Confetti Cookies

Growing up, I used to travel for tennis tournaments about every other weekend. In between matches, my mom and I would often try and find a mall, to get out of the heat.  We were either celebrating or drowning my sorrows with retail therapy! More often than not, I would find a Mrs. Fields Cookie stand in the mall and get a bunch of those soft-baked M&M sugar cookies. They have always been one of my favorite cookies and I’ve been trying to find a recipe that is similar to that one. So far, my favorite one is from The Joy of Baking, and I posted it below, so you could all enjoy one of my favorite cookies. 

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup granulated white sugar

2/3 cup (140 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 ½ cup M&M candies

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place one oven rack in the top third of the oven, and one oven rack in the bottom third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2 - 3 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and egg yolk, beating until well combined. Beat in the vanilla extract.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. (If batter is soft, cover and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes or until firm.)
5. Using a 1/4 cup (60 ml), an ice cream scoop, or two spoons, form batter into large balls. Place six balls of dough on each baking sheet. Gently flatten each ball of dough into a 2 1/2 inch (6.5 cm) round. Completely cover the tops of the cookies with the M&M's^. Gently press the candies into the dough. Bake the cookies for about 14 - 17 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time. The cookies are done when they are light golden brown in color and just set around the edges. They will still seem a little soft in the center but they will firm up as they cool. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.