SMARTIES COOKIES

These are more than smart but you can always use M&Ms, since Smarties [along with Coffee Crisp, Ketchup Chips and Pilot Cookies] are only available in Canada. We learned those sad facts when half of our family moved from the Great White North to California. There are oodles of M&M cookie recipes, but guaranteed none as good as this one. I am not a candy fan, but I found these cookies truly amazing. I knew I would eventually find a way to use up the Halloween candies! Much of it has to do with the technique of scooping up the dough and plunking it down on the baking sheet. Never roll it into a ball! Plus it has something to do with the size, as the size of the cookies make a huge difference in the resulting texture and flavour. So if these are too large for you, cut them in half after the fact, rather than before. There is a reason why those large gourmet cookies from the bakery taste so good.

Speaking of the Great White North, the snow almost melted here in the West, while our Eastern friends and most of Central Canada is still in the grip of winter. One more month, I keep telling myself, one more month and its spring, my favorite time of the year!

SMARTIES COOKIES

1/2 cup soft butter

1/2+1/8 cup sugar

1/8 cup light brown sugar 

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1-1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp soda [no more]

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups Smarties or M&Ms

• Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• In a large bowl beat the butter, sugars, vanilla and the egg until fluffy.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, soda and salt.
• Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir to combine.
• With a light hand, yes hand, stir in the Smarties.
• Loosely scoop up a chunk of dough , still using the hand, and plunk it down on the prepared cookie sheet at 2 -3 inch intervals. It is crucial not to squeeze the dough at any time. Don’t shape it at all. It will settle into a lovely round shape as long as you leave space between the cookies to grow.
• Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edge.
• Allow the cookies to solidify before moving them onto a wire rack to cool.
• Makes 1 dozen.