M&M Butter Cookies

One of my friends has a group on Facebook for folks to share what they're cooking, spurred on by COVID-19 quarantine. He typically asks a food-based question every day. A few months ago the question was about your favorite cookie. He mentioned that his were the chocolate chip cookies from the Original Cookie Company in the local mall. I had completely forgotten about this place, but the suggestion immediately brought back memories of my favorite childhood cookie - their M&M butter cookie. Warm and soft with great vanilla flavor, dotted with multi-color M&Ms (no blue M&Ms in the 80s!)  

So, like any respectable self-proclaimed cookie monster, I now wanted one of these cookies. A quick Google search found a recipe claiming to taste exactly like the ones from the Original Cookie Company, but it, of course, contained wheat flour. A little bit of research on flour blends and I decided which flour and starches to use. My son and I made the cookies and loved them, though we decided a bit more vanilla and salt may make them better. Also, the crumb wasn't quite soft enough, so we wanted to try again and increase the xanthum gum. Second time around was perfection! Everyone loves them and says they don't taste gluten free - which I consider quite a complement in a cookie! 

Here's an article I found on Original Cookie Company. The third image is like the store I visited as a kid.

(Note that this cookie is not just a chocolate chip cookie with M&Ms instead of chips. A classic chocolate chip cookie has brown sugar and this cookie is purposefully lacking that flavor component.)

M&M Butter Cookies

makes about 48, 3" cookies

• 1-1/2 c white rice flour
• 3/4 c tapioca starch
• 3/4 c potato starch
• 2 tsp xanthum gum
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 c butter, softened
• 1-1/2 c sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large bag of M&Ms (the 38 oz "party size" leaves you with a nice amount of leftovers)

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheets with silpat or parchment.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and mix with a whisk. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing between additions.
5. Add vanilla and mix well.
6. Add half the mixed dry ingredients and mix on low until combined. Add the remainder of the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
7. For best results, chill for about 10 minutes while you clean up the kitchen. (I also store the dough in the fridge anytime I'm not actively scooping cookies.)
8. Pour M&Ms into a small bowl (like a large custard dish) so you don't waste any M&Ms. (I wouldn't eat M&Ms that had raw cookie dough rolled in them.)
9. Scoop a heaping cookie scoop (about 1 Tbsp) and roll into a ball. Roll the top half in M&Ms (as pictured.) They spread quite a bit, so make sure to leave plenty of space. I fit 8 on my standard-size cookie sheets.
10. Bake for about 11 minutes, depending on your oven. (My oven cooks unevenly, so I rotate the cookie sheet after 5 minutes). You want to take them out when they're puffy, undercooked, and just a bit golden on the edges. Allow them to rest on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes before moving to a rack.

Engineering Dessert: Nut Butterfingers

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One of the best things about being an adult involved in Girl Scouts is that you meet some wonderful women! And, they span the decades in age and all bring various backgrounds and interests to the group. Amazing!

There's one woman in particular who is such a sweetheart and bleeds Girl Scout green! She used to volunteer as a Service Unit Manager, which is a person who oversees anywhere from 20 to 35 troops. She now is a paid Girl Scout employee. Anyway, we were at a meeting planning events for multiple service units and she brought the most amazing snack I had ever had (okay so I was pregnant at the time!) They were a peanut butter and oatmeal bar cookie base with chocolate and peanut butter on top. I immediately asked her for the recipe. The next time I saw her, not only did she have the recipe, but she had made a batch just for me! And, she was sharing a recipe that had been her mother's. The woman was probably around 60, so this is definitely a well-loved, tried-and-true recipe!

I've made them many times but have only dreamt about them since becoming gluten free. But in my desire to create another dessert for the blog I decided to try tackling them based on my current food philosophy. I was pretty close on the first try, the second try was even better, and now I'm declaring them just as amazing as the gluten-full, grain-full, refined-sugar-full, dairy-full version! (And, just for kicks, I omitted the egg.) I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!


Nut Butterfingers
The original recipe was called Peanut Butterfingers. My son is allergic to peanuts, and while he doesn't care for sweets, he does like to help me bake, so I use almond butter if he's helping. My husband actually prefers the almond version to the peanut version, but he's not a peanut butter and chocolate fiend. By the way, this makes a lovely half recipe in an 8"x8" pan.

Cookie Bar Base

• 1/4 c Earth Balance
• 1/2 c coconut palm sugar
• 5 drops stevia (I used vanilla flavored)
• 1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flax mixed with 3 Tbsp boiling water, let sit for 15 minutes)
• 1/3 c nut butter (I've tried almond and peanut so far)
• 1/4 c applesauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder (watch out for corn starch if avoiding grains!)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 c almond flour
• 1/2 c chickpea flour
• 1 c quinoa flakes

Topping

• 6 oz chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
• 1/2 c powdered sugar (can make your own using unrefined sugar)
• 1/4 c nut butter
• 2-4 Tbsp milk (I used almond)

1. Preheat the over to 350°F. Grease a 13"x9" baking pan (I used glass.)
2. In a mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and stevia.
3. Blend in the egg, nut butter, applesauce, salt, baking powder, and vanilla.
4. Stir in the almond flour, chickpea flour, and quinoa flakes.
5. Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
6. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top as soon as it comes out of the oven. Let stand for 5 minutes to melt.
7. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, nut butter, and milk until smooth.
8. Spread the melted chocolate chips evenly over cookie bar base.
9. Drizzle the nut butter over the melted chocolate and pull a spatula through to mix the two toppings.

This recipe has been shared on Diet, Dessert and Dogs' Wellness Weekend, Vegetarian Mamma's Gluten Free Fridays, Allergy Free Alaska's Whole Food Fridays, and Simply Sugar and Gluten Free's Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.

Engineering Dessert: 5 Minute Chocolate Chip Cookie (grain free)

So, a few weeks ago a friend of mine pinned this:


I wanted one. Immediately. I don't usually like chocolate chip cookies. It must have been one of those days!

The referenced blog no longer works, but someone had been nice enough to include the original recipe in the pin comment. On a whim, I made the recipe, switching almond flour for the all purpose. The result: decent, but WAY too sweet for my refined-sugar-free taste buds. Also, it's a bit annoying to have to separate an egg for such an otherwise simple recipe, and then you're stuck with an egg white.

Since then, I've been playing around with the recipe. Let me tell you, this has been hard work! It's rough having to eat a warm chocolate chip cookie every night in the name of science...

I finally got it to a place where I thought it tasted good, so I tried a shortcut. I still liked it, but my husband declared it "grainy". YIKES! That's no good! So, I tweaked it a little more, but have determined that the short cut just won't work. It can still be made in about 5 minutes, so the shortcut was a bit uncalled for.

And now I present Happiness in Five Minutes!

5 Minute Chocolate Chip Cookie
Serves 1

• 1/2 tbsp butter (I use Earth Balance Buttery Spread)
• 1 tbsp coconut palm sugar
• 5 drops vanilla stevia
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 c (or 4 tbsp if you don't like creating excess dishes) almond flour
• 1 tbsp (heaping) chocolate chips

1. Melt butter in a ramekin or mug. (It takes about 30 seconds in my microwave.)
2. Stir the sugar into the melted butter until well mixed. (This is the important step that impacts the texture.)
3. Mix in stevia, baking soda, and almond flour.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Microwave for 45-60 seconds. (It takes 60 seconds in my microwave.)
6. The hardest part... let sit for about a minute before enjoying!

This recipe has been shared on Diet, Dessert and Dogs' Wellness Weekend, Allergy Free Alaska's Whole Food Fridays, Vegetarian Mamma's Gluten Free Fridays, and The Daily Dietribe's 5-Ingredient Mondays.