Chocolate M&M Cookies

Just to let you all know, I was away all weekend and came home to over 400 unread items in my Google reader, and due to time & energy constraints, I have deleted them all. So, if I'm not up to date on all your blogs or haven't left any comments in the last few days, that's why!

All righty! Recently, there was a customer appreciation day at the coffee shop I bake for and I was asked to make some special cookies. My boss suggested something with M&Ms, so I came up with a riff on this cookie recipe we use all the time at work. Accidentally, when purchasing the M&Ms, the person who does the grocery shopping picked up peanut M&Ms, but those are my favourite so I thought they made the cookies extra special!

Chocolate M&M Cookies

1 lb butter or margarine, softened
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 cups white sugar
4 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
4 squares unsweetened chocolate
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
2 bags M&Ms (I can't remember what size they were...The ones you get in the candy aisle)

Cream butter & sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Melt the chocolate carefully in the microwave, and beat it into the butter/egg/sugar mixture. Fold in the dry ingredients. Fold in the M&Ms. Bake at 350F for 12 - 15 minutes. DON'T OVERBAKE!

Apparently, they were a hit!