Name: M&M Sugar Cookies
Total time: 40 min
Yield: Makes 12 cookies
Ingredients: 1 cup (5 ounces/142 grams) all-purpose flour; ¼ teaspoon baking soda; ¼ teaspoon table salt; ¾ cup (5¼ ounces/149 grams) sugar; 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted; 1 large egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; ⅓ cup M&M's

Why This Recipe Works

These colorful sugar cookies make a sweet addition to lunchboxes, bake sales, or even just a weekend afternoon! The dough comes together in minutes and even the youngest chefs can help with the whisking, stirring, shaping, and decorating. The ingredient list calls for ⅓ cup M&M’s, but there is another way kids can “measure” this ingredient. The recipe makes 12 cookies and each cookie needs five candies. Have kids use their addition or multiplication skills to figure out how many M&M’s they’ll need in total (12 x 5 = 60).

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

In large bowl, whisk sugar and melted butter until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and whisk until well combined.

Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and use rubber spatula to stir until no dry flour is visible and soft dough forms.

Use your hands to roll dough into 12 balls (about 1 heaping tablespoon each). Place dough balls on parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving space between balls.

Use your hand to gently flatten each dough ball. Press candies into each cookie (about 5 candies per cookie).

Place baking sheet in oven. Bake until edges of cookies are just set and centers are still soft, 11 to 13 minutes.

Use oven mitts to remove baking sheet from oven and place on cooling rack (ask an adult for help). Let cookies cool completely on baking sheet, about 30 minutes. Serve.