Christmas M&M Cookies

Merry Christmas Eve! Here is a last minute cookie idea for your holiday baking.

One thing I have not been able to do much this month is bake. I've had a fairly busy month at work, and by the time I get home, baking is not what I want to do. It's kind of sad because Christmas cookie baking has always been one of my favorite traditions of Christmas. Sometimes it stinks being an adult and not having the time to do the things you want to do.

Okay, sorry about the pity party. This month has just flown by too fast for me to enjoy it! Thankfully I'll have a little time off these next couple of days and next week so I can do some late, holiday baking.

I did manage to bake these beautiful cookies for a Christmas party and Christmas program this last weekend. I decided to freeze an extra batch and baked some this afternoon for one our of Christmas dinners.

M&M cookies are one of my favorites and come in to a close second to my all time favorite: chocolate chip. For this recipe, I use my absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I combine mini chips and holiday M&M's to create a beautiful Christmas cookie.

Christmas M&M Cookies

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup shortening
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 1 cup mini-chocolate chips
• 1-12 ounce bag holiday M&M baking bits

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Set aside.
2. Using a hand or stand mixer (or a bit of elbow grease), cream butter and shortening together until combined. About one minute. Add the sugars and cream for an additional 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in the eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated and fluffy. Stir in dry ingredients until combined, do not over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips and M&M's
3. Roll cookie dough into tablespoon size balls. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes. Move cookies to a wire baking rack to cool.

Yields: About 5 dozen cookies

 Thank you for visiting and reading my blog! I appreciate all of my Tasteful Cuisine followers.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas! 

Here is another Christmas cookie favorite...

Christmas Trees 

 

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Moist banana muffins filled with juicy blueberries. Grandma's recipe for banana bread makes the perfect, quick breakfast!

I didn't mean to stay away from my blog for so long...It's been a busy couple of weeks! I've begun baking Christmas goodies and will have recipes to share soon. For now, I have this delicious muffin recipe.

This recipe is one I adapted from Grandmother. I have two great recipes for banana bread from both grandmother's (you can find the other banana bread recipe here). This recipe is from my paternal grandmother and is very rich and buttery. She always baked this in a loaf pan (since it is a bread recipe) but I occasionally will bake them as muffins to save time and give us something more "portable" to eat for breakfast. The recipe doesn't make a "pretty" bakery style muffin but once you bite into it, you won't care how it looks. The bananas create such a moist muffin that get softer the longer you store them. I love adding fresh blueberries to the bread but the bread is great on it's own as well.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

• 3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
• 3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature and beaten (Grandma's original recipe calls for 2, but I prefer to use 1)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, sour cream or Greek yogurt (I've tried all three and they all work fine)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6-8 ounces of fresh blueberries

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffins tins with cooking spray, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, mix together the mashed bananas, sugar, and butter until smooth and velvety. Stir in the eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk until well combined. Fold in the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Do not over mix. Stir in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-28 minutes until muffins are golden brown and inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before serving or storing.

Note 1: Want to bake this in a loaf pan? Grease or spray a loaf pan and bake at 350 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until golden brown and inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes for inverting onto a cooling rack. 

Note 2: Overripe bananas are always best for banana bread. Bananas not ripened yet? Line bananas on a rimmed baking sheet (still in their peel) and bake in a 300 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. The peel should be lightly brown or have brown spots. Allow bananas to cool completely before peeling and mashing for the bread.

Adapted from my Grandmother

Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited. Thanksgiving combines two of my favorite things: food and family. There's nothing like sitting around the table and sharing a delicious meal with those you are closest to.

While, I do not host a Thanksgiving dinner. I do have three family thanksgiving dinners to attend. I'll be making pies and side dishes for all three of them! I don't have a large repertoire on my blog yet, but I thought I'd share a few of my Thanksgiving recipes.

No Thanksgiving is complete without a pie. Here is my go to pie crust recipe:

Pie Crust

Making pumpkin pie and want to make your own pumpkin puree? It's so easy!

Pumpkin Puree 

This is the traditional pie recipe that I use:

Pumpkin Pie

Or maybe you prefer to be nontraditional and skip the pie. Here is a delicious recipe for pumpkin roll.

Pumpkin Roll

I recently tried this pumpkin pie recipe and it was superb!

This is my favorite recipe for stuffing. It can be prepared  a day ahead and refrigerated until you're ready to bake it.

Need a way to use up leftover stuffing? Try it with my chicken and stuffing casserole.

Baked Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!