Chewy M&M Sugar Cookies - just like the Sugar Butter Cookies from the mall! Soft, chewy, and loaded with colorful M&Ms to suit any occasion. They're made with simple baking staples and a secret ingredient, making these the best, chewiest, most decadent sugar cookies you've ever had!
Preheat oven to 350° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
Add 1 1/2 cups of sugar and cream cheese to a large bowl.
1 ½ cups sugar, 2 ounces cream cheese
Pour the warm butter over the cream cheese mixture and whisk to combine – the mixture won’t be completely smooth yet, but that’s ok. Whisk in the oil then the egg, milk and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, ⅓ cup vegetable oil, 1 large egg, 1 Tablespoon milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Use a spatula to start folding the dry ingredients into the wet. When the dry ingredients are partially incorporated, add 3/4 cup of the M&M’s to the dough. Continue mixing until a soft dough comes together. (Don’t wait to add the M&M’s until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated – you’ll end up overmixing.)
1 cup M&M’s
Put the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a shallow bowl and set aside.
Use a cookie scoop (#60/2 teaspoons) to make balls of dough. Roll the dough into a ball with your hands then roll in the reserved sugar. You should fit 12 per baking sheet.
Optional: Use the bottom of a glass to flatten the dough balls into discs that are about 2″ in diameter.
Bake the cookies for 8-10, or until the edges are set.
Remove from oven and press additional M&Ms on top of each cookie. The tops of the cookies will be puffy and slightly cracked. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes then transfer them to the rack to cool completely.
Notes
If you press M&Ms into the cookies before baking, they will crack, so I prefer to press additional candies into the cookies when they come out of the oven.
Rolling in additional sugar and flattening are optional steps. They turn out just fine if you skip these steps.
Using a small (#60/2 tsp) cookie scoop made 40 cookies. You can use a larger scoop if you prefer large cookies.
Store leftovers covered at room temperature for up to a week.