As you may remember, B and I recently babysat our niece and nephew. They spent the night at our downtown apartment and were in awe of everything downtown – from the trolley to the lake – which made for a fun sleepover.

What else made for a fun sleepover? I had a baking buddy! That’s right, Sofia and I baked cookies together. She was an awesome helper – helping sort through m&ms  (to find the non-crushed ones for me), helping pour sugar, and also even helping to shape the dough! Oliver tried to help – but he ended up just eating lots of m&ms. Oh well, there’s still time for him to learn!

We ended up making some fun colored m&m sugar cookies. Sofia and I decided that with the crushed up AND full candies they looked like confetti  – and confetti m&m sugar cookies were born! Here you go. I highly recommend you bake them with your favorite niece/nephew or baking buddy!

Confetti m&m Sugar Cookies

Here’s what you need:

• ½ c butter
• ½ c shortening
• ½ c  granulated sugar
• ½ c powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 ½ c m&ms (1 c crushed, ½ c whole)
• ½ c white chocolate chips
• ½ c any of your other favorite candy (crushed, optional)

Here’s what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets or spray with a nonstick spray like butter flavored Pam!
2. Take about 1 c. of M&Ms and crush them. I tried using my blender but that didn’t work so I put them in a bag and smashed them with a meat mallet. Very good way to beat the stress! Set aside the ½ c remaining M&Ms and keep whole.
3. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar together in a large bowl and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together butter, shortening, white sugar and confectioners’ sugar together until light and fluffy.
5. Beat in the egg and the vanilla.
6.  Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and blend.
7.  Add in crushed m&ms, whole m&ms, white chocolate chips and your other favorite candy. I know, it’s hard to choose just one. I crushed a few Butterfinger bars (this time in the blender) for my other candy.
8. Shape dough into rounded tablespoon-sized balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.
9.  Bake at 375 degrees F  for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool, then enjoy!