Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (Day Eleven)

Okay, this is another super simple cookie, but they are soooooo delicious and easy to make that I had to whip out a batch for Santa!  I got this recipe from a fellow drama mama when we were working the concessions booth during the KLHS run of the production of Phantom of the Opera this past spring.  Her m&m cookies were so popular that we made her keep bringing them each night.  They were a huge seller!  Since the spring, I have probably made these cookies at least six or seven times!

m&m Cookies

1c shortening

1c brown sugar

½ c sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 ¼ c flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

1 bag of m&m’s (recipe said 1 ½ cups but I used a lot more!) 

Blend shortening  & sugars.  Beat in vanilla & eggs.  Mix dry ingredients together.  Add sugar & egg mixture.  Stir in ½ c m&m’s.  Decorate with rest.  So here is the trick – you literally cover the entire blop of dough with m&m’s.  It looks like you could just put 5 or so on top and it will be fine, but the cookies spread when they cook so they look way better if you just cover them with the M&M’s.   Bake 375 degrees.  Normal size cookies I only do for about 8 or 9 minutes – we like them soft!  If you want them really big use ¼ cup of dough per cookie – the batch will only make about 12 or so this way.  If you make them smaller like I did the recipe will yield about 4 dozen.