Amazing M&M Cookies

I have an old recipe for M&M cookies that are so-so. The flavor is pretty good, but the cookies always go flat and are too crunchy for me.

I found the solution!! http://smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com/2011/08/worlds-best-m-cookies-recipe.html

Her recipe is amazing! My old recipe uses all shortening, but this one is half butter and half shortening. It makes such a big difference! These are soft and delicious cookies.

It was a good time for me to try this recipe because the boys got a lot of plain M&Ms for Halloween. :)

Here's the recipe:

M&M Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup butter flavored shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups M&Ms or other candy pieces (I didn't have enough, so I did half M&Ms half choc. chips)

Cream the butter, shortening, both sugars and vanilla together with an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly add in each egg one at a time and mix together. Then mix in the baking soda, salt and flour. Add in the M&Ms and mix by hand until incorporated well. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased (ungreased worked just fine for me) cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Let cool and store in an airtight container for up to one week!

Note: I put this in the comments, but wanted to make sure it didn't get overlooked.  We love these cookies for Christmas with red and green M&Ms. I have already made a double batch, and I am planning on making another batch this week. YUM!  It helps to see the red and green by adding half the M&Ms to the batter, then after they are portioned out press down 3-5 more on the top of the cookies before baking.  It was my favorite part of making these when I was a kid.

Also, not only using the shortening makes these softer, but swapping out the butter for margarine makes them even better.  Another tip for amazing, soft M&M cookies is slightly under baking them.   I tend to have crunchy cookies from cooking them too long.  Cooking them until they just start to get brown on the bottom, then let them sit on the cookie sheet a minute or two before moving to the cooling rack.
I have also noticed that my different kinds of cooking pans yield different results.  My jelly roll pans always make my cookies darker on the bottom than my half sheet pans, so for this recipe I stick to my half sheet pans, so I can have all of my cookies as soft and chewy as possible.