Peanut butter and vanilla cake mix come together for an easy soft, delicious cookie sure to please the holiday crowd and Santa!
To quote Norman Vincent Peale, “Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” And I would add, far more innocent. That terrible ‘race of the rats’ fades into the background, and a world bedecked in colored lights and holly gradually comes to the fore, slowly brought into focus through the chaotic haze of daily life. We dream sentimental dreams of a Savior’s birth, and of the welcomed warmth of icy winter nights draped in the season’s purest white.
In reality, this brief escape is what this season is all about. We reimagine our cities, and our own homes, into images easily plucked from a fireside film noir treasure. Then, of course, we tell vague tales to our children of a Living Saint who…creeps into our homes, eats our cookies, and then leaves behind gift wrapped toys of uncertain origin.
While that last part might need adjustment, I suppose that bit of ‘suspension of disbelief’ is part of that aforementioned innocence.
For this reason, when one of my niece’s daughters asked for a ‘special’ recipe for cookies that she could in turn prepare for Santa Claus, naturally, I simply had to comply.
What I prepared was a batch of M&M's® Christmas Peanut Butter Cookies.
To do this, we start with a simple base of a yellow cake mix, a peanut butter cookie mix, and eggs. For this particular recipe I like to use plain milk chocolate M&M's®, however, you can really kick things up a notch using M&M's® Christmas White Chocolate Peppermint.
To start out, combine the two box mixes with eggs, water, and vegetable oil as shown below. Mix these well, then add in the M&M's®, and stir again. After that’s done, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and form the cookies onto the sheets as shown below. Then simply bake for about twelve minutes, and you’ve got a batch of M&M's® Christmas Cookies that the ‘Seasonal Reverse Burglar’ is sure to love.
Peanut Butter Vanilla Cookies
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 dozen 1x
Ingredients
- 1 (15.25 oz) box of yellow cake mix
- 1 (17.5 oz) peanut butter cookie mix
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 plus 3 tbs. vegetable oil
- 3 tbs. water
- 3/4 cup M&M’s®
Instructions
- Preheat Oven 350 degrees F.:
- In a large bowl combine the eggs, vegetable oil, yellow cake mix, cookie mix and water. Stir these ingredients until well incorporated. Add the M & M’s and stir again.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and drop the cookies on the cookie sheet by the teaspoonful.
- Do not over crowd the pan.
- Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until slightly golden.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
What are some of your favorite holiday confections? We would love to hear from you.
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Enjoy with Love!
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Angie@Angie's Recipes says
We love peanut butter! These are definitely right up my alley!
Big Daddy Dave says
Catherine, Peanut butter cookies are one of our favorites. I never heard of making them with vanilla/yellow cake mix. Very interesting! Thanks for the idea. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Chiara says
Catherine, this is a nice idea for Christmas baskets, a warm hug, xoxo
rosita vargas says
Ohh estas galletas están bellas y crujientes, una idea fantástica para navidad,abrazos.
Liz says
So festive and delicious!!! I'll take a dozen 🙂
Rachel @ Baked by Rachel says
Everyone loves a classic!
Kristen Chidsey says
Catherine, you say peanut butter and I come running! These are simply perfect.
Sandhya Nadkarni says
Catherine, I love the simplicity and yumminess of this recipe! I am sure Santa will love these spectacular cookies!
Shashi at RunninSrilankan says
Catherine - I am sadly all too familiar with the "race of the rats" - this week am trying to get away from it though seeing I have all my gift shopping to do, that might be easier said than done - though, my daughter and I have planned one day and one day only to get all the shopping done and one day to totally unwind from the "race of the rats" and to sit around in our jammies and watch movies and clearly now we NEED a batch of these cookies! I love the combo of peanut butter and m&m's and these would be perfect movie nibbles! Merry Christmas to you and your family! xo
Karen @ Seasonal Cravings says
I also love the magic and innocence of Christmas. We always leave cookies out for Santa and I especially like the ones that are quick to whip up, like these. That is one lucky guy to have a plate of these babies waiting for him!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Love the idea of using store bought cake and cookie mix. Definitely makes the job much easier and quicker especially for people like me who bake loads of cookies during holiday season.
Luci says
the green m&ms poking out are so christmassy! I love that they're AREN'T the christmas-specific one, these are better 🙂 You write so beautifully about Christmas, I can imagine these must be equally brilliant (I did spot a typo though "Tot start out")
Your niece is a lucky girl to have an aunt like you!
Annemarie @ justalittlebitofbacon says
I do love peanut butter cookies! I think Santa is going to be happy at your niece's house! And a simple cookie like this is easy to fit into all the holiday preparations.
Veena Azmanov says
Oh so festive.. I love.... My son loves Peanut Butter.. I gotta make these for him. Thanks
Kim Lee says
These will definitely be a favorite of Santa's! And I love that they're so easy!
Divya @ Eat Teach Blog says
Oh gosh, these look amazing. And so festive for the holidays! I love the PB plus vanilla plus chocolate candied combo!
Taylor Kiser says
Love how easy these festive cookies are! So fun for the kids to help make for Santa!
Nicole Burkholder says
'Tis the season for delicious cookies! (M&M's certainly make them even better!) 🙂
Melanie says
I like that you used cake mix to make these. Easy!
christine says
Oh I love the shortcut of using those mixes. I'm more of a cook than a baker so any cookie that starts w/ a mix is a good one for me.
Emily says
Love that these are peanut butter! I have such a sweet tooth and treats like this do not help the situation.
Lori Vachon says
Two of my favorites together, I know I couldn't pass up a few of these!
Jolina says
I love this season. And these cookies! They look perfect. Santa would love them 🙂
Theresa Sutton says
I have never thought about this combination before. Peanut butter and vanilla sounds amazing.
kallee says
I always love a good peanut butter cookie and this one looks fantastic.
jamie says
My hubby loves peanut butter cookies, i bet he would be all over these!
Louise says
Hello Catherine,
I see you are still serving up festive recipes with your special touch. This one is especially easy. Perfect for this time of year:) Thank you so much for sharing...
As you know Catherine, I haven't been blogging as of late. Although, I did do an update to my blog last night. If you get a chance drop by for the latest.
Please thank Tammy for her kind words. It has been wonderful getting to know you and your family these past years Catherine. Blogging has been quite the journey and yet, our world feels smaller. I wish you and yours a Blessed Christmas and a Happy, Safe & especially Healthy New Year. Hold everyone close and give them double hugs! Be well, Catherine...
manu says
Thanks for sharing these delicious cookies.
Wishing you Merry Chrstmas