Soft Batch Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

If you make these Soft Batch Peanut Butter M&M Cookies for your Valentine, they’ll be sure to love you forever! I’ve been in search for a really great peanut butter cookie for a few weeks.  I’ve tried several recipes but none were what I was looking for.  What I wanted in a peanut butter cookie was for it to be soft, full of peanut butter flavor and to melt in my mouth with each bite.  I have had many cookies that were good, but most were too hard, crumbly and just didn’t make the grade. Of course, it wouldn’t be a great peanut butter cookie if there wasn’t chocolate involved.  And, since Valentine’s Day is right around the corner what better addition to these cookies would there be but Valentine M&Ms?  Seriously, there isn’t anything better. So here we have a super delicious soft batch peanut butter cookie filled with Valentine M&M’s that’s just about perfect.  My kids absolutely LOVE these cookies.  I’m pretty certain that Matty Pants has eaten 3 today.  And I’m also pretty certain that if I let him he’d eat 30 today! Speaking of Matty Pants… he’s about to turn two years old.  What the heck?  Where has time gone?  I mean seriously, it just seems like a few months ago that he was born and now my little man is almost two?  Holy cow! I’ve been thinking about what theme to plan his 2nd birthday party in.  Dinosaurs or Toy Story.  Toy Story has a dinosaur in it… so if I did that, then I’d be killing two birds with one stone.  But, if I just did a dinosaur party, it’d be really easy to just pop some dinosaurs on top of cupcakes and call it good. What have been some of your favorite themes for your kid’s birthday parties? Last year you might remember I made Sesame Street Cupcakes for Matty’s 1st birthday.  I put together this amazing tutorial for them because they just turned out so super cute. Anyhoo… back to these cookies.  I kinda went off on a Matty-tangent there. This year, I’ve decided that I wanted to keep my Valentine’s Day treats really simple.  I’ll be posting several recipes that are either no-bake, have very minimal prep, or that are just super simple.   I’ll also be posting a DIY project that can be giving as a sweet, yet delicious teacher-gift.  So make sure to stay tuned for all the Valentine awesomeness still to come! I really hope you enjoy these Soft Batch Peanut Butter M&M Cookies as much as we do! Happy Baking! 

Yield: 2-3 dozen cookies

Soft Batch Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 9 minutes

Total Time: 14 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (I used JIF)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Valentine M&M Candies + more for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth.
3. Add the sugars and mix on high for 2 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
4. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix on high for 1 minute.
5. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
6. Add the flour mixture to the wet butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again to ensure that everything has been incorporated.
7. Fold in the 3/4 cup M&M candies.
8. Form 2-3 Tbsp of dough into a a ball and flatten slightly to form a disc. Place on the prepared cookie sheet.
9. Using a fork, press a criss-cross pattern into the top of each cookie. Garnish with 2-3 additional M&M candies on top.
10. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the cookies feel slightly firm to the touch and the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Recipe from Bake Space .

NOTE: Some people have noticed the dough was a bit dry why they made this recipe. If yours turns out dry, add a few tablespoons of water or milk to the batter to help moisten it. I have never had to do this, so I can't guarantee the outcome - it's only a suggestion. :) Happy baking!