I love a good M&M Cookie recipe! And I have tried MANY different ones over the years but this one just works for me. These cookies turn out absolutely perfect every single time I make them. I posted these on social media and got questions about them - and if I would share the recipe! So I made a YouTube video on this exact cookie. But I wanted to put it here for you as well. So if you'd like to see these cookies being baked by me then check out the Sweet Janine's Youtube  channel. And give it a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe!

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2: In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, 2/3 cup brown sugar and 2/3 cup granulated sugar. 

Step 3: Add in 1 egg and 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and combine it all together with your mixer until it's all creamed together again.
Step 4: In a seperate smaller bowl, pour in 2 cups of flour, 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Use a hand whisk to mix it all together and get out any clumps. Or you can use a colander to sift it all into your bowl. Just make sure that before you combine this with your wet ingredients, you've gotten any clumps out and stirred it up real good.

Step 5: Slowly add these dry ingredients to your wet ingredients from steps 1 & 2. If you dump it all in at once, it could puff up into your face when you start mixing it with your mixer. So go slowly until it's all combined together. Your dough should be taking shape now and getting thicker. 

Step 6: Time to add in those yummy M&M candies!! Add in 1 3/4 cup of M&M's - or as many as you like! If you prefer less M&M's then add less. If you like LOTS of M&M's then add more!! That's the beauty of baking these babies!! Make them as full of M&M goodness as you want. You can mix the M&M's in by hand or with your mixer. I usually do both. And I prefer for EVERY SINGLE BITE to have some M&M's in it. But you do you.

Step 7: Use a small ice cream scoop to make rounded balls of cookie dough and place them on your cookie sheet. These will spread out but not drastically. So you don't want to place them right up next to each other. Give them a little room to bake and spread out into cookies.

Step 8: Bake these cookies for about 12-15 minutes. It really depends on your oven and how you like your cookies. I bake mine 15 minutes or more sometimes. 
Step 9: Take them out of the oven and let them cool before plating them or serving them. 

And that's it. A simple M&M cookie recipe that is just perfect every time you make it. I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I do!!  

I found these Ghirardelli Caramel flavored baking chips at Cost Plus World Market one day and just HAD to make them into something delicious! Sometimes I just can't pass by a baking item and NOT purchase it. As soon as I see it, I start thinking of ways I can use it. Whether it be an edible item like these baking chips or a new kitchen tool. And when I saw these caramel chips I just knew I instantly wanted to make Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies... and at the last minute decided to make some with Pecans! They turned out delicious and didn't last long before they were gone!

I posted a photo of these cookies on Instagram and was asked for the recipe so I thought I'd share it here with everyone. 

Step 1: In a small bowl mix together the following and use a whisk to break up any clumps or use a hand sifter.
2  1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Step 2: In a large bowl, use a mixer to combine together the following until creamy.
1 cup of room tempature butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Step 3: Add into creamy sugar mixture two eggs. Add one egg at a time until well combined - then add the next egg. Mix together until everything is well combined. 

Step 4:​ Add in flour mixture to creamy sugar mixture a little at a time until it's all combined. 

Step 5: Next, time to add in the extras! You can add in as much or as little as you like! You do you!
1 bag one bag of Ghiradelli Caramel Chips
1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

These caramel chips smell so INSANELY good when you open the bag! I could sit and just smell them all day long. I couldn't wait to get them into my cookies!

I would have been good just adding the caramel and chocolate chips but I decided to split up the cookie dough and add chopped up pecans to half of it... just because I wanted to see how they'd taste. So I chopped up some pecans and added them to half of the dough. I made sure to chop some up pretty fine but also leave a few chunky pieces to give the cookie a nice texture.

Step 6: After you have mixed in all the extras, time to start rolling them into balls. And by rolling them into balls, I mean use an icecream scoop to scoop out an even amount of dough onto your sheet. Then go through and quickly shape them with your fingers into balls if any need shaping. If you don't have one of these handy icecream scoops you can always use a spoon and then roll them in your hand. But the scoop just makes it so much faster! Who doesn't love a time saver - especially when it comes to baking cookies?! The quicker they're in my mouth, the happier I am.

Step 7: Once on your cookie sheet bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes or so. 

Step 8: Once done baking, give them a few minutes to cool slightly on the baking sheet before transfering them onto cookie racks or the counter top. 
Tip: Once they are COMPLETELY cool, I then stack them onto a pretty plate to display. If you try to stack them before they are completely cool, they tend to break apart and create a crumbly mess - again, just like any cookie would.

