Oatmeal M&M Cookies, Where M&M Stands for Mmmmmmm

M&Ms are one of my favorite things to put in cookies. And the M&M cookie at Diddy Riese near UCLA is one of my all-time favorites!

M&Ms are also great eaten straight out of the bag. (Stating the obvious.) But I was feeling like baking, and I view candy as a baking ingredient as much as it is a treat on its own. I'm funny like that. You'd be surprised to see my liquor cabinet. It's pretty extensive. I mean, for someone who is not a big drinker, my liquor cabinet is impressive and actually shocking. People come over and see my booze and jump to ALLLLLL the wrong conclusions. That stuff is 99% for baking! Ok, and maybe on occasion I'll have a shot while I'm in the kitchen.

When I'm browsing at the grocery store, I often look at ingredients as "baking potential" as opposed to stand-alone stuff. You should try that method of thinking sometime. Go to your local grocer and view everything with a different eye - a baker's hat, if you will. You'll be surprised the sort of fun things you'll discover. Pinenuts in biscotti? Sure! Crushed potato chips in chocolate chip cookies? Yes, please! Thinking with your "baking potential" brain on means entertaining DIY projects. Brilliant ideas. Delicious baked goods-in-the-making.

But back to M&Ms. It is no surprise to anyone that M&Ms lend themselves well to baking. So today, I stuck them in oatmeal cookies from my new Williams-Sonoma Baking Book.

Oatmeal M&M Cookies
Adapted from a recipe in The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Approximately 1 cup M&Ms (or more...or less...whatever you want!)

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Remove from the heat and stir in the granulated sugar and brown sugar (I used a big wooden spoon). Then add the egg and vanilla and stir until fully incorporated.

Over a sheet of wax paper, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Carefully pour the sifted ingredients into a bowl and stir to blend. Add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, and stir to combine, then stir in the oats, walnuts, and M&Ms. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease 2 baking sheets.

Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to drop tablespoon-size balls of dough onto the cookie sheets, spaced evenly apart (about 2 inches because the dough will spread). Use a metal spatula or the bottom of a glass to flatten each ball of dough to about 1/3-inch thick disk.

Bake the cookies for about 11-15 minutes, until golden brown. Err on the side of underbaking, especially if you want a chewy cookie. Remove from oven and let cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to finish cooling.

Step-by-Step in Pictures

Melt the butter in a saucepan, remove from heat, and stir in the granulated and brown sugars...

Stir in the vanilla and egg...

Sift the dry ingredients together and stir to blend...

Add the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar-egg mixture...

Stir in the oats and walnuts...

Stir in the M&Ms...

Cover the bowl and chill in the fridge for an hour...

Shape the dough into balls...

Place evenly apart on the baking sheet and press the tops down with the back of a glass or a metal spatula...

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 11 minutes...

Enjoy!