10 minutes at 180°C fan. The edges should look golden but the centres soft and slightly underbaked. That’s the sweet spot. As soon as they’re out of the oven, swirl a cutter around the cookies to make them perfectly round and squish a few extra M&Ms into the top. Then allow the cookies to cool for at least 30 minutes.

FAQ’s for baking Elf Mischief Munch Cookies

Elf Mischief Munch Cookies

Bake these Buddy the Elf-inspired Mischief Munch Cookies this Christmas – soft, chewy, and packed with mix-ins for a tasty holiday treat!

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Prep: 15 minutes minutes

Cook: 10 minutes minutes

Chill time: 2 hours hours

Total: 2 hours hours 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 12

Ingredients

For the cookie dough:

• 150 grams Unsalted butter
• 100 grams White caster sugar
• 120 grams Light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons Maple syrup or 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 medium Whole egg at room temperature
• 1 medium Egg yolk at room temperature
• 280 grams Self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon Cornflour
• 0.5 teaspoon Salt

For the elf mischief munch inclusions:

• 120 grams Red and green M&Ms
• 50 grams Salted pretzels chopped/crushed
• 50 grams Mini marshmallows
• 4 tbsp Christmas sprinkles

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

Prepare the cookie dough:

• Place the unsalted butter in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 20-30 seconds until the butter has melted.
  150 grams Unsalted butter
• Mix in the caster sugar and light brown sugar until smooth.
  100 grams White caster sugar, 120 grams Light brown sugar
• Mix in the maple syrup, whole egg and egg yolk.
  2 teaspoons Maple syrup, 1 medium Whole egg, 1 medium Egg yolk
• Stir the flour, cornflour and salt together in a separate bowl. Then add to the mixture and fold to make a thick cookie dough.
  280 grams Self-raising flour, 1 teaspoon Cornflour, 0.5 teaspoon Salt
  
• Add the M&Ms (save a handful for decorating later), crushed pretzels and mini marshmallows. Fold into the cookie dough.
  120 grams Red and green M&Ms, 50 grams Salted pretzels, 50 grams Mini marshmallows
  
• Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Scoop up heaped tablespoons of dough, shape into a ball, and arrange on the tray. You should be able to make 12-14 cookies in total. Cover the tray with clingfilm and place in the fridge to chill for 2 hours. During this time, the flavours will develop and the dough will firm up which will reduce the spread in the oven. Less spread = thicker cookies!
  

Roll and bake the cookies:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C fan / 200°C conventional. Line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper.
• Pour the sprinkles onto a plate. Generously dunk the top of each cookie dough ball in the sprinkles and arrange on the baking trays, leaving at least 5cm space between each so they have room to spread.
  4 tbsp Christmas sprinkles
• Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies should be golden around the edge, but pale and soft in the middle. Don't worry if the middle still looks under-baked, this is how they are meant to be. The cookies will continue to cook through as they cool down.
  
• As soon as the cookies are out of the oven and still warm, use a round cookie cutter to shape them into perfectly round cookies. Press the leftover M&Ms in the tops for decoration.
  
• Leave on the baking tray for 30 minutes to cool down and firm up. Then tuck in and enjoy!
  

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