M&M Sugar Cookie Bars

Remember when I made my first original cookie recipe for perfect party cookies? Well, since then I've been dying to try my hand at another original cookie recipe. I figured why not, the first time was a success! And as you can tell I have an affinity for colorful cookies, so naturally my second original cookie recipe would involve M&Ms!

I have to tell you, these cookies had me worried! I made the dough, threw them in the oven, and kept checking on them. Checked at 12 minutes, raw. 15 minutes, raw. 18 minutes, slightly raw. 20 minutes, still buttery/wet in the center. At this point I got annoyed! I mean c'mon- who wants to waste perfectly good M&Ms! So I walked away, came back in 5 minutes, and voila- perfect. Lesson learned- a watched pot never boils... or, better yet... a watched cookie never sets.

These were quite sweet. They had a nice buttery taste, the vanilla came through nicely, and the M&Ms offered some contrast. The key to the M&Ms is putting them on once the cookies are partially cooked or they will sink to the bottom which defeats the purpose of pretty cookies.

A note of caution- I used a small baking dish, about 8 by 5. It's not a standard size. If you use a larger dish they will be thinner and of course bake quicker. If you don't have a smaller dish maybe just double the recipe, or just adjust the bake time! 


Source: Stephanie Cooks Original

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1.5 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
M&Ms

Directions;
1- Preheat the oven to 350.
2- Melt the butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar.
3- Once it's slightly cooled (about 3 minutes) beat in the egg and vanilla.
4- In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking powder. Stir this into the wet mixture.
5- Pour into a greased 8x5 baking dish (or similar size). Bake for approximately 15 minutes.
6- Pull out of the oven and top with M&Ms, gently pressing them into the dough.
7- Return to the oven and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes, or until the top is set and the cookies don't wiggle when you shake the pan. They should still be white with barely golden edges.
8- Cool completely in the pan before slicing. Yields 8 cookie bars.