To all you food-blogging girls who teasingly complain about the boyfriends, husbands, and fiances who pop into your kitchens, stealing spoonfuls of cookie dough, swiping frosting or making off with the brownies from a perfectly staged photo shot, who in general just get in your way, use all your good spoons, pester you for dinner, poke at your baking, add barbeque sauce to everything, and distract you with kisses...
I'm jealous.
I'm in a long-distance relationship. I met my boyfriend in college and we've been together ever since April 2008.
Well, except for summer vacations. And Christmas vacations. And the last year and three months since I graduated.
Sigh.
Most days, the three hundred and one miles between us seems invisible. I know there's something awesome in store for us in the future and that makes me feel closer to him and more tolerant of all these freeways between us.
For him, it's a little more simple than that: I bake cookies whenever I see him. These cookies.
Chocolate chip cookies with chunks of chocolate and scores of milk chocolate M&Ms.
At least, that was before I discovered my new love. Pretzel-covered M&Ms. Scandal!
The combination of salty, chocolate-covered pretzels mixed in to these cookies made them perfect. I may never go back.
And see those flecks of cinnamon? It makes the chocolate really pop, without adding a very cinnamony flavor. Just don't add too much or they'll taste like Christmas.
You can't tell, but this giant cookie is the size of my face.
At any rate, I made these for him. Because he's on his way here.
Right now.
To my house.
I'm so excited I can't even breathe.
Chocolate Chunk Pretzel M&M Cookies
1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups pretzel M&Ms
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks or chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Cream together the shortening, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to the shortening mixture and mix together well.
Stir in chocolate chunks and M&Ms, adding more of each if desired.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Source: Adapted from M&M's Recipes & Ideas.
Cream together the shortening, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to the shortening mixture and mix together well.
Stir in chocolate chunks and M&Ms, adding more of each if desired.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Source: Adapted from M&M's Recipes & Ideas.
