M&m Cookies

This recipe comes from the back of a Holiday M&M's package. We first tried this recipe about 15 years ago (maybe more). Firstly, it is delicious and has become the most requested recipe for the giant family cookie party tray, no matter what holiday. It is a GREAT way to keep the kids out of your hair (or cookie dough, but hopefully they aren't both in the same place!) during holiday prep. The only hard part is spreading the dough in the pan, but if you chill the dough and use an offset spatula and take your time, it's not so bad. We double the batch, since when our kids were little they fought over who got to decorate more of the cookie with candy, and who got to eat more, and two pans were so much easier. It takes about 15 minutes for kids to adequately dot the jelly-roll pan with enough M&M's, and after that they get tired of "helping" in the kitchen. Cooking time includes chilling time.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 20 mins
• Yields: 30-36 cookies

Ingredients

• 1  cup butter or 1  cup margarine
• 1  cup sugar
• 1  egg
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  almond extract (vanilla extract, may be used if there are nut allergies)
• 2  cups flour
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1  cup  holiday  M&M's plain chocolate candy

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a 15x10 jelly roll pan with aluminum foil, wrapping around the ends of the pan to secure.
3. Cream butter and sugar together; add egg and extract and salt.
4. Slowly add flour until completely incorporated.
5. Chill dough for about one hour in a covered bowl.
6. Spread carefully in the prepared pan (see recipe description above).
7. Sprinkle or place the M&M's evenly across the top of the dough and press in very lightly.
8. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until edges are just beginning to brown.
9. Cool 10 to 15 minutes and cut into 2 inch squares; be careful as this sometimes sticks in spots to the foil. And then you'll be stuck eating the "mistakes" -- heh heh heh -- .