Christmas Cookie #5: Holiday M&M

I love holiday M&Ms. I don't know why but I just feel like they taste better than normal M&Ms, which already taste awesome. As soon as those bags of red and green goodness hit store shelf, I always want to make a batch of M&M cookies and it's a treat that I make at least once every holiday season. These cookies are super simple, festive, and always a hit whenever I take them anywhere.

You can make M&M cookies by just swapping out the chocolate chips for M&Ms in your normal chocolate chip cookie recipe, however, I typically use a different recipe for my M&M cookies. This recipe that I got from my mother-in-law uses shortening instead of butter, and that helps the cookie turn out a little bit less flat, which I think helps to better accommodate the distribution of the M&Ms throughout the cookies.

M&M Cookies

1 cup shortening (you can use 1 cup of butter, but the cookies will come out more flat)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips or m&m's

Heat oven to 375 degrees

Cream shortening, sugars, egg, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Sift together dry ingredients: stir into cream mixture: blend well. Add chocolate.

Drop from teaspoon 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from sheet immediately.

Makes 3 dozen.

Whip up a batch of these this week and your family and friends will thank you. Plus Santa told me that they're his favorite, so there's that too...only a few more days 'til Christmas! I've got another holiday post coming your way this afternoon...see you then! Xoxo