Aren't they pretty?!? And they smell devine! Love that yummy caramel smell!! And you can see that some have chunky pecans in them and some don't. So there's a little something for everyone! Happy Baking!

I have been making this milk chocolate cake for years. It's hands down my favorite recipe for chocolate cake. In all my years, I have never come across a better, more delicious, moist and fluffy chocolate cake. It's so simple and you can make it using just one bowl. Yes, that's right. ONE. BOWL. That's like, little to no clean up. Awesome!​

I posted the Youtube video for exactly how I make this cake last February and everyone who makes it loves it.
And I always get requests for the recipe. Which I completely understand. It's amaizng! Seriously! So good! Now, some people like to watch the video and see exactly how the steps are completed, so please feel free to watch the original video on Youtube and share it. But I am also going to share it here as well. And I promise you - you will love it! So grab yourself a mixing bowl and let's make some delicious cake!

Step 1: In a mixing bowl add all of the following - one right after the other.
1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups of granulated sugar
3/4 cup of Cocoa Powder (I use Hersheys)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt

Step 2: Use a hand whisk to mix it all together and remove and clumps. If you don't have a hand whisk, you could use a fork or put all of your ingredients through a hand sifter over your bowl. Whatever is easier for you.

Step 3: In a measuring glass add the following and mix them all together with a handmixer.
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of oil
2 teaspoons of vanilla

Now you could add these wet ingredients right on top of your dry (and only have ONE bowl to clean), BUT.... I always like to break my eggs open in another glass incase any are bad or incase any egg shells fall in etc.... I also always tell newbies in the baking world to use another container until they get the hang of cracking open eggs. It is a skill.  So if you have a bad habit of getting egg shells into your dish, I suggest you use another container before adding it all together to avoid the mess and the headache of picking out egg shells.

Step 4: Add your wet ingredients to your dry and use your handmixer to combine it all together.

Step 5: Once your wet and dry ingredients are completely combined add the following
1 cup of boiling water

This will be a very thin cake batter, so do not get scared. It will seem runny but that's exactly how it should be. Mix all of that water in using your handmixer on low.

Step 6: Once your batter is ready, pour it into TWO greased and floured 8 inch cake pans. (Tip: You can use cocoa powder to "flour" your pan since it's a chocolate cake.) Now, you could use Pam or some other cooking spray to grease your pan but if you watch my videos then you know, I rarely ever use a spray when making my cakes. But you do you. Just pour the batter evenly into two 8 inch round cake pans. And again, it will be thin. VERY thin.

Step 7: Place them both into the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or so. All ovens are different, so your could take longer. For what to do if one bakes faster than the other - watch the Sweet Janine's Youtube video on how to handle that issue.

Step 8: While your cakes bake, make the delicious chocolate frosting you're going to smother this yummy cake in. In a bowl, add 4 sticks of unsalted room tempature butter. And use your handmixer to beat the butter until it's nice and creamy. You want your butter very smooth and fluffy. This will take at least 5-7 minutes. But it's completely worth it!

Once nice and fluffy, measure out 4 cups of powdered sugar. Use a sifter to sift the sugar into your bowl over the butter. This will ensure a very smooth and creamy frosting.

Now use your handmixer to beat in and combine all the powdered sugar.

Step 9: Add in 3/4 cup of Cocoa Powder. Use your hand mixer to combine it completely.

Step 10: Once combined, add in 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. And once again, use your handmixer to combine it all together.

Step 11: Next, add in the following and use our handmixer to combine it all together.
1/2 teaspoon salt
3-5 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream (start with 3 tablespoons and only add more if your frosting is too thick and you feel you need it.)

Step 12: Once your cakes are done baking, let them cool completely before taking them out of their pans. Once cooled flip them out of their pans. 

Step 13: Time to frost!! This is the fun part of you ask me. You get to be as creative as you want and just have fun with it! If you dn't have a decorator bag and tip - that is OK. You can use an offset spatula and some sprinkles and your cake will still look very nice. The first step is to lay down your first piece of cake that will be your "bottom". Then plop down some of that delicious frosting you made and start spreading it around.

Once you have a nice even layer, lay down your second piece of cake right on top. Try and line it up as nicely as you can. Then start frosting the top piece as well. Once you have it completely covered you can start to get as fancy as you want.  (For in depth frosting of this cake, please watch the  Youtube video for how this cake was made.)

And don't be afraid to pull out some fun toppings like sprinkles or Oreos or whatever you have on hand! I used chocolate sprinkles to rim the sides of my cake but again, you do you. Have fun with it and enjoy yourself!

Isn't it beautiful?! And soooooo delicous!!!