Mocha Swirl M&M; Cookies

Medically reviewed by Christiana George Updated Date: December 17, 2022

Well, thank you Blizzard of 2013 for dumping over two feet of snow in my yard. And my hubby thanks you for all the work you have given him. As if that wasn’t enough, the day of the blizzard our oil furnace decided to stop working. Blizzard and no heat, yay bonus! Oh and the best part is our street was not plowed. The only way out was the path my husband had snow-blown on the sidewalk, leading to the main street that was plowed. Thank goodness we are the first house on the block. So I packed my bags, layered up the kids and myself in our snowsuits, and trekked up the hill to meet my brother in his truck. He drove us to my mom’s house, where I had to wait in the truck with two impatient kids while my father and two of my brother’s finished snow-blowing my parent’s very long driveway.

My husband had stayed behind to try to fix the furnace, but wasn’t able to get it completely working till the following day. But he was able to come enjoy a sleepover at my parent’s house with the rest of us. At least we had a warm place to stay. We were able to go home Sunday, but didn’t venture out very far. Most streets are still not plowed, those that are have only one car width open. Our neighbors got desperate to get out and everyone with a snow blower was in the street trying to clear a path out of the neighborhood.

My daughter was out of school on Friday, today and now tomorrow also because the school parking lots were not cleared. No one knows where to put all this snow. And today we had freezing rain on top of it. Sorry for the rant, but I have been stuck in this house for too long. Hopefully, it will be safe to go back to work tomorrow. If not, I may have to bake again. We only have four more of these cookies left.

Wanna make some of your own? Here are the ingredients. Not too complicated. If you can’t find the Jif Mocha Cappuccino spread, you can always substitute with Nutella.

You can go the easy route and just make regular cookies. Or you can fancy them up a bit. I found a Wilton heart shaped whoopie pie pan on clearance at Target and used it to make some heart shaped cookie.

I used the same amount of dough as the other cookies, except I flatten it out into the heart shaped cavities.

You can leave them plain or decorate them with some frosting and sprinkles. I used some Betty Crocker Decorating Icing. It worked out well. You just can’t stack them, because the frosting doesn’t harden. But it sure is easy and quick to use.

Plain or decorated, they taste just as good. So make some for your sweetheart or treat yourself to some.

Mocha Swirl M&M Cookies

by The Sweet Chick

Prep Time: 15-20 minutes

Cook Time: 7 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert snack mocha cappuccino spread cookie American

Ingredients (36 cookies)

For the cookies

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup Jif Mocha Cappuccino spread
1 cup M&M’s

For the topping

1 can Betty Crocker Decorating Icing
sprinkles

Instructions

For the cookies

Preheat oven to 375ºF

Blend together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat together butter and shortening until creamy.

Add sugar and vanilla and beat medium speed until well blended.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well in between.

Add flour mixture, and beat on low until all incorporated.

By hand, mix in the Mocha Cappuccino spread just until you get a marble effect.

Then mix in M&M’s by hand as not to break them.

Then drop by cookie scoop full into the heart cavities of you greased baking pan or on a greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

If using the heart shaped baking pan, flatten out the dough by hand so it evenly fills out the heart cavities.

Bake at 375ºF for 7 minutes, then remove from oven and wait 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Allow the cookies to cool completely before adding any toppings. (Or just eat one now, no one will notice.)

For the topping

Attached one of the enclosed nozzles to the Decorating Icing can. I used the star tip. Decorate as desired, then add sprinkles if you want.

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Carnitas And Tacos

Mains

Christiana George

Updated Date:
June 8, 2023

I love meat unabashedly. This isn’t to say I’m eating steak every night of the week. Like a lot of people, my diet is vegetarian for the greater part of the day, at least up until dinner. That’s when my inner carnivore comes out and craves the wholeness that meat provides. Call it my ultimate comfort food? (My mom used to joke that my love for meat was due to the fact that I was born in the year of the tiger—a Chinese zodiac thing) Chris and I like to consume it in slivers and bits, shredded sometimes, ground other times. Which is why tacos are my ideal food.

The best tacos I’ve ever had were, predictably, in Mexico. We’re so accustomed to loading them down with all kinds of goodies, but at base, they’re all about the meat (or vegetarian substitute), along with a few choice toppings: a smathering of cilantro, onions, salsa, a squirt of lime juice, and some radishes maybe. There’s something so well-rounded yet pure about the authentic taco. When we lived in San Francisco, our favorite taco truck dispensed tacos in very much the same way. I’d always dip into the tub of communal pickled jalapeno and carrots, but otherwise, the major decision revolved around choice of filling. My favorites: carnitas, al pastor, and lengua.

With such simplicity comes much responsibility. After all, when a food boils down to so few ingredients, all the elements have to shine. And in the case of these carnitas tacos, it’s all about the meat. My friend Vanessa, who’s three quarters Mexican, used to tell me about her dad’s famed carnitas, which he’d make every Christmas in a huge copper pot. “The key ingredient… is lard,” she’d say, with the flourish that the ellipsis is meant to convey. At the time, this sounded quite intimidating, much too daunting for the average home cook. I mean, who’s got lard sitting around on their counters?

Well, I will have you know that no lard was involved in the making of this recipe. And it is delicious. I made it about a year ago, choosing the non-lard route, and loved it. It’s a cinch to put together, yields a ton, and tastes pretty damn authentic (and I’ve had enough carnitas to know when I’ve nailed it). And when placed in a corn tortilla, all sorts of memories come rushing back to me. Just goes to show the conjuring powers of food—nostalgia in the best of ways.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to do something I’ve been meaning to do for some time: share wedding photos! I know I promised I would a long (long long) time ago, and since our wedding was recently featured on Wedding Chicks, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to also create a Flickr set to share more favorites. Check it out if you’re interested! (And Sarah, if you’re reading this, thank you so so so much again for documenting our wedding so beautifully!)

CARNITAS

Adapted from Leite’s Culinaria
Makes… a lot. Enough for 2 dozen tacos maybe?

Ingredients

4 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 2″ pieces
3 cups cold water
1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 orange, preferably seedless, cut into 2 wedges
1/4 cup vegetable oil (or lard, if you’re so inclined)
8 garlic cloves, peeled
3 bay leaves
1 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
3 to 4 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp dried oregano

For the tacos:

Small corn tortillas
Salsa
Chopped onion
Chopped cilantro
Lime wedges
Sliced radishes
Pickled jalapenos/carrots

Directions

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot (oven-proof preferably), and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so that the contents is simmering vigorously (medium to medium-low), and skim the scum that floats to the surface. Continue simmering for 1.5 to 2 hours, until the meat is tender and the liquid has evaporated. Stir occasionally, especially towards the end. If the meat’s sticking, you might need to reduce the heat to low to cook off the rest the liquid. About half an hour before the liquid has evaporated, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

If you’re using an oven-proof pot, slide it into the oven. Otherwise, transfer the meat to an ovenproof dish before placing it in the oven. Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes, uncovered, until the meat has browned.

Before serving, shred the meat with a couple forks.