I suffer from Christmas cookie envy. I love the beautiful decorated versions that probably take hours to make. Nonetheless, I don't have that kind of time, and the cookies often are tasteless--lovely to look at, but that's all. So, I often opt to make cookies that are simple and taste good rather than the fancier versions. Peanut Butter M&M cookies are great. You can mix them up in 10 minutes and bake them in about the same amount of time. If you'd like, use holiday colored M&Ms. I use what I have. No one has ever complained. They just have another cookie. Often with ice cream...
Peanut Butter M&M Cookies -- Makes about 30
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/2 cup of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 egg
1 cup of flour
1/3 cup of white whole-wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups of peanut M&Ms or similar
2 tablespoons of sugar (optional)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix the sugars, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and egg until thoroughly combined. Stir in the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until just combined. Stir in the peanut M&Ms. Drop dough by 1 1/2 tablespoons on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches in between each cookie. Flatten the dough just a bit with your hand or a glass. Sprinkle a little sugar on the top of each cookie, if you like. Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes until just golden (less time for chewier cookies, more for crunchy ones). Let the cookies cool a few minutes before removing them from the cookie sheets to cool completely.
