M & M Cookies

These M & M Cookies are almost a guaranteed favorite with kids of all ages. I made some of these cookies, and some Snickerdoodles, a week ago for our church Christmas program and they were a hit. I used the Christmas red and green colored M & M's so the cookies would be festive. I always keep a good handful of the candies out of the mix, and then poke them onto the cookies before they are popped into the oven. This insures that there will candies on the top. This recipe came out of an old church cookbook of mine, like some other of my favorite recipes. M & M cookies were always one of our kids favorite cookies, any time of year. I have other cookie recipes here. I hope you'll give them a try as they are crispy around the edges, but soft and chewy in the center. That's a winner!
Sorry for my blogging absence for the last couple of weeks. My husband and I went on a short trip to Branson, Missouri, and I've had trouble getting back into the swing of cooking regularly, with the trip and the lull after Thanksgiving. But I'm back now, just in time for Christmas. Only one week left! Are you all ready?

M & M COOKIES ( called Party Cookies in my cookbook)

1 cup butter- softened to room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 1/4 cup sifted all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (3/4 pound) plain M & M candies- I use the whole bag

In a large bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together. Beat in the vanilla and the eggs. In another bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix together. Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, about 1/3 at a time. Blend well after each addition. Stir in about half of the candies. Drop rounded tablespoons full of dough on ungreased cookie sheet. Place several candies on each round of cookie dough. Doing this makes sure that each cookie will have M & M's on top. (But you can just dump all the candies in the cookie batter if you prefer).

Bake cookies in a preheated 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets and cool on racks. Enjoy!