Chewy and delicious, these M&M Cookies with Shortening are made with M&MS candies and are perfect for holiday parties. These cookies are bite-sized, perfect for a crowd, and will make even Santa smile. You can substitute M&Ms for chocolate chips as well!
Lately I have been practicing intermittent fasting which has me eating between the hours of 12pm and 8pm. To say it has been easy would be a lie. Some days the time flies by and I am not even hungry and other days like today- I am starving.
All the yummy foodie pics on Instagram were not helping either so I decided to bake some M&M Cookies with Shortening.
Why you ask? Well for one, when I cook or bake it curbs my appetite, and secondly Christmas is in a five whole days. I needed to make a test run of 48 cookies to see if they were “suitable” enough for Santa.
Let’s just say after 2 cookies, Santa will surely approve.
For this batch of M&M Cookies, I used shortening. Vegetable shortening makes the BEST chocolate chip, nut, or M&M cookies in my opinion. The dough does not need to be refrigerated, and the chances of burning your cookies is slightly reduced when you used shortening (and of course monitor your cookies).
Personally, I love a slightly soft, and chewy cookie. When I use shortening, I get that result. My cookies cool quick and they sink in a bit and become chewy. I pictured (below) a still warm cookie I bitten into and it was slightly gooey still which I LOVE!!
I like to buy the large tubs of Crisco at the market or Amazon this time of year because I do so much baking. Vegetable shortening is also my preferred greasing method for cakes, bakes, and whatnot. I just add a little to a paper towel and make sure all surfaces are coated.
Want to make Cookies with No Butter or Margarine? Here is what you will need:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of brown sugar packed firm
- 1 cup of vegetable shortening
- 1/2 cup of white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 2 1/2 cups of flour
- 1 cup of M&MS
- 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts *optional but increase M&MS by 1/2 cup
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees f.
Cream together the sugars, shortening, extract, salt, and eggs.
Slowly add in the flour, and baking soda.
Combine well until dough is thick and forms a ball.
Fold in the M&Ms and nuts (optional).
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and drop teaspoon sized balls evenly apart. I could fit 12 on my cookie sheet.
Since this recipe makes 48 cookies exactly, you will need to do two rounds of baking at 9-10 minutes per batch.
Place cookies on a cooling rack and then transfer to air tight containers.
Do I need to refrigerate these dough before baking?
The reason I love these recipe so much is that you do not need to chill this dough before baking which eliminates a huge step. Shortening has a higher melting point that butter so it eliminates the need to chill the dough.
Can I Freeze these Cookies?
These cookies can be frozen after they are baked and fully cooled. To freeze, line a baking sheet with cookies and freeze. Once solid, transfer cookies to a freezer safe bag and date them. They will keep for up to one month in a deep freeze.
To eat, allow cookies to reach room temperature. You can also microwave them in 10 second intervals to warm them quicker.
M&M Cookies Made with Shortening
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
- 2 eggs large
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups M&Ms You can use chocolate chips instead if you wish.
- 1/2 cup nuts *optional. If you use nuts, reduce M&Ms by 1/2 cup.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees f.
- Cream together the sugars, shortening, extract, salt, and eggs.
- Slowly add in the flour, and baking soda.
- Combine well until dough is thick and forms a ball.
- Fold in the M&Ms and nuts (optional).
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and drop teaspoon sized balls evenly apart. I could fit 12 on my cookie sheet.
- Since this recipe makes 48 cookies exactly, you will need to do two rounds of baking at 9-10 minutes per batch.
- Place cookies on a cooling rack and then transfer to air tight containers until you want to eat them right away! Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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I was totally drooling over your fabulous pictures! I can almost taste these cookies already. I’m with you on the “gooey” texture so these are just perfect! Santa will surely approve.
I love soft, chewy, gooey cookies! I wish I could reach through the screen and snag one of those right now!
These look so warm, soft and yummy. I’ll definitely have to try this recipe!
People discount the power of shortening- it’s a great ingredient for cookies! These look and sound AMAZING!
Thank you!
It looks easy to make! My kids and I loves making cookies! This one is awesome!
just so you know (and you may want to edit), but grammatically, the best way to say the last line in your description is: “You can substitute chocolate chips for the M & M’s”.
Thanks for pointing that out Debra! That was my fault. Amy asked me how to write it and I told her that way. I have always found statements regarding substitutions confusing! I’ll fix it right away.
Delicious! I made these just now. I followed the recipe exactly as it was written. Each batch cooked for 10 minutes. Oh my goodness, they are amazing. And very, very easy to make. Thanks so much for this recipe!