Mocha Swirl M&M Cookies

Well, thank you Blizzard of 2013 for dumping over two feet of snow in my yard.  And my hubby thanks you for all the work you have given him.  As if that wasn't enough, the day of the blizzard our oil furnace decided to stop working.  Blizzard and no heat, yay bonus!  Oh and the best part is our street was not plowed. The only way out was the path my husband had snow-blown on the sidewalk, leading to the main street that was plowed. Thank goodness we are the first house on the block. So I packed my bags, layered up the kids and myself  in our snowsuits, and trekked up the hill to meet my brother in his truck.  He drove us to my mom's house, where I had to wait in the truck with two impatient kids while my father and two of my brother's finished snow-blowing my parent's very long driveway.

My husband had stayed behind to try to fix the furnace, but wasn't able to get it completely working till the following day.  But he was able to come enjoy a sleepover at my parent's house with the rest of us.  At least we had a warm place to stay.  We were able to go home Sunday, but didn't venture out very far.  Most streets are still not plowed, those that are have only one car width open.  Our neighbors got desperate to get out and everyone with a snow blower was in the street trying to clear a path out of the neighborhood. 

My daughter was out of school on Friday, today and now tomorrow also because the school parking lots were not cleared.  No one knows where to put all this snow.  And today we had freezing rain on top of it.  Sorry for the rant, but I have been stuck in this house for too long.  Hopefully, it will be safe to go back to work tomorrow.  If not, I may have to bake again.  We only have four more of these cookies left.

Wanna make some of your own?  Here are the ingredients.  Not too complicated.  If you can't find the Jif Mocha Cappuccino spread, you can always substitute with Nutella.

You can go the easy route and just make regular cookies.  Or you can fancy them up a bit.  I found a Wilton heart shaped whoopie pie pan on clearance at Target and used it to make some heart shaped cookie.

I used the same amount of dough as the other cookies, except I flatten it out into the heart shaped cavities.

You can leave them plain or decorate them with some frosting and sprinkles.  I used some Betty Crocker Decorating Icing.  It worked out well.  You just can't stack them, because the frosting doesn't harden.  But it sure is easy and quick to use.

Plain or decorated, they taste just as good.  So make some for your sweetheart or treat yourself to some.

Mocha Swirl M&M Cookies

by The Sweet Chick

Prep Time: 15-20 minutes

Cook Time: 7 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert snack mocha cappuccino spread cookie American

6041962

Ingredients (36 cookies)

For the cookies

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup Jif Mocha Cappuccino spread
• 1 cup M&M's

For the topping

• 1 can Betty Crocker Decorating Icing
• sprinkles

Instructions

For the cookies

Preheat oven to 375ºF

Blend together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat together butter and shortening until creamy.

Add sugar and vanilla and beat medium speed until well blended.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well in between.

Add flour mixture, and beat on low until all incorporated.

By hand, mix in the Mocha Cappuccino spread just until you get a marble effect.

Then mix in M&M's by hand as not to break them.

Then drop by cookie scoop full into the heart cavities of you greased baking pan or on a greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

If using the heart shaped baking pan, flatten out the dough by hand so it evenly fills out the heart cavities.

Bake at 375ºF for 7 minutes, then remove from oven and wait 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Allow the cookies to cool completely before adding any toppings. (Or just eat one now, no one will notice.)

For the topping

Attached one of the enclosed nozzles to the Decorating Icing can. I used the star tip. Decorate as desired, then add sprinkles if you want.

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Recipe adapted from Food.com .