Oatmeal M&M Cookies

One of my favorite things to bake is cookies but, most of my favorite recipes make 3 or 4 or more dozen cookies. Not really practical if only one or two people are trying to eat them. You either are soo bored of the cookies by the time you finish the batch or they become so stale you end up tossing them. Or you gorge on them and eat way too many the day you made them. In any case making 36 or so cookies just doesn't work for the small household.

That is the very reason I started tracking down some basic small batch cookie recipes which I have been playing with to replicate the cookies I already love to bake. My main rule is that the recipe can make no more than 12 cookies. The first cookie recipe I have for you is my Oatmeal M&M Cookies. We love this recipe and I think it turns out better than my original one that made a huge batch. This recipe makes between 9 and 11 cookies for me, depending on how big I make them.

On the subject of how big to make them, I started using a cookie scoop years ago and I always portion my cookie dough this way. Basically a cookie scoop is a small ice cream scoop. My favorite one holds just about a Tablespoon if you fill it level with the edge. For most cookies I scoop a bit more than what fits in the scoop, kind of like I do when I scoop ice cream with my larger scoop. If you don't already have one of these scoops I do recommend going out to find one.

The other thing I find especially useful in baking on a small scale is a set of measuring spoons that includes an 1/8 teaspoon. I really find this to be a necessary tool in my small scale baking.

So let's get to this recipe.

Oatmeal M&M Cookies

3 tablespoons butter (the real stuff, salted) softened

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 egg yolk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt (since I only use Kosher salt I use a heaped 1/8 teaspoon)

½ cup old fashioned rolled oats (quick oats will work but I prefer the texture of the old fashioned)

1 (3.14 oz) package M&M's- mine was labeled as “sharing size”

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium size bowl cream the butter and the sugars together until light and fluffy using a hand held mixer.

Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix until well combined.

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir well to combine then add to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix until everything is well combined.

Add the oatmeal and M&Ms and stir just until well combined. This step is best done by hand so you don't break up the candy pieces.

Using a cookie scoop or spoons, scoop the cookie dough onto the parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for around 10 minutes, until the cookies are just browning. 10 minutes is how long my oven takes, yours may vary so you should probably check at 9 minutes and know it might take up to 11 minutes all together to cook in your oven.

Leave on the hot cookie sheet to cool for 5 minutes then move to a cooling rack until completely cooled.

Now sit back with a nice hot cup of your favorite beverage (mine is coffee) and enjoy a couple of those wonderful cookies while they are still warm.