John and I traveled to Springfield on Sunday for his cousin Brian’s basketball game, and I knew that a sporting event for a group of 10-year-old boys would be a great excuse to bake some Toll House cookies.

It turns out it was also a great excuse for me to eat around a 1/3 cup of raw cookie dough.

When you’re used to the hard little cookie dough pellets they put in ice cream these days, the real thing is heaven that melts in your mouth, leaving behind little crunches of granulated sugar and the taste of butter and brown sugar on your tongue.

Try not to think about the potential salmonella.  You just can’t live life that way…

Toll House cookies are the original chocolate chip cookie, so it’s appropriate that the recipe remains the best.  The chocolate chip cookie was invented by Ruth Wakefield, who bought the Toll House Inn with her husband George in Whitman, MA in 1930.  One lucky day, she substituted a Nestle semi-sweet chocolate bar, cut into bits, instead of baking chocolate in a cookie recipe.  The chocolate didn’t totally melt, leaving behind “morsels” of chocolate.  The result was a hit, and the sweet union of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate and the Toll House Inn cookie was born.

Brian told me his team colors (Monson represent!) were blue and white, so as I brainstormed my cookies I decided to add in white chocolate chips and blue M&M’s along with the semi-sweet chocolate chips.

This time of year, you can find pastel colored M&M’s alongside the classic colors, so I was able to get a nice mix of two shades of blue by buying enormous bags of both.    

Also, because the cookies were for 10 year olds, I omitted the nuts.

Brian (#31) and his team played a great game, and it was a treat watching them on the court at the Basketball Hall of Fame.  Despite their hustle, the boys didn’t win this one, but you can’t win ’em all…

I hope he at least had a few cookies on the ride home.  I know I did before we left to watch him…

Now what to do with all of these leftover non-blue M&M’s?

Before I fall asleep to an episode of “Bones” on Netflix with a handful of said M&M’s, I wanted to give a special shout to my friend Lauren for making the Sour Cream Coffee Cake I posted about a few weeks ago, and featuring it on her blog!  She made it for the mommas in her son Nate’s playgroup.  If you want to see her gorgeous cake and the cutest bunch of little Irish babies (Lauren lives is a Texas gal living in Dublin) then go visit The Dare Project! 

You made my day, Lauren!!

Team Toll House Cookies
Adapted from Nestle

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup M&M’s
1 cup white chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment.  Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth and creamy.  Add eggs one at a time, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
• Gradually add in the flour mixture.  Then, stir in chocolate chips and M&M’s.
• Using a cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop by rounds onto prepared cookie sheet a few inches apart.  Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.
• Remove from the oven, wait a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

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