M&M Sugar Cookie Bars

M&M Sugar Cookie Bars - made January 26, 2013 from See Aimee Cook

Okay, back to blogging baking recipes!  And just in time for Superbowl Sunday, I have these M&M Sugar Cookie Bars - an easy Superbowl snack to provide a little sweet to go with the chips, nuts and pretzels you might be serving if you're having a Superbowl party.  They're quick and easy to make and if you want to go team patriotic like I did, it only requires a few minutes to pick out the M&M colors of your choice.  Yes, I really did sift through all the M&Ms to pick out just the red and "gold" (yellow).  Gotta root for my team.  The only problem, as you can see, is the M&Ms cracked from the heat in baking.  Interestingly, it was mostly the yellow ones that cracked with the heat.  Whatever dye was in the red might've afforded it a bit more protection.

These would be easy to overbake so watch them carefully.  You don't them to get brown all over, just along the edges and until the middle doesn't look raw.  Then you'll have moist, chewy sugar cookie bars with a sprinkling of chocolate over them. Most importantly, GO NINERS!

1 stick butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
M&Ms

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Melt the butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar.
3. Once it's slightly cooled (about 3 minutes) beat in the egg and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking powder. Stir this into the wet mixture.
5. Pour into a greased 8x8 baking dish (or similar size). Bake for approximately 15 minutes.
6. Pull out of the oven and top with M&Ms, gently pressing them into the dough.
7. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes, or until the top is set and the cookies don't wiggle when you shake the pan. They should still be white with barely golden edges.
8. Cool completely in the pan before slicing. Yields 9 cookie bars.