This recipe is magically quick and easy.  It is so simple that it doesn’t even require any leaveners, like baking soda or powder. 

It is thrown together in 5 minutes, baked to soft, chewy perfection in 30 minutes, and the result is a fudgy, sweet bar that tastes exactly like a Mrs. Field’s sugar cookie with M&M’s- you know, the kind you loved as a child (that my daughter loves and always picks when we go out for a cookie at the mall.

The best part? No cookie scoop.  No shaping.  No individually placing little M&M’s into each cookie.

It’s the kind of thing you can throw together really quickly for an after school snack for your kids.  Your house will fill with the aroma of freshly baked cookies, your kids will gobble them up, and the fact that it only took you 5 minutes will just be our little secret.

Want more? Just double this recipe and spread it into a 9×13 inch pan instead.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
M&M’s for topping
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in salt, egg and vanilla extract until well combined. Add in flour and stir until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Pour dough – it will be thick – into prepared baking dish and smooth it into an even layer- You will probably have to wash your hands and use your fingers to pat it down evenly.

Top evenly with M&M’s.  Press them down a bit.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until bars are set and the edges are just very lightly browned. Cool in the pan before slicing.