M and M Party Cookies

I've been baking these cookies for longer than I care to admit. They're one of my Mother's favorites. They're good to eat any time of the year but I love to use the red and green M & M's that come out during Christmas. It just makes them extra special. And who can resist M & M's? Not me for sure.

M & M Party Cookies

1 cup shortening
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups M & M plain candies

Using a mixer, blend the shortening, brown sugar and granulated sugar together. Mix thoroughly. Beat in vanilla and eggs.

Mix together flour, salt and baking soda. The original recipe called for sifting the flour and then sifting the salt and baking soda with it. I've never done the sifting part. It works just fine without that step.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar/shortening mixture. Blend thoroughly. Using a spoon or spatula, stir in 3/4 cup of the M & M candies.

Use a teaspoon to drop the batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate the tops with the remaining candies. I always try to make sure I have a mixture of red and green candies on top.

Bake at 375 degrees to about 10 minutes. The cookies should be golden brown. Remove the cookies with a spatula and cool completely on a wire rack.