I was home in my hometown a few weekends ago. Dinner on the porch was finished and it was getting dark.

I finally had the kitchen to myself to bake some cookies. Just what I love. 

Years of baking was bottled up in this kitchen. When I am in it, my go-to family favorites naturally come out.

There are some cookie recipes that instantly pop into my mind when I need to make a certain cookie.

Tonight, I was thinking a sugar cookie. My boyfriend had mentioned a sugar cookie with peanut butter m&m’s. This was a combo I have never tried.

Well, with a house full of taste-testers, it was time to try it! 

I instantly knew I would use my favorite Chewy Sugar Cookie recipe that I have been making since I was in high school.  It was a recipe I included in a family cookbook I created when I was in college. 

The recipes in this cookbook are recipes that our family of six kids have grown up enjoying.

My sisters and I still use our copies of this cookbook in our own kitchens, miles apart.

I grabbed the book off my mom’s shelf and whipped up a batch of these chewy sugar cookies.

The buttermilk in this recipe is the secret to its soft and chewy texture. It’s key!

Eat them plain; sandwich two between vanilla frosting; or do what I did that night and load them with peanut butter m&m’s.

These don’t last long in a big family.

Chewy Sugar Cookies with M&M’s

• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 cup unsalted butter, soft (2 sticks)
• 1 ½ cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3-4 tablespoons buttermilk (if you only have milk, add a dash of white vinegar to it to make buttermilk)
• 1 ½ cups m&m’s (I used peanut butter m&m’s), optional

Directions:

- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and whisk. set aside.

- in a mixer, cream butter and sugar until smooth. beat in egg and vanilla.

- Blend in dry ingredients - add the buttermilk to moisten and make soft but not too watery.  Add the m&m’s and roll into balls.

- If not adding m&m’s, roll into balls and brush with buttermilk.

- Bake at 375 for 8 -10 minutes. Cool for 3-5 minutes on the pan.

Go ahead.

Make a childhood favorite this weekend.