M&M Pretzel coated Peanut Butter Cookies!

As I said before a weekend at the cottage always deserves some cookies, a day snack if you will to have in between the hard day of reading, napping, tanning and swimming.   It can be a rough weekend, (wink wink), so cookies are the nice pick me up to get your through the day.    I know in the past I have mentioned I am a die hard Mini Egg/Eggies fan,  I have found a new love, M&M Pretzels.  Find and try these!  Look for the blue M&M packaging.   These little candies are this great combination of crunchy, a little salty and sweet.  These candies alone get a 5E delicious rating.   Ever since I found them I have been dying to use these into some sort of cookie or bar.   I have figured out my reason.   Instead of adding them into the cookie I figured they would make a nice cookie coating.   Add a little chocolate as your glue and you got yourself a M&M pretzel coated cookies. A fantastic looking cookie if you ask me.   

(Adapted from Cooks Illustrated)
Makes around 2 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup (1/2 lb) butter, unsalted
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter (recipe called for crunchy, I didn't have it)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped peanuts , ground in food processor to resemble bread crumbs.
• 3-4 oz dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 medium bag of M&M pretzels

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and sift together.
2. In a large bowl/mixer bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars and cream together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scrape down sides of the bowl, if needed to ensure full incorporation. Beat in peanut butter until fully incorporated, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. 

 3) Fold in dry ingredients and add ground peanuts; stir gently until just incorporated.

4) Using a small scoop, place cookie mounds on to a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Using a fork press each dough ball to make crisscross design. Dip fork in cold water as needed to prevent sticking.  

5) Bake until cookies are puffed and slightly brown along edges,  10 to 12 minutes (they will not look fully baked). Cool cookies on cookie sheet until set, a few minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. 

Keep the baking sheet lined with silpat/parchment for the dipping stage

6) Melt dark chocolate over a double boiler.  While the chocolate is melting, crush pretzel M&M's in a pie tin or bowl.  (You can also crush them in a bag and then pour the crumbs into a pie tin or bowl. 

7) Dip half the cookie into the chocolate and then dip the chocolate half into the crushed pretzel M&M's, sprinkling and patting with your hand as needed. Place on the saved baking sheets.  Let dry completely and then store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 

Oh, sweet chocolate and peanut butter you do me right every time. These were fantastic!  The peanut butter cookies were crunchy on the outside and slightly soft on the inside.   The addition of the chocolate and pretzel M&M's was just what it needed to push it close to the top of one of my all time favorite cookies.  There wasn't one cookie left from the weekend.


MEG's RATING : D-EEEEE-LICIOUS!