Chewy M&M’s Cookies

About a week ago, I suddenly found myself feeling this inexplicable urge to bake some M&M cookies. M&M cookies always make me think of the time when I was about 8 or 9 and my Mum and I tried to make some, but it all went quite horribly wrong. My Mum had accidentally put the oven on grill and when she got back to it after the required time had gone by, the entire utility room (which is where our oven was back then) was blue with smoke and the cookies were burnt to a crisp. I don’t think I ever made M&M cookies after that…

So, in order to avoid a disastrous outcome this time, I did some cookie science research. It’s so interesting and fun! The smallest change in recipe can make such a big difference for the outcome of the cookie, and that’s just incredible to me. This is the first time I ever used baking soda (turns out you can just buy that in my regular supermarket – did not know that). I always just replaced baking soda with baking powder, but figured I should try the real deal now since baking soda and baking powder are definitely not the same thing. I also added a little bit of cornstarch to the mixture, because I found out that it helps to keep the cookie soft in the middle.

I used to not be a huge fan of making cookies (I’d much rather bake muffins or cakes) but I had tons of fun with this recipe. That’s probably got a lot to do with the fact that I now know what I’m doing (or at least, more so than I used to). It’s fun to try and put together the perfect recipe and mess around with all the ingredients. These cookies are by no means perfect, and I will by experimenting with this recipe a lot more, I expect, but they certainly taste delicious! They are chewy in the middle and crispy on the outside, and the M&M’s add both a lot of taste and a lot of colour to these adorable cookies.

You’ll need… (for 16 cookies)

• 125 g butter (softened)
• 160 g light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1½ teaspoon vanilla flavouring
• 225 g plain flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• pinch of salt
• 150 g M&M’s + some more to put on top
• parchment paper
• baking tray
• and an oven of course! These cookies need to be baked at 180 °C (don’t forget to preheat your oven!)

So, let’s get baking!

1. Mix butter and sugar Put the softened butter and the light brown sugar in a bowl and mix them together until you’ve got a nice creamy consistency. I used a handheld electric mixer with dough hooks for this recipe.

2. Add egg and vanilla flavouring Once the butter and sugar are nicely mixed together, add your egg and the 1½ teaspoon of vanilla flavouring to the mixture and mix together again.

3. Add flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt Time to add the dry ingredients. Firstly, sieve the flour above the bowl (preferably in parts) and mix it through, then add half a teaspoon of baking soda, one teaspoon of cornstarch and a pinch of salt and mix everything through. You’ll have a nice, solid dough by now.

4. Add the M&M’s The last ingredient left is the M&M’s! Add them to your dough and mix them through.

5. Let the dough rest in the fridge Now, this is going to take some time, because if you want the best flavours for your cookie, it’s best to let the dough rest for at least 5 hours (I made the dough in the evening and baked the cookies the next morning). I just put the entire ball of dough in the fridge in a bowl wrapped with cling film. However, that made it quite hard to separate little balls of dough the next day, so I recommend already forming little balls, putting them on a tray or a plate and then putting them in your fridge (covered with cling film of course). Although, if you haven’t got enough room in your fridge for that, just did what I did. Makes for a little more hard work the next day, but that’s never hurt anyone!

6. Divide dough in balls over baking tray Line your baking tray with parchment paper, and then transfer the dough in little balls to the baking tray. Gently press them down a bit, so they are not entirely round. Now, push a few extra M&M’s onto the top for an extra splash of colour. Leave enough room between the clumps of dough, because they will spread out quite a bit. I only put six clumps of dough on my baking tray at a time.

7. Bake! Put your baking tray into the oven and bake the cookies for about 14 minutes at 180 °C. Don’t bake them any longer than 15 minutes, because they will become to tough. They’re done when they’re starting to turn golden brown around the edges. Take the tray out of the oven and let the cookies cool on the tray for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack (or a plate).

And there you have it! Your own M&M’s cookies. Enjoy!