Alan's Favorite Junk Cookies

I'm taking a bit of a mini-break vacation this weekend (to be completely British about things) and while I'm gone, my friend Jen has agreed to do a guest blog for me.  Please welcome Jen!

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I was so excited when Melissa asked me to write a guest blog for her while she is away on vacation. Well, let me correct that. I asked, and she accepted. So, not quite the begging at my doorstep that I was expecting.  But I digress.  Moving on:

Anyone that knows my husband probably knows that he is not a fan of sweets. He won’t even eat cake on his birthday! Sacrilege, I know!!  But, what very few people know is that he does have a sweet spot for chocolate chip cookies, and the ones I'm about to show you are his very favorite. I have seen this recipe called cowboy cookies several places, although I have no idea why. I usually call them junk cookies, cause they have A LOT of junk in them, but mostly in our house we call them Alan’s favorite cookie. They are super easy to make, extremely versatile, and so delicious!

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and oats.

Now here comes the fun part. You will see that the recipe calls for M&M's and chocolate chips. But you can really add in anything that you want here. When I made this batch my husband was feeling a bit under the weather, so I let him have free reign of the ingredients. And here is what he chose:

That’s right, Peanut and Pretzel M&M’s.  I was a little skeptical at first, but it is what he wanted. As for the chocolate chips, I just read an article that said that the perfect chocolate chip cookie was made with chocolate chunks and not chocolate chips! Who knew? So, I figured I would give it a shot. I bought one bar of Semi-Sweet Ghirardelli chocolate and chopped it up.

Then, measure out the M&M's.

And add everything to the bowl.

It is beginning to look like a party in there!

Next, add the sugars.

And the chopped pecans. (You can, of course, leave these out if you have an allergy or an aversion to pecans)

Then, mix all of the dry ingredients together until they are all well incorporated.

That should do.

Now, add in the egg.

The vanilla

And the stick of melted butter. Yes, you read that correctly. The STICK of melted butter….mmmmm…..

Mix everything together. You can try using a spoon, but I have found that this cookie dough is so lumpy that the very best things to mix it all together are the kitchen utensils that Mother Nature provided: your hands. 

Then take the cookie dough, again easiest in your hands, and roll it into 1-1 ½ inch balls. Of course, you can size up or down depending on your preference.  Place these on your cookie sheet.

And bake for 10-12 minutes.

Deliciousness!!

Is it just me, or is there nothing happier in the world than a plate of chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven? By the way, the husband's verdict on this selection of ingredients? “Mmmrph good!” which I am pretty sure translates into, “They are good!”

Also, turns out that the saltiness of the pretzel M&M’s in this recipe is genius. It really counterbalances the sweetness. And I don’t know who decided that chocolate chunks are better than the chips, but I will say that I whole heartedly agree and that all future chocolate chip cookie recipes will be made this way.

Enjoy!!

 Shopping list for Alan’s Favorite Cookie: (Make 2-3 dozen)

• 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup & leveled
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cooking oats
• 3/4 cup M&M's
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 egg - slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup butter melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla