M&M Cookies

Zutaten

2¼ cups (11¼ ounces) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon table salt

¾ teaspoon baking soda

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar

½ cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 large yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1¼ cups (9 ounces) M&M’S

Anweisungen

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in bowl.

2. Whisk melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in large bowl until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Whisk in egg and yolk and vanilla until fully combined and mixture looks emulsified, about 30 seconds. Stir in half of flour mixture with rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Stir in candies and remaining flour mixture.

3. Divide dough into sixteen 2¼-ounce portions, about 2 heaping tablespoons each; divide any remaining dough evenly among dough portions. Roll dough portions between your hands to make smooth balls.

4. Evenly space dough balls on prepared sheets, 8 balls per sheet. Using your hand, flatten balls to ¾-inch thickness.

5. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until centers of cookies are puffed and still very blond, about 8 minutes; cookies will seem underdone. Let cookies cool on sheet for 5 minutes. Using spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

To Make Ahead At end of step 4, transfer flattened dough balls to parchment paper–lined plate and freeze until very firm, at least 1 hour. Transfer to 1-gallon zipper-lock bag and freeze for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen, increasing baking time to 12 minutes.

Notizen

Use standard, not mini, M&M’S in this recipe. The cookies will seem underdone when you pull them from the oven. This is OK; they will continue baking as they cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. This method ensures that the cookies remain chewy once they are cooled.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS For our version of this nostalgic recipe, we wanted cookies that were big and colorful, soft and chewy, sweet and buttery, and just salty enough to make us want to eat another one. To start, we skipped the creaming of the butter and sugar because that added extra air that produced taller, more tender cookies. Instead, we whisked together brown sugar, granulated sugar, and melted butter; the extra moisture in the brown sugar made for moist, chewy cookies. Following the advice of an M&M cookie expert we visited in Portland, Oregon, we increased the baking soda, upped the oven temperature to 425 degrees, and pulled the cookies out of the oven sooner (after only 8 minutes). Each of these strategies resulted in cookies that stayed soft and chewy longer.