This Small-batch Chocolate Mini M&M Cookies recipe makes a half dozen perfect chocolate cookies.
How do you feel about back-of-the-box recipes? You know, the recipes that come printed on food packaging. Do you ever make any of them?
We were devoted users of the Nestlé back-of-the-bag chocolate chip cookie recipe in my house growing up, and as you might remember, my Sharp Cheddar and Broccoli Chowder was adapted from the recipe on a butter box pulled out of my recycling bin. So I’m all for trying these recipes because sometimes they turn out to be great .
A couple of years ago, I pulled out a bag of mini M&M’s to make cookies (don’t you think that mini M&M’s make better cookies than full size? I don’t know why, but they do!) and found a recipe for CHOCOLATE M&M cookies printed on the bag. I gave it a try, and long story short, they instantly earned a spot on my favorite chocolate cookies list.
Since you know I love small-batch cookie recipes (have you tried my No-chill Small-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies or Small-batch Buckeye Brownie Cookies ?), I adapted that original recipe to make just six cookies.
And the great thing about this recipe is you can make it with just a couple tubes of mini M&Ms, which is so good for me because I’m incapable of keeping a bag of M&Ms in my kitchen without eating them by the handful.
These Chocolate Mini M&M Cookies are a little soft, a little chewy, plenty chocolatey, but not so rich you couldn’t get away with eating a second one.
Next time you’re standing in the grocery store checkout lane next to the candy bars, you should totally grab a couple tubes of mini M&Ms, come home and make some of these cookies! 🙂
Ingredients
- ▢ 1/2 cup 1 tablespoon ( 68g ) all-purpose flour
- ▢ 2 teaspoons natural cocoa powder
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- ▢ 1/8 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 4 tablespoons ( 2oz ) unsalted butter very soft*
- ▢ 1/4 cup ( 50g ) granulated sugar
- ▢ 1 tablespoon ( 13g ) brown sugar
- ▢ 1 large egg yolk
- ▢ 1 teaspoon milk
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ▢ 1/2 cup mini M&M’s or chocolate chips or ( 2 1-ounce mini M&M tubes)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Whisk in egg yolk, milk, and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Fold in M&Ms or chocolate chips.
- Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour, up to 24.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Divide the dough into 6 rounded mounds on the baking sheet and bake for 9 to 12 minutes, until centers just look set.
- Cool cookies on the baking tray and enjoy!
Notes
This Easy Pesto Chicken Pasta for Two looks and tastes great but couldn’t be easier to throw together.
I feel like it’s been a long time since I last posted a creamy, cheesy pasta recipe. I looked back in the archives and my last was my Bacon Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese , four months ago, and my Mac and Cheese for One months before that. That’s too long!
So today, Easy Pesto Chicken Pasta for Two With Oven-Roasted Tomatoes.
You should make this pasta for dinner tonight. It’s really good.
Like, really, really good.
Also really easy.
Like, really, really easy.
This is my very favorite sort of dish, the sort that looks and tastes so good that the world is going to be convinced you have your life together, but really it’s faster and more delicious than getting takeout delivered.
How to Make Pesto Chicken Pasta
Here’s the process: slice a cup of cherry tomatoes in half. Use this method; it will take you 30 seconds. Then you mince a clove of garlic, 30 more seconds. Chop up a chicken breast–it doesn’t have to be pretty, and you can do it on the same cutting board as the garlic because they’re going to be cooking together in a minute anyway. You have now finished all the cutting there is to do.
Then you roast your tomatoes while you boil your pasta, and you boil your pasta while you cook your chicken and sauce. Stir everything together in the end, and done! 20 minutes, and now you are tucking into a fab pesto chicken pasta for two. You’re welcome. 😉
More Easy Pasta Dishes
- Creamy Sausage Pasta
- Chicken Francaise
- Baked Ziti
- Buttered Noodles
- Fettuccine Alfredo for One
Pesto Chicken Pasta Recipe Notes
- As written, this Pesto Chicken Pasta recipe serves 2. To change the recipe yield, hover over the number of servings in the recipe card (or click if you are on mobile) and slide the slider–no cooking changes are needed.
- If you have leftover pesto after making this recipe, check out my post What to Do With Leftover Pesto for ideas for using up the rest. And for leftover half and half: What to Do With Leftover Half and Half .
Ingredients
Oven-Roasted Tomatoes
- ▢ 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes halved
- ▢ 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ▢ Salt and pepper
Pasta
- ▢ 4 ounces ( 1 1/3 cup) penne pasta
- ▢ 8 ounces (about 1 small) boneless skinless chicken breast cubed
- ▢ 1 clove garlic minced
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- ▢ 1/2 cup half and half
- ▢ 2 tablespoons pesto
- ▢ 1/4 cup ( 1oz ) shredded Parmesan cheese plus more for topping
Instructions
Oven-Roasted Tomatoes
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly grease. Toss cherry tomato halves with olive oil and spread out in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until nicely roasted.
Pasta
- Once your tomatoes go into the oven, bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions and set aside.
- While your pasta is cooking, lightly grease a medium skillet with cooking spray or a drizzle of olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook until the chicken is well-browned.
- Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 4 to 6 minutes, until thick and saucy and chicken is cooked through. Stir in drained pasta and then gently stir in roasted tomatoes. Top with additional Parmesan cheese if desired, serve and enjoy!
Adapted from Buzzfeed
One pot and twenty minutes are all you need to make this quick and easy chicken noodle soup for one.
Heya, I have another recipe for one for you today. When I started posting these single-serving recipes with my Scalloped Potatoes for One , I wasn’t sure how much of a demand there would be for them because I know lots of people don’t like cooking for just themselves, but that post has been pretty popular, and so has my Mac and Cheese for One , so clearly I’m not the only one who doesn’t mind cooking for just myself!
This soup is super fast, super easy, and perfect if you:
- You have extra cooked chicken sitting around.
- You need an easy and warming lunch/dinner.
- Hate soggy leftover noodles/the canned stuff.
And real talk, nothing beats the type of chicken soup that takes four hours to make and starts with an entire raw chicken, but this easy version for one takes about twenty minutes, doesn’t require you to dismantle a dead bird AND totally hits the chicken soup spot, so when I’m craving some chicken soup for lunch, