These M&Ms Cookies have a secret ingredient. It's cake batter flavoring, an extract that used to be called "McCormick Butter & Nut". They changed the name a few years ago, but the flavor still tastes like cake batter and it imparts a bit of yellow coloring into whatever you use it in. I thought it would be a fun addition to this large batch M&Ms cookies recipe.
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More About Cake Batter Flavor
This is kind of an unusual extract. Here in North Carolina they sell it at just about every grocery store, but when I lived in Austin, TX I had to seek it out or order it. As mentioned, it used to be called "McCormick Butter and Nut Extract" and it is designed to mimic the flavor of old bakery cakes and cookies. The compounds used in the flavoring evoke sense memories for the most part, so if you didn't grow up eating a lot of grocery store bakery treats or cake mix cakes, the flavor will not be as familiar. It's very strong and a little goes a long way, which is why I only use a tiny bit in the recipe.
Large Batch
I usually make slightly smaller batches using my best M&Ms cookie recipe, but this week I needed a large batch of M&Ms cookies and decided to use my daughter's favorite, which is this one. She typically makes it with just vanilla rather than vanilla plus cake batter flavor. It's an all occasion recipe that will fit any celebration, just change the color of the M&Ms -- so red & green for Christmas and blue and white for Hanukkah. The blue and white colored M&Ms are not as easy to find. You may have to just pick out the blue M*Ms and add white chips. Anyhow, this recipe makes around 38 to 40 cookies. To me it's large, but I guess for some people it's about normal size.
Dough Does Not Require Chilling
Another nice thing about this recipe is you can bake the cookies right away and not worry about chilling the dough. It doesn't hurt to chill it, but chilling doesn't greatly improve the color and texture like it does with some recipes. Just scoop the cookie dough and bake!
Texture
These cookies bake up chewier than my other favorite recipe. They're a little paler in color and have softer centers. For even chewier cookies, about 2 minutes before you think the cookies will be done (this requires some guesswork), take the pan out of the oven and rap it on the counter once to deflate the cookies. Return to the oven and cook for another 2 minutes or until done.
Cake Batter M&Ms Cookies vs. Best Yet
Because I already have a favorite M&Ms cookie recipe, I baked a batch of these and a batch of my Best Yet M&Ms Cookies side-by-side. My other recipe, which absolutely requires shortening, is crisper. I've been using Spectrum lately and noticed it doesn't impart any bad flavors like some other brands of shortening as of late. So if you like chewy cookies and want to use 100% butter, this one's good. For crisper cookies, try the Best Yet M&Ms Cookies.
Recipe
Cake Batter M&Ms Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups bleached all-purpose flour (375 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened (228 grams)
- 1 cup light brown sugar (210 grams)
- ¾ cup white sugar (150 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla or use 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla and ½ teaspoon cake batter flavor
- 1 ½ cups M&Ms
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. For paler cookies, preheat to 350 degrees F. Have ready two or three parchment lined baking sheets.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attached, beat the butter and both sugars for about 3-4 minutes, stopping often to scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Add each egg one at a time, beating on medium speed just until blended. Beat in the extract.
- With mixer on lowest speed, gradually add the flour mixture, stopping often to scrape side of the bowl.
- Mix in the M&Ms and chocolate chips, but hold some back to press into the cookies after you've scooped the balls. I sometimes hold back all of the chocolate chips and only put them on the outside.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, drop dough onto parchment lined baking sheets spacing 2 ½ inches apart. Press chocolate chips and some M&Ms on the sides decoratively. You can also press some on right after removing from the oven if you'd like.
- Bake at 375F for about 10-12 minutes (or longer if you want them very brown). If baking at 350, check at 10 minutes but it will most likely take up to 12.
- Let cool on sheet for 5 minutes. Slice parchment off. Remove from parchment and let cool completely on a wire rack. They will be chewy at first and get firm as they cool.
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