Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until fluffy and creamy, about 2 minutes.
½ cup salted butter, 1 cup brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar
Mix in the eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and beat together until combined, about 30 seconds.
2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Add the all-purpose flour, pudding mix, baking soda, and salt, and beat on the low seating until just combined, about 30 seconds. Do not overbeat the flour. Make sure that there are no lumps in the baking soda.
1½ cups all-purpose flour, 3.4 ounces vanilla pudding mix, 1½ teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Fold the M&M's and chocolate chips into the dough.
1½ cups Christmas M&Ms, ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Scoop out cookies with a cookie scoop or spoon (I used a 2-inch cookie scoop) and place them onto the prepared baking sheet with about 2 inches between them.
Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies have set and turned golden.
Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to finish cooling.