I substituted coconut oil for butter in my chocolate chip cookies recipe and threw in some mini M&M's for a fun rainbow of color! Chewy
So we've entered this whole new world. <Cue: Aladdin and Jasmine>
This new world? My four-year old, Judah, wants to constantly play with the neighbors. I'm fine with this. In fact, I love it. BUT - I can't just let him run down the road by himself to meet up with his new friends, like the older kids do. Because he is only four, I need to walk with him and stay outside to keep an eye on him. This means I need to either grab Simon, my almost 1-year old, and carry all 25 pounds on my hip, or convince Judah to wait patiently while I unfold the stroller and strap the baby in.
It's a much different story if Simon's sleeping. Then I can just grab his baby monitor and all is good.
OR - on some days I let the kids come inside and play the Skylanders video game with Judah. This, my friends, is a mother's dream. Well, at least I think so. I'll be honest and tell you that I try to coordinate this with Simon's nap. An hour or two to myself while my baby sleeps and others play with my kid under my roof? Yes, please!
Me-time? What to do... what to do... Clean? Read? Nap? Pinterest? Well, the other day I used this new-found free time to make these cookies. And, with a house full of kids while making cookies, it's mandatory to share. I love to share, and so does Judah. In fact, it's one of his greatest assets. Sharing food, that is. Toys? Not so much.
I was smart to only make one dozen and refrigerate the rest of the dough so we could bake more later without risking eating them up all at once. That said, I don't recommend this. I found that after refrigeration, the dough does not want to become soft again...ever! So, bake these the same day you make the dough, mmmkay? (UPDATE: OR...as my friend, Karly, suggested in the comments below, scoop the dough balls and then refrigerate. DUH! I've done this before so not sure why I didn't think to do it with these!)
Oh yeah... I made a second batch in the same week when foodie friends came to visit for dinner. So, yep, these are goooood.
Recipe Card
Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies with Mini M&M’s
Ingredients
- 1 cup pure coconut oil (scooped, not melted), I prefer LouAna
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mini M&M's
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chip
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone liner.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the coconut oil, sugar and brown sugar for 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in the vanilla and beat until combined.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. Fold in the M&M's and chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
- Using a medium sized cookie scoop, spoon dough balls onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
