Today is Independence Day, July 4th, the day families and loved ones gather, cook delicious meals on the grill, and settle in to watch the firework display.
I have many fond memories growing up in Panama City where we’d take our boat and head to the cove across from the downtown marina where the city would provide the firework display. We’d drop the anchor and hang in the cove, eat fried chicken or barbecue pork sandwiches complete with all the fixings. Of course, we had icy cold watermelon straight from a local farm. We’d swim around the boat waiting on the big show while fishes nibbled on our toes. Such a fun time!
These days, fireworks are everywhere in the Atlanta area. For sale, I mean. There are booths everywhere so anyone can purchase them. Which means anyone can shoot them off and trust me, EVERYONE does. Our neighborhood usually has a few folks every year in different parts of the neighborhood, all vying for the unofficial “best show ever” title. It’s amazing.
With the holiday festivities, there is always good food to be cooked and eaten. These cookies are ideal for the occasion. M&M’s come in all colors for all holidays, it seems. The red, white, and blue combination offered this time of year is perfect! Obviously, the recipe below can be used anytime of the year with any color combination of M&M’s. It’s truly the best cookie, well, short of the classic chocolate chip cookie.
Try them, you’ll see what I’m talking about.
M & M Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12 oz package M&Ms® plain chocolate candies
- 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. Blend in flour mixture slowly. Stir in M & M’s and nuts.
- Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake 8-11 minutes until browned. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; place on wire racks.
- Makes about 3 dozen 2-inch cookies.
