Totoro Family Recipes: M&M Cookies

If I had to choose one recipe to fully represent our family kitchen... it would be M&M cookies.

I fondly remember helping my mother decorate the tops of these colorful morsels.

I relished the opportunity to share this tradition with my eldest when she was old enough to participate (I think the first attempt was when she was about 18 months old).

And we now have three generations of Totoro women making these traditional cookies for the holidays.


I prefer to use the original "Toll House Cookie" recipe my mom saved... as the extra flour make for a denser cookie and one that holds the M&M decorations in place.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter (or shortening)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 well beaten eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup+ M&Ms

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, vanilla, and sugars.
2. Add beaten eggs and blend thoroughly.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
5. Stir in the M&Ms.
6. Drop by teaspoon full on greased baking sheet.
7. Decorate top of each cookie with 3 M&Ms.
8. Bake at 375 for approximately 10-12 minutes.

While we always make these cookies during the Christmas holidays, the special holiday M&Ms make this a festive cookie anytime: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentines, Easter, St. Patrick's Day...

This post is part of BethFishRead's Weekend Cooking Link-Up. For more delicious recipes, please visit her weekly blog feature.