M&M sugar cookies
In the spirit of frugality, I have been trying to bake snacks for the kids to take to school (and munch at home) instead of buying all those prepackaged, processed foods. Now, notice I did NOT say in the spirit of good health! These snacks certainly have their fair share of sugar. But I am a firm believer in moderation, and a moderate amount of these cookies throughout my week would definitely promote a happier mama! (and happier kiddos, too!)
I snagged some Valentine’s Day M&M’s on sale this week (WITH a coupon!) and was looking for something special to make with them. I decided on keeping it simple and making basic sugar cookies with the candy added to them for flair and extra “yummy-ness.”
I found a recipe for “Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies” on the back of my Kroger bag of sugar and decided to give it a try. Here is the recipe:
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 t. salt
- 2 t. baking powder
- 1 cup butter, softened *(I used butter-flavored Crisco.)*
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- extra sugar and flour
Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in bowl and set aside. Combine butter and sugar and beat until creamy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well; add vanilla and combine. Stir in dry ingredients until combined. Refrigerate dough for at least one hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8″ thickness. Cut with a floured cookie cutter. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake for 10-15 minutes on lightly greased baking sheets. Makes 3-4 dozen cookies.
Things I learned with this recipe:
- Do not expect to make these quickly – in the directions it tells you to refrigerate the dough for one hour. If you did not read the directions carefully (like I didn’t), I just wanted to point that out to you. Do not tell your 4 yr. old you are making cookies for him to eat after lunch if you start them right before lunch.
- 1/8″?? Just roll the dough thin but not transparent. Seemed to work for me.
- Lightly spray a spatula with Pam (or cheap equivalent like I use) in order to pry cookie dough off counter without breaking.
- Once cookies are on the (*lightly greased*) cookie sheet, lightly press M&M’s into cookie dough. Pressing too hard will deform your cookie shape. It will.
- “Sprinkle with sugar if desired?” You desire it. You really, really do. Trust me.
- I baked mine for 10 minutes, took them out, and let them sit on the hot baking sheet for a few minutes while I handled the next batch. Worked for me.
- Do not – repeat – do not eat more than 2 of these at one time. Just don’t. Please. For the love of all things sugary sweet…don’t do it to yourself.
- Finally, this recipe is a bit labor intensive but worth it. If you are a good mom, you might even let the kids help you with this one! (I’m not that good.)
I am excited to hand these to the kids when they get home from school and pack them in their lunches the next few times. They will know their mama loves them… and that makes it worth every second.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup butter, softened or shortening
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- extra sugar and flour
- M&M’s (I used 2/3 bag)
Instructions
- Combine flour, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside. Combine butter and sugar and beat until creamy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well; add vanilla and combine. Stir in dry ingredients until combined. Refrigerate dough for at least one hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8″ thickness. Cut with a floured cookie cutter. Place on lightly greased baking sheets and lightly press M&M’s into cookies. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
- Makes 3-4 dozen cookies.