Chewy M&M Christmas Cookies

The key to making incredibly chewy and moist Christmas cookies, is to make sure you prepare the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately. And the secret to the wet ingredients, is making toasted butter. It's a slight nuance that's not common in every cookie recipe, but it definitely makes a difference in taste and texture - trust me.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of your dry ingredients and give it a good whisk. You'll want to make sure everything is evenly incorporated.

Next, take your butter and place it into a sauce pan over medium heat. Once your butter has melted – continue the heating for a few minutes longer, until the butter starts to boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and wait until the butter starts to “toast” and turn a rich, darkened color.
Remove from the heat and set aside so that it cools to be just slightly warm.

In your KitchenAid mixing bowl, combine your toasted butter, eggs, sugars and vanilla and beat until the mixture becomes smooth and fluffy.
Afterwards, sift in half of the dry ingredient mixture, beat until well mixed - and then sift in the remaining dry ingredients and repeat.
Lastly, remove from the stand mixer and add in your chocolate chips and 3/4 of the M&M candy bag. (Reserve 1/4 of the M&Ms as garnish later on.)
Fold the chocolates into the dough gently.

Before we bake these delicious holiday cookies, I'd like to have a quick side-bar with you on the importance of chilling your cookie dough.
In order to have the chewiest and most flavorful cookies, you must chill your cookie dough. Chilling your dough allows all of the ingredients to integrate together, maturing the flavor of the butter mixed with the sugars, flour and the vanilla extract.
Additionally, it also allows time for the flour to fully hydrate and soak up all of the moisture from the batter - yielding a much chewier inside texture, compared to a cookie baked without chilling.

As soon as you've fully mixed your cookie dough, using a cookie scooper, drop a 2-3 tablespoon sized dollop of the dough onto a cookie baking sheet, lined with parchment paper.
Continue until you've filled the entire tray, making sure you leave at least 2 inches of space in between each cookie dough ball.
On top of each dollop of cookie dough, press in about 2-3 additional M&M candy pieces as garnish.
Place the entire tray into the fridge and chill for a minimum of 24 hours, but no more than 48 hours.

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.
Remove your baking tray of cookie dough balls from the fridge and let them come up to room temperature (about 20-30 minutes).
Insert into the oven and bake for 12-16 minutes or until the cookies have sufficiently spread and become golden brown. (Baking time will vary based on your location and oven specifications, so be sure to keep a close eye on your cookies.)
Once your cookies are done, let them cool for about 10 minutes and then serve with a cold glass of milk - enjoy!