Happy Earth Day! It’s important to protect the planet every day, but right now it feels even more important to celebrate our planet and work to protect it. Since today is Earth Day’s 50th anniversary, I’m celebrating with these super fun Mickey Earth Day cookies! Inspired by the Earth, these blue and green sugar cookies are topped with a red M&M Mickey.
I chose to make these Mickey Earth Day cookies as I wanted something that looked like the Earth. Sugar cookies were perfect for this as they’re round, easy to dye, and tasty. Of course, I wanted to add a touch of Disney, and so I added some M&Ms to make a Mickey. I chose red as it’s one of Mickey’s colors, but also because when I was thinking about hearts and showing love for our Earth.
For these cookies, I used a mix of white granulated sugar and light brown sugar. The brown sugar adds a bit of depth to the flavor and creates a moister cookie. If you don’t have brown sugar, you can use regular granulated sugar in place of it.
To make the cookies, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in the egg, vanilla, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt and beat until combined. Gradually add the four and beat until the dough is fully combined. Then, separate the dough in half, placing each half of the dough in its own bowl. Add a couple drops of blue gel food coloring to one bowl and a couple drops of green gel food coloring to the other bowl. For these cookies, I used colors from the Wilton Primary Colors Set. Once you’ve added the color, beat it into the dough. I found it easiest to use my electric hand beaters. After you’ve incorporated the color, wrap each half of the dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes.
Once the dough has chilled, preheat your oven and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the plastic wrap and take a small section of blue dough and 1-2 small sections of green dough. Place the green dough on either side of the blue dough and roll into one dough ball. Place on the prepared baking sheet, making sure there are a couple inches between each ball. Aim to have the balls around 1-inch in size but they can be a little bigger.
Chill dough balls for 15 minutes in the refrigerator before baking. Bake for 9-12 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Once the cookies have baked, remove them from the oven and press one red M&M and two mini red M&Ms into each warm cookie to make a Mickey shape. I found pressing the M&Ms into the cookies at the end to be easier than baking the M&Ms into the cookies. When I baked the M&Ms, I found that even with chilling the dough, the M&Ms spread too far apart to look like Mickeys.
Let the cookies cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy warm or save for later! Happy Earth Day!
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Mickey Earth Day Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- green gel food coloring
- blue gel food coloring
Decoration
- red M&Ms
- red mini M&Ms
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
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In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
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Add egg, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and vanilla and beat until combined.
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Gradually add in the flour, beating until combined. Divide the dough in half and place each half in a separate bowl.
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Add a few drops of green food coloring to one bowl and beat until the color is fully incorporated.
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Add a few drops of blue food coloring to the other bowl and beat until the color is fully incorporated.
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Wrap each half of dough in plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes.
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Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Take a piece of blue dough and two small pieces of green dough. Place the green dough on either side of the blue dough and roll together. Aim to have a 1-inch ball, but they can be a little bigger. Place the dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet, a couple inches apart.
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Chill dough balls for 15 minutes before baking.
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Bake for 9-12 minutes or until the edges are just starting to brown.
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Remove cookies from the oven and press in one regular M&M and two mini M&Ms to make a Mickey pattern.
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Let cookies cool for two minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.