Okay, so all the websites, magazines, newspaper lifestyle sections, and instagram postings show wonderful pictures of beautiful, seemingly freshly baked cookies ranging from the weird artisan types--chipotle mango coffee crisps--to the kind your grandma used to make--crispy oatmeal with coconut. No, pressure, but you need to take cookies in to work tomorrow. Or you need to supply cookies for your book club, daughter's dance team, fill in the blank....Meanwhile, back in real life, you just got home, have dinner to get, and it's almost 7:30 PM. What to do? Never mind the weird cookies. People won't eat them anyway. Grandma, unfortunately, isn't nearby and can't help you. Feel free to haul out the packaged cookie mix. It will be fine, and no, you don't need to feel guilty. Besides, many of the packaged mixes turn out really good cookies, and, if you must, you can always stuff the empty package in the bottom of the trash can and not tell. Wonder woman had to focus on pulling on her tights, not on heavy traffic coming home from work, feeding her family, chasing the dog that just escaped when your son's friend left the front door open, or making cookies for the holiday party tomorrow. Oh, and don't forget to pay the bills tonight. Wonder woman probably had it easy with the tights. So, go ahead. Make the cookies from the mix. And enjoy one warm with a cup of tea (really, though don't forget to pay the bills first!).
Peanut Butter and Peanut M&M Cookies -- Makes 12-18
1 package of peanut butter cookie mix (I like Betty's)
Whatever the back of the cookie package calls for--usually an egg, 2 tablespoons of water, and 2
tablespoons of oil
1 cup of peanut M&Ms
Preheat the oven to whatever the package says -- usually 350-375 degrees--and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Mix the cookies according to the package directions. Dump in the M&Ms, saving 3 for you to eat, because you need to make sure they're good. Mix the M&Ms into the dough well and plop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, portioning about 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie and flattening the dough out evenly into little disks with your fingers (you want bigger cookies, because they be soft and chewy in the center). Don't put more than 9 cookies on each cookie sheet. The cookies will spread. Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes until barely done. Leave the cookies on the cookie sheets for a few minutes before trying to remove them to cool completely. The cookies will harden up as they cool. Take one cookie, put it on a little plate, get your tea, and take a few minutes to enjoy your freshly baked cookie. Umm...did you shove the cookie mix package all the way to the bottom of the trash can???
