M&M Cookies For the Kid In You (Day 2)
Cookie Number Two-Twelve Days of Cookies
Last year my absolute favorite cookie was Eric Kim’s Grocery Store Cookie. I called it my Marie Kondo cookie, it brought me JOY. The original Lofthouse cookies, a cakey blob, packed in plastic trays covered with copious amounts of fake frosting and sprinkles…elevated to a wondrously delicious cakelike, buttery, tender cookie topped with raspberry buttercream frosting. The only thing the two cookies had in common was the SPRINKLES.
As soon as NYTcooking posted this year’s Holiday Cookies, I looked for Eric’s cookie. It wasn’t hard to find, his was first on the list. For the kid in all of us, Eric developed a recipe for festive M&M Cookies. (Bonus: Video of Eric making these!) Simple, nostalgic and YUMMY. A hint of crispiness on the edge, surrounding a chewy cookie dotted with M&Ms. The M&M’s are cut into pieces so you get this really nice distribution of the candy coating and chocolate center. With the first bite, I was transported back to my 9-year-old self.
Cookie Workout
The cookies can be made with one bowl, whisk, and spatula (or wooden spoon) with the caveat that you start with soft butter (not melted) butter. If you have a thermometer, it’s around 65-68 degrees. You will also need some arm power as the recipe calls for beating the mixture for one minute to smooth and fluffy. One minute, whisking a dough by hand is pretty long. Opt for your mixer unless you haven’t done your workout for the day.
Geeking Out
The baked cookies ended up with crevices that weren’t apparent in Eric’s batch. I have a theory, I chilled my dough overnight which meant the dough was pretty cold, the butter had solidified and the dough had additional time to hydrate. The chilled dough is a tad more resistant to spreading and collapsing thus creating fissures. Here’s a great geek article on chilling your dough from Buzz Feed. Next time I’ll bake them off with just a short chilling time to see if they don’t develop cracks. I don’t think it impacted the flavor or texture too much. If you try different M&Ms please leave a comment! I think it would be amazing with peanut M&Ms or almond M&Ms.
I like these, I LOVE the Grocery Store Cookie. I’ll be making both for the holidays.
So, make these cookies, pour yourself an ice-cold glass of milk, grab a cookie and enjoy the holidays. I’m going to watch BIG, the perfect movie to go with these cookies!
M&M Cookies by Eric Kim
Ingredients
- ½ cup (115 grams) unsalted butter very soft
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- ¼ packed cup (57 grams )dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt Diamond Crystal or ¾ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups (185 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (96 grams) M&M’s
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 large sheet pans with parchment.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla and salt by hand until smooth and fluffy, at least 1 minute. Whisk in the baking soda, then switch to a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Add the flour, then carefully and coarsely chop the M&M's, and add them, too. Gently stir to combine. Place the bowl in the refrigerator while you wait for the oven to finish heating.
- Using two spoons or a cookie scoop, plop out 2-tablespoon/50-gram rounds spaced a couple of inches apart on the sheet pans. (You should get about 8 cookies per pan.) Bake until lightly golden at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on the sheet pan; they will continue to cook as they sit.