The finished product: Reese's Pieces on the left, M&M's on the right.

I’m not going to pretend I have any clue how to properly food blog. (At least not in the way Annie from Annie’sEats can.) But here goes nothing.

It’s really crappy outside (snow? in October?), so, while Mike was doing homework, I decided to blow off some steam and do a little baking. I’ve been baking a lot this semester, mostly because it’s relaxing; Something about mixing together a specific measurement of ingredients soothes my type A personality. My specialty is cookies (I’ve become particularly good at Snickerdoodles) and I use bringing the cookies to my internship at the Observer as an excuse to bake. (Because baking for myself would cause me to explode.)

I wanted to bake something fall-themed for Halloween, so I decided to replace the chocolate chips in the Nestlé Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe with fall-themed M&M’s and Reese’s Pieces.

History break: chocolate chip cookies were invented by a woman who owned the Toll House Inn. She was making chocolate cookies and ran out of regular baker’s chocolate, so she threw in pieces of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate thinking it would melt in the oven. It didn’t and everyone’s favorite cookie was born.

Back to baking. Here’s the adapted recipe I used, modified from the recipe that’s on the back of Nestlé Toll House chocolate chip packets.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• About 2 cups M&M’s (fall themed if you’re a dork like me) or Reese’s Pieces

Directions

• PREHEAT oven to 375° F.
• COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in M&M’s or Reese’s Pieces. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
• BAKE for 8 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. When you use an electric stove, I’ve found it usually takes less time to bake through. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.