M & M Addict

Someone got into the M&M’s yesterday & it wasn’t me. We won’t name names…

She was trying to be all sneaky about it 😉 She takes after her Granddad, with his love for M & M’s. 🙂

Since they were opened, I figured I would make another Sally recipe that I had been eying – Peanut Butter M & M Cookies. Told you, I cannot get enough of her recipes!

Who doesn’t love the combination of peanut butter & chocolate?! I swear it’s like heaven on earth.

I don’t know about you, but I go through peanut butter like I go through water. It’s bad. But oh so good 😀

You know how I said I love to have easy go to snacks around the house? Well, peanut butter is another one of my favorite snacks. Nothing better than a spoonful of peanut butter to get you through a rough afternoon 😉

As I was reading through her recipe, every ingredient just kept getting better. Brown sugar, peanut butter & M & Ms….Oh my!

I showed Gabriella the batter…and this was her reaction:

She started licking her fingers. She was pretending it was the cookie dough.

Then I did something really mean.

Bad Mommy.

She really just wanted to take her bath in the batter, but I told her I didn’t think that was a good idea.

She was mad at me for the rest of the day.

One day, Gabriella, one day. 😀

Anyways, I can’t rave enough about these cookies. I took one bite, and they immediately reminded me of cookies from Great American Cookie Co.(the batter even looks like the picture below!)

Do those even exist anymore?? I remember I used to LOVE the cheesecake brownie from there, which was weird because I don’t even like cheesecake. But for years I have been trying to find the ‘copycat’ recipe for those delicious brownies.

But their cookies were ALWAYS so soft & chewy, which are the best kind of cookies in my opinion. Those people that like hard, crunchy cookies make me wonder about them. 😉

I followed Sally’s recipe exactly and I wouldn’t change a thing. They are PERFECT the way they are.

Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

makes 3 dozen cookies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened to room temperature*
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 and 1/2 cups M&Ms

Directions

In a large bowl, using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed.  Mix in the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla (in that order). Slowly mix in the baking soda and flour. Do not overmix.  Fold in the M&Ms with a wooden spoon.  Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop chilled dough by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet or silpat.  I pressed a few M&Ms on top of the dough balls.  Press the balls down (only slightly) since they won’t spread much while baking.  Bake for 8-9 minutes.  Cookies will be soft and may appear undone.  They will firm up as they cool.

Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy!

*You may use unsalted butter in this recipe.  If so, add 1/4 tsp salt with the flour.

RECIPE SOURCE: SALLYSBAKINGADDICTION.COM

And the ONLY possible way to make these cookies any better is to serve them with a tall, cold glass of milk.

That’s one thing G & I definitely agree on! 😀

A Guilt Free Dessert Recipe

**Edited to add: Sorry if you saw/ received this post yesterday afternoon. It was not supposed to publish until this morning.**

I don’t know about you, but I’m always trying to find recipes for ‘healthier’ desserts. I don’t want them to be too healthy (like an apple for dessert?! NO WAY jose!), because what’s the fun in that!? 😉 But I also don’t want to eat a huge piece of rich pie every night. I need something in between. I want something that can satisfy my sweet tooth, yet not cause me to regret eating it.

I happen to be browsing the internet for a chocolate chip cookie recipe when Katie’s ‘World’s Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.’ I mean how could you go wrong with the WORLD’s healthiest?!?

I thought I would give it a try, but because I was feeling lazy & didn’t want to make individual cookies, I just doubled the recipe & made chocolate chip cookie bars.

I did change the recipe a bit, but it is based off of Katie’s recipe that you can find here! I added some chia seeds & flax seeds to the mix, because well I love the additional texture & the added health benefits. (& you can’t taste them, so why not add them in?!)

Guilt Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
(Recipe adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie)

• 1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup flour
• 1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda (not baking powder)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, depending on your preference
• 1/4 cup + 1T brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. chia seeds
• 1 tbsp. flax seeds (whole or ground)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2T vegetable oil (or pre-melted margarine)
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup nondairy milk, as needed (if it is too dry, you will need to add milk)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix your dry ingredients, then add in wet.
3. Pour into a greased 8×8 pan.

(you can probably see the little chia seeds in there!)
4. Bake 22- 25 minutes.
5. Let cool, then cut into 9- 12 pieces.

Now because I was making this recipe to kind of ‘test out’ on Craig, I decided to ‘spice’ it up a bit. I added a tiny bit of chocolate sauce, and then about a teaspoon of melted peanut butter as a topping. I figured this could totally fool him, since he always turns his nose up to ‘healthier’ desserts.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. He had no idea! I think the only thing that might of lead him to believe it was ‘healthier’ was the addition of chia & flax seeds..since most desserts don’t really have a crunch to them. 🙂

I made this for Valentine’s day dessert, since we ‘celebrated’ our Valentine’s on Saturday night. It was the perfect ending to our at home Valentine’s night! 🙂 (Oh & I made this recipe for dinner with spaghetti squash for me & angel hair pasta for Craig…SO GOOD- highly recommended!)

The best part about this recipe is that YES, it tastes DELICIOUS & it satisfies that little sweet tooth. (or big sweet tooth 😉 ) But you also do NOT have to feel guilty after eating it. You might think it’s high in calories, since it tastes decadent, but it’s NOT! Winning.

Another thing that I loved about this recipe is that I didn’t just use any old chocolate chips. I used Dark Chocolate Morsels from Nestle.

I love those little things!! I had to try my best to keep my hand out of the bag while I was baking these bars. 🙂

I think these bars would also be delicious with peanut butter added INTO the dough before baking. I might just have to try that next time.

Enjoy your day!!

What is your favorite ‘healthier’ dessert?? (feel free to link away 🙂 )