The awards season is in full swing with celebrities gliding down this red carpet and that. My personal favorite of all the awards - The Oscars - is this weekend and I'm excited to see who wins in each category. Award show themed parties are some of the most fun parties I've been to! There are so many fun ways to enjoy a fun family night or invite guests over and watch the show. Of course, with movies and movie awards there has to be snacks and treats!

Make your favorite desserts with M&Ms for an extra level of fun and tastiness. Cupcakes, brownies, and cakes taste even better with M&Ms baked in or used as decorations on top.

These M&Ms Thumbprint Cookies made with peanut or regular M&Ms make a great awards show treat!

M&M's Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

5 from 1 vote

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Make Award Shows More Fun with M&Ms

Author Jennifer

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 48 Peanut M&Ms or 96 regular M&Ms

Instructions

1. Begin by pre-heating your oven to 350. In a large bowl, beat together your butter and sugar until light and creamy. Gradually mix in the eggs, one at a time, and then add your vanilla. Beat at medium speed until thoroughly combined, and then add your flour, salt and baking soda and mix at low speed for one minute. You do not want to over-mix!
2. Split your dough into half and wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerating for one hour. When you're ready to start baking, take one ball of dough out of the fridge and begin to shape the dough into small balls (about the size of a walnut) and place them two inches apart on un-greased cookie sheets.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12-15 minutes until lightly brown - this depends on your oven. Mine were turning light brown by the 13th minute. Remove them from the oven and immediately press an M&M into center of each cookie.
4. Note: If you are using regular M&Ms, you might want to put two M&Ms into each cookie because they're so much smaller.
5. Remove from sheet pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely!

There are so many ways to make your awards show evening a little more fun with M&Ms! Keep your party colorful with M&Ms and some of the ideas I found.

Make a faux red carpet with a red blanket or red paper. That is unless you want to find some red carpet! Place it near your door so when guests arrive they feel pampered right away. Hand out bags of red M&Ms to further spoil your guests. A glamorous red carpet walk has to work up an appetite right?

Play Paparazzi! As your guests arrive, snap their photo as they strike a playful, serious, or hilarious pose. This starts the party off right and serves as a souvenir. Photo bombs are encouraged! Glue yellow M&Ms to paper plates in the shape of stars or use them to fill vases for props in your paparazzi photos.

Play movie trivia! Use the same categories as the awards, using M&Ms as the prizes for the winners!

Print off ballots! Have everybody pick their choices for top winners. Keep a tally and hand out prizes for who guesses the most right.

Play a game with the adults. Plan what you'll drink to such as everytime somebody says "what are you wearing" or that their award is "so unexpected". Alternatively, play an M&M eating game with the children. Eat a green M&M whenever somebody accepting an award is wearing green and so on. Of course everybody should eat or drink when someone wants to "thank the Academy".

Practice accepting your award. Use a bag of M&Ms in place of the golden statuette. Who would you want to thank?

Remember to have plenty of snacks on hand both sweet and savory. Discussing who should win for Best Actor or Best Animated Feature shouldn't be done on an empty stomach. Consider serving a variety of finger foods such as chips & dips, crackers and cheese, and veggies. Appetizers such as mozzarella sticks, little smokies, and chicken wings are always a crowd pleaser. Popcorn is a movie must! Offer plain, buttered, or toss in some M&Ms for a deliciously salty sweet treat.

Follow M&M’S on Social Media for more great ideas!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mms
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mmschocolate
Instagram: http://instagram.com/mmschocolate

What are your favorite award show or movie night traditions?