last updated on October 29, 2026
If you love Harry Potter, these Harry Potter Butterbeer sorting hat cookies are for YOU. They incorporate so many elements of Harry Potter, and most importantly they are MAGIC.
Yes, you read that right. But before we get to the magic, let’s talk about the flavor of these cookies. Butterbeer is obviously an important part of Harry Potter, so it was a must for these cookies. We achieve the butterbeer flavor by using a butterscotch pudding mix! This gives a good amount of butterscotch flavor without being overpowering. I use Jello’s instant pudding mix. You can use any brand, but stick to the instant pudding!
Okay now for the magic! These cookies have sorting hat abilities! We gather red, blue, yellow, and green M&M’s. Each color represents Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, respectively. When we have each dough ball, grab a few M&M’s, of the same color, and shove them into the middle of the dough! Then, when they bake, you can no longer see what color is in each cookie. When you serve them to your guests, they’ll pick a cookie at random, break it open, and see which house they belong to! Magic!
If you make these cookies, share which house you got and tag me (@thepalatablelife) so I can see! When Connor and I grabbed our first cookies, he got Gryffindor and I got Ravenclaw!
If you love these Harry Potter Butterbeer sorting hat cookies, check out these other cookies from this series!
- Gilmore Girls coffee cake cookies
- Wandavision red velvet cookies
- Lion King dirt cup cookies
- Vampire Diaries pancake cookies
harry potter butterbeer sorting hat cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 3.4oz package instant butterscotch pudding mix
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 3/4 cup flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- m&m's – red, blue, green, & yellow
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar for a couple minutes. Add the butterscotch pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla, and mix again.
- Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined. Add white chocolate chips and mix again.
- Get a scoop of dough, and make a small indent in the dough. Add 4-5 M&M’s of the same color in the indent and wrap the dough around them. Continue with the rest of the dough, using all the colors.
- Bake at 350 for 11-13 min. Let the cookies cool, then see which one you are drawn to and see which house you are in! Enjoy!
How many cookies should this make?
it makes about 18 cookies!
do you need to spread the dough over the m&m’s once they are inside the batter?
yes! once you add the m&m’s inside the dough, you’ll use your fingers to close the dough around the m&m’s, securing them inside.
How many cookies should this make?
it makes about 18 cookies!
what kind of butter is used? salted or unsalted?
i use salted! but i don’t specify because it doesn’t really matter much, so i don’t want people to stress if they don’t have one kind or the other. either will work!
what kind of butter is used? salted or unsalted?
i use salted! but i don’t specify because it doesn’t really matter much, so i don’t want people to stress if they don’t have one kind or the other. either will work!
hey! should the butter be softened/room temp or cold? looks great! made your Gilmore girl coffee cake cookies and the turned out amazing 🙂
hey! i’m so glad you loved the gilmore girl cookies. the butter should be slightly softened! so heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds or so. hope you enjoy these!
hey! should the butter be softened/room temp or cold? looks great! made your Gilmore girl coffee cake cookies and the turned out amazing 🙂
hey! i’m so glad you loved the gilmore girl cookies. the butter should be slightly softened! so heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds or so. hope you enjoy these!
Love these. Using them for a bridal shower ?? because it’s the perfect time for a wedding ??
My ‘test cookie’ (cuz they are irresistible!) revealed I am going to the house of Gryffindor @thepalatablelife
i love this! so glad you enjoyed them and so glad they made an appearance at a bridal shower, haha. and yay for gryffindor!
What size cookie scoop did you use?
i use 1/4 cup scoop!
Love these. Using them for a bridal shower ?? because it’s the perfect time for a wedding ??
My ‘test cookie’ (cuz they are irresistible!) revealed I am going to the house of Gryffindor @thepalatablelife
i love this! so glad you enjoyed them and so glad they made an appearance at a bridal shower, haha. and yay for gryffindor!
What size cookie scoop did you use?
i use 1/4 cup scoop!
You say bake the cookies at 350 but is it 350 in farenheit or in Celsius?
farenheit! sorry i didn’t clarify!
You say bake the cookies at 350 but is it 350 in farenheit or in Celsius?
farenheit! sorry i didn’t clarify!
I’m wanting to make these, and was planning on making them as keto as I can due to the husband being a diabetic.
I’m wanting to make these, and was planning on making them as keto as I can due to the husband being a diabetic.
I made these and my family loves them! I tweaked the recipe slightly by using the smaller package of pudding and using dark chocolate m&ms. I also used some of the dough to make cookie cups and they were great!! Absolutely love this recipe!
yay i’m so glad they were loved!! and dark chocolate sounds like a great match!
I made these and my family loves them! I tweaked the recipe slightly by using the smaller package of pudding and using dark chocolate m&ms. I also used some of the dough to make cookie cups and they were great!! Absolutely love this recipe!
yay i’m so glad they were loved!! and dark chocolate sounds like a great match!
I made these for a get together with my friends and they were obsessed with them! From the delicious flavour to enjoyment of being sorted, such a great recipe!!
They were also fairly easy to make as well which I always enjoy!
yay!! this makes me so happy! they are perfect for parties and for everyone to see which house they belong to haha. so glad you enjoyed!!
I made these for a get together with my friends and they were obsessed with them! From the delicious flavour to enjoyment of being sorted, such a great recipe!!
They were also fairly easy to make as well which I always enjoy!
yay!! this makes me so happy! they are perfect for parties and for everyone to see which house they belong to haha. so glad you enjoyed!!
I love this recipe! Always my go-to. They don’t spread much, they’re super easy to make, and they’re DELICIOUS! I’ve never personally tried it, but substituting half of the choc. chips for macadamia nuts would be delicious! ?
YAY so glad you love these!! and wow adding macadamia nuts sounds like a great idea!!
I love this recipe! Always my go-to. They don’t spread much, they’re super easy to make, and they’re DELICIOUS! I’ve never personally tried it, but substituting half of the choc. chips for macadamia nuts would be delicious! ?
YAY so glad you love these!! and wow adding macadamia nuts sounds like a great idea!!
Made these for Thanksgiving as a fun way to get everyone (all 18 of us!) involved. Everyone really enjoyed the cookies. These were easy to make, easy to clean up, and will definitely be a rotation in my house! I used a 1/4 scoop and it made over 20!
I did screw up and didn’t buy instant butterscotch pudding, so I had to sub for the vanilla instant pudding that I already had. I added some butterscotch chips and a little bit of imitation butter/brown sugar mixed together to give it that butterscotch taste. Will definitely want to make these again but with the right pudding next time hahaha (adding this in case anyone runs into a similar problem)
Thank you for this recipe mallory!
hi! i’m so glad you loved these! that is such a fun thanksgiving addition. that was a very creative improvise and i am impressed! thanks for your review! <3
Made these for Thanksgiving as a fun way to get everyone (all 18 of us!) involved. Everyone really enjoyed the cookies. These were easy to make, easy to clean up, and will definitely be a rotation in my house! I used a 1/4 scoop and it made over 20!
I did screw up and didn’t buy instant butterscotch pudding, so I had to sub for the vanilla instant pudding that I already had. I added some butterscotch chips and a little bit of imitation butter/brown sugar mixed together to give it that butterscotch taste. Will definitely want to make these again but with the right pudding next time hahaha (adding this in case anyone runs into a similar problem)
Thank you for this recipe mallory!
hi! i’m so glad you loved these! that is such a fun thanksgiving addition. that was a very creative improvise and i am impressed! thanks for your review! <3
Hi! Can you prep the dough the day before?
hi! yes, i’d scoop out the dough first, then keep the dough in an airtight container in the fridge overnight.