Sometimes you just get thwarted when you go to the grocery store. And this happened to me when I decided to make my Peanut M&M Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies (recipe on site) for an upcoming trailer trip. My very own local grocery store had the audacity to be out of Peanut M&Ms! How could this happen? To me! But it did. So, I bought a 9-oz. “share size” package of Peanut Butter M&Ms thinking I could probably think up a cookie recipe that included this “new to me” M&M varietal. And in case you haven’t shopped for any M&Ms lately, there’s a whole new world of possible flavors out there from which to choose. (I really do have to get out more!)

So, when I got home and opened the bag, I found the Peanut Butter M&Ms to be just a little bit bigger than the regular old-fashioned M&Ms of my youth. And instead of being candy coated chocolate, they were filled with peanut butter. Pretty darn tasty if truth be known. And there had been other varieties I could have brought home with me. Now my interest was piqued. So, when I got home, I went online and did a little research on M&Ms.

M&Ms have been around since 1941. And presently, there are 60 flavors on the market. (I thought there were only two. Regular and peanut M&Ms.) Some of the varieties are only offered for holidays. And to my thinking, some of the flavors look pretty scary. But as they say, to each his/her own! But M&M Cookies & Screeem, M&M Pumpkin Spice Latte, and M&M White Chocolate Candy Corn, I would simply have to say – no thank you! But back to this recipe.

Since I had already pulled my recipe for the Peanut M&M cookies from my file, I decided to start with that recipe, and see what I could come up with. So, what you find below is certainly similar to my original recipe but with enough kinks to be interesting and delicious on its own. I hope you enjoy this recipe for really peanutty cookies.

And as always peace and love to all.  

½ c. rolled or quick oats 

½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

½ c. brown sugar, packed

¼ c. granulated sugar

¾ c. crunchy peanut butter (not natural) (creamy unnatural peanut butter is fine too)

1 lg. egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1¼ c. unbleached all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. kosher salt

1¼ c. peanut butter M&Ms (I use the 9-oz. share size for this recipe)

½ c. roasted and salted peanuts

If using regular rolled oats, place in a food processor. Pulse a few times to break the oats down a bit. Set aside. (If using quick oats, they don’t have to be messed with at all. But they still need to be set aside at this point.)

In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the peanut butter and mix together. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and oats together. Add to the wet mixture just until incorporated. Do not overmix. Gently mix in the M&Ms and peanuts.  

Form the dough into about 2-inch diameter balls. (I use my #30 ice cream scoop to form the balls.) Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet close together. (They are going to spend the night in your refrigerator, so at this point they can cozy up to one another.) Just before baking, place them on a large parchment paper lined sheet about 1½ inches apart.  

Bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for about 16 minutes total. I took the pan out of the oven at about 8 minutes baking time and took a small glass and flattened the cookies a bit before placing them back in the oven. So, you will want to adjust your baking time to accommodate the time the cookies are out of your oven. The cookies will be a bit soft and look slightly undone. But don’t fret. They will firm up nicely as they cool. And you don’t want to overbake these cookies.

Remove from oven and allow to cool a couple minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Makes about 25 good sized cookies.