Not to brag, but I make good cookies. REALLY GOOD COOKIES. It’s the one thing that I know I can bake really well without fail. I have lived many different places and all of my past neighbors around the globe can attest that my cookies are exceptional. They know because I always share with them. If I don’t give some cookies away then I’ll eat them all myself, and that never ends well.

I grew up with three older sisters who loved to bake. I have pictures of me making cookies with them, even while wearing a diaper, so they started me young! In the pictures we are putting balls of dough onto the cookie sheet – my sisters’ dough balls are perfectly sized and shaped well while mine are little uneven gobs. I’m glad my sisters let me practice with them when I was young even though I know I only made their job harder.

M&M Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies_City Nibbler_New York

Jimmy’s school had a fall family potluck on Friday night and every family was asked to bring a dish that represents their culture or their family traditions. The first thing that came to mind was cookies. I am an American girl through and through, and I love a good homemade cookie. What screams America more than M&M chocolate chip oatmeal cookies? Nothing in my opinion, well, as far as desserts go. I knew that I needed to make them.

Even though blogging about favorite recipes isn’t my focus on City Nibbler, I thought I’d shake it up a bit tonight and share my favorite cookie recipe with you. It is a recipe from my sister’s neighbor in Idaho named, Lizzie. She makes fabulous cookies and is nice enough to share her recipe with anyone who asks, including me. I am putting this blog post in the “Things I Love” category because I LOVE THESE COOKIES with all my heart.

M&M Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies_City Nibbler_New York City

My Grandma’s Mixer

My mixer is very special to me. This mixer was my Grandma’s. Her name was Hannah, Hannah Young. She made so many delicious treats and goodies inside of this little white vintage Kitchen Aid mixer that now sits on my NYC countertop in my very small NYC kitchen. When she died, nobody wanted her mixer, so of course I claimed it. I already had my own Kitchen Aid mixer, but I knew that this one was really special. Not only was it my Grandma’s which makes it special in itself, but It’s an older version of the Kitchen Aid and is so well built, even better than my modern one. This thing is a tank, and it still runs as well as the day my Grandma bought it. Two mixers are better than one right? i mean. . . double the cookies!

Memories of My Grandma

Every time that I use this mixer I think of my Grandma – Her genuine love and connection to all babies and kids, her medical bed with built in massagers that tickled my back when I laid on it, her Tupperware of mini marshmallows that I snuck by climbing on the countertop to the top kitchen cabinet and stuffing them into my mouth before she noticed, her “special children’s books” that only she was allowed to read with me (pop-up books and turn-the-flap pages that she didn’t want ripped), her family tradition of holding hands around the table before meals and saying a blessing of thanks over the food, her love of ham spread with crackers, and her pink house that was just down the road from mine where every room was decorated with elephants and wind chimes sung in the breeze. I remember her making peanut brittle, divinity, fruitcake, and sugar cookies during the holidays, I’m sure in this mixer. My grandma had a wild temper which flared up on occasion, but she also had a compassionate loving side that I remember so well. I felt it when my 7-year-old self fell off the rolling chair and hit my head on the hard tile kitchen floor while using her wooden dial-up telephone box that hung on her wall. That old phone was just too fascinating, and my curiosity got the best of me.

M&M Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup softened butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs (room temperature)

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups oats (half quick oats, half rolled oats)

1/2 bag chocolate chips

1/2 bag M&M’s

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with a half-sheet of parchment paper. I love these ones from King Arthur Flour.

Cream softened butter with sugars in the mixture until light in color and fluffy, scraping down the bowl occasionally as you go. In a small bowl, slightly beat eggs with a fork. Add the vanilla to the eggs and beat the vanilla into the eggs. Add the eggs to the creamed mixture, incorporating all together.

Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add all dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, but don’t fully mix. Add the chocolate chips and M&M’s and continue mixing until all the flour is incorporated.

I recommend refrigerating the dough for 20 - 30 minutes if you have the time. Press dough down in the mixing bowl so it’s nice and flat on the top, cover with plastic wrap, and stick in the fridge.

Using a large cookie scoop, I love this one from Pampered Chef, create even balls, scooping cookie dough 2 -inches apart onto the cookie sheet lined with ungreased parchment paper. If desired, press one or two M&M’s on the top of each cookie.

Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes, just until slightly browned. Don’t overbake! The key to good cookies is slightly underbaking them, so they stay soft when they cool. Leave cookies on cookie sheet for 2 - 3 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Notes:

*I like using half quick oats and half rolled oats for the best texture and chewiness. However, these cookies will work using all rolled oats or all quick oats if that’s all you have on hand. I love oatmeal in cookies. It makes them heartier and a little more healthy too!

*It’s fun to use the seasonal M&M’s depending upon the time of year that you are making these. The fall colored M&M’s are fun to use during Halloween and Thanksgiving, and the red and green ones are perfect for Christmas. I would recommend only using plain milk chocolate M&M’s, not peanut or other varieties.

*I know some people roll their eyes when the recipe says to refrigerate the dough. I know the feeling! Patience my friend. I promise the cookies always turn out better when you do this step. If you are in a total rush, then skip it and start baking.

*Feel free to use semi-sweet chocolate chips OR milk chocolate chips in this recipe. Whatever you prefer is fine. I like the semi-sweet myself because they balance out the sweetness of the milk chocolate in the M&M’s.

Recipe Source:

Recipe is adapted slightly from my sister’s neighbor, Lizzie. Thanks for sharing!