M&M Cookies

I'm not a big fan of the M&M.  I prefer that my candy not crunch.  I like to bite into a piece of good quality dark chocolate and perhaps hear that "snap!" as your teeth plunge into the deep, dark deliciousness.  I have to remind myself sometimes that most of what I cook or bake is eaten by children and not adults and therefore, I should select recipes based on their tastes and preferences rather than on mine.  It's the grown-up, adult thing to do.  Even if only once in a while.

These M&M cookies are just the ticket for any gathering where there will be lots of children.  The colorful M&M's are fun and festive and if it's a holiday, the good people at M&M/Mars are nice enough to color coordinate their M&M's to fit just about any time of the year! 

I brought a big plate of these to the bowling alley recently when our Sunday school class had a family bowling party.  I'd venture to say that more adults than children ate these cookies, if for no other reason than the adults didn't let the children know the cookies were even there!  (Marla, I know this was your intention.)

This recipe makes a great big batch, so you can easily halve the recipe.  Or do like I do; go ahead and mix it all up and then just bake what you need for now and then scoop up the remainder of the dough onto a lined cookie sheet, pop it in the freezer and once the little globs are frozen, pop them into a freezer bag and keep in the freezer until the next time you "need" cookies!

M & M Cookies

Here's What You Need:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 cups creamy peanut butter

3 eggs

1 teaspoon light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups oats

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups M & M's

Here's What You Do:

Cream the butter on medium speed with an electric mixer.  Gradually add the brown sugar and sugar until well-beaten.  Add the peanut butter, eggs, corn syrup and vanilla.  Turn the mixer on medium and beat until combined.  Add the oats, baking soda and salt.  Stir well.  Add the M & M's.  The dough will be very stiff.

Drop the dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for anywhere from 10-15 minutes.  The size of the cookies will determine how long to bake them.  As is my standard, under bake the cookies so you'll end up with softer, chewier cookies.

I tore this recipe out of an issue of Southern Living three or four years ago.  It's a recipe that's been circulating around for many years now.  You'll get at least 4 dozen cookies from this recipe, more if you make them smaller.