M&M’s Minis — Page 3

These classic, irresistibly chewy molasses spice cookies are getting a delightfully spooky-cute makeover this Halloween season. They’re everything you love about fall. Rich, deeply spiced, and perfectly soft, but with a mischievous, whimsical festive holiday twist. Chocolate chips peeking out from the dough, candy eyeballs staring back at you like they’re up to no good, and a handful of Milk Chocolate M&M’s Minis for a pop of seasonal color and crunch. These cookies are ready to haunt your cookie jar in the best possible way.

This Halloween, I once again found myself spending a gorgeous morning, standing at my kitchen counter, digging through a bag of M&M’s, sorting them out into several small bowls by color. Only this time around, I was sifting through a 9.40-oz. bag of Milk Chocolate M&M’s Minis, which meant the process took even longer. Long enough that while picking out the orange and green M&M’s needed for this particular cookie recipe, I had the brilliant idea to develop several different recipes that will eventually ensure that I get to use up the entire bag of Milk Chocolate M&M’s Minis, so that there will be no left behind candy stragglers sitting around in my very large, and at this particular moment, very packed “baking jar” filled with lots of random baking add-ins and add-ons.

Now, according to Mars, Inc., each large production batch of M&M’s is blended to specific ratios and mixed thoroughly. However, since individual packages of M&M’s are filled by weight on high-speed equipment, and not by count, it is possible to have an unusual distribution of color. That being said, the above percentages are fairly accurate. How do I know this? Because I actually measured. My particular bag of M&M’s Minis had 2 Tablespoons Blue, 1/4 Cup Red, 1/3 Cup Yellow & Brown Combined, and 1/3 Heaping Cup Orange & Green Combined. So, for this recipe, you’ll need approximately 1/3 Cup Orange & Green. You can add less if your bag is light on those colors, or you can buy two bags of M&M’s Minis just to be on the safe side. Y’all will have to stick around to see what I bake with the remaining color combinations.

Ingredients:

Cookie Dough:

1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 Cup Molasses
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
1 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Pinch of Ground Cloves
Pinch of Freshly Grated Nutmeg

Cookie Add-Ins & Add-Ons:

Edible Candy Eyeballs
1/2 Cup Frozen Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Additional for Decorating)
1/3 Cup Green & Orange Milk Chocolate M&M’s Minis (Separated)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Add the egg, vanilla, and molasses; mix for 1 minute on medium speed.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Add a third of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until just incorporated. Repeat until all of the dry ingredients are just incorporated into the dough. Do not overmix.
Gently fold the chocolate chips and all but two tablespoons of the M&M’s Minis into the cookie dough.
Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough out onto a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Immediately press two edible candy eyeballs down into each cookie, along with a few additional chocolate chips and a few of the remaining orange and green M&M’s Minis.
Allow the cookies to rest for 5 minutes before removing them to a baking rack to finish cooling completely.

Suggestions:

When mixing the cookie dough, make sure to scrape down the bowl as needed to make sure that all of the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
I suggest using frozen chocolate chips in this cookie recipe for two reasons. Adding the frozen chocolate chips to the cookie dough helps to chill down the dough and firm it up. This will help the cookies not to spread as they bake. Adding the frozen chocolate chips to the cookies as a garnish makes them easier to handle, leaving you with less melted chocolate on your fingers.
It is much easier to press the orange and green M&M’s Minis into the baked cookies if you press them in on their sides.
This recipe will yield approximately 28 cookies.
Store the baked cookies in an airtight container between layers of wax paper.
Edible Candy Eyeballs are not the softest cookie decorations in the world. I personally choose to pick them off the cookies and throw them away instead of risking a chipped tooth. You may want to place a wee lil’ note beside the cookies, just so everyone can make their own decision.

Improvements:

If you aren’t a fan of ground cloves or nutmeg, feel free to make these a ground ginger and/or a ground cinnamon cookie only. Simply omit the ground cloves and freshly grated nutmeg.
Add chopped pecans or walnuts to the cookie dough.
Fold roasted salted pepitas into the cookie dough for an added pop of texture and saltiness.
Consider purchasing a large glass jar with a lid to use as a “baking jar” in your kitchen. It’s a great place to store leftover bits of dried fruit, candy, chocolate, or edible holiday decorations. Anchor Hocking makes some great ones that you can find online. Mine is fairly large in size because I bake so often and always seem to find myself with baking leftovers after making a recipe.
CLICK HERE to check out all of our past cookie recipes. Don’t forget to check out our Fall/Autumn/Halloween Cookies section.

Yum

M&M’s Minis Halloween Molasses Spice Cookies

Ingredients:

Cookie Dough:

1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 Cup Molasses
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
1 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Pinch of Ground Cloves
Pinch of Freshly Grated Nutmeg

Cookie Add-Ins & Add-Ons:

Edible Candy Eyeballs
1/2 Cup Frozen Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Additional for Decorating)
1/3 Cup Green & Orange Milk Chocolate M&M's Minis (Separated)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Add the egg, vanilla, and molasses; mix for 1 minute on medium speed.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Add a third of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until just incorporated. Repeat until all of the dry ingredients are just incorporated into the dough. Do not overmix.
Gently fold the chocolate chips and all but two tablespoons of the M&M's Minis into the cookie dough.
Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough out onto a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Immediately press two edible candy eyeballs down into each cookie, along with a few of the remaining orange and green M&M's Minis.
Allow the cookies to rest for 5 minutes before removing them to a baking rack to finish cooling completely.

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