M&M Cookies and a new family member

The past few days have been more than a little hectic. It's been a good sort of hectic for the most part however, just not the sort that lends itself to blog posting. On December 31st, I adopted a puppy from the local humane society. She is a two month old Rottweiler mix named Carly (like the children's book "Good Dog Carl" but feminized) and an adorable ball of nonstop puppy energy (as I write this she's attempting to gnaw on the corner of my laptop). Needless to say, the past few days have been spent wrestling, potty training, petting, and attempting to keep Carly from devouring my entire house rather than cooking. Even though this is a food blog, I can't resist showing her off and posting just a few pictures. They're a bit blurry since she is almost always in motion but, they're what I've got for now.

Here Carly is sitting in my friend Rose's lap gnawing on a stuffed bear that is by now pretty gross looking

And now for the cookies. I made these a few days ago for my brother who is down in the Sacramento area playing in a high school basketball tournament (send him good vibes for me please). Although he was happy to be playing basketball, he was not so thrilled about spending half of his Christmas break away from home. In order to cheer him up, I baked a big batch of m&m cookies for him to take along with him (and of course I saved a few for myself).


I used the Nieman Marcus chocolate chip cookie recipe (leaving out the instant coffee) and used m&m's rather than chocolate chips. I also made the cookies quite a bit smaller than called for in the recipe which decreased the baking time by a bit. Since the recipe is so good, and I did make a few adjustments, I'm posting it here for your baking pleasure. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.



Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from the Neiman Marcus recipe found here)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar (light for a milder flavor or dark, as I prefer, for a stronger hint of molasses)

3 tablespoons raw sugar (alternately you could use regular granulated sugar)

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups White Whole Wheat or Whole Wheat pastry flour (alternately you could use all purpose)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips OR m&m's

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy and light in color (approximately 30 seconds). Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed until fully combined. fold in the chocolate chips/m&m's.

Using a tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 3 inches apart. Bake for about 12 0r 15 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie. Makes approximately 3 1/2 to 4 dozen cookies.