In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder & salt. Set aside
In your mixer bowl with paddle attachment - beat butter until soft.
Add sugar & beat until light & fluffy.
Add in eggs one at a time - beating after each one.
Add vanilla
Add dry mixture & beat until just combined.
Remove half the dough & wrap in plastic wrap. Flatten out to 4x4" piece & refrigerate.
With remaining dough beat in food color to your desired pigment. I added close to 50 drops of gel color to achieve this red.
*Note - adding this much color will make your dough sticky. You may want to add in a tablespoon or two of flour to keep it more firm & easier to work with later.
Remove red dough & separate into 2 equal parts. Wrap with plastic & refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
After your dough has chilled - remove one of the red dough packs
Place between 2 layers of parchment & roll to a large rectangle
Remove top layer of parchment & roll dough into a log. This will be your center piece.
Wrap with parchment & place in freezer while you work with the next layer.
Remove your white dough from refrigerator & roll out in the same manner you did the first batch. Once you have a thin, even rectangle - place your red log on the white dough & roll into a larger log.
Follow these steps for the final red dough.
When you are done you should have a large red log with the centers looking like a bulls-eye.
Preheat oven to 350 conventional/ 325 convection
Line 2 - 3/4 baking sheets with parchment
Take your log & slice it into 1/4 inch rounds - I like to use unwaxed/unflavored dental floss to cut through the dough. This helps it keep it's shape when cutting.
Place on baking sheet 2 inches apart to allow for spread.
Bake 9-11 minutes
While they are baking you can separate our your blue M&M's from the package so you have them ready.
Immediately when you remove from oven - place your blue M&M's in the center before the cookies cool.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container for storage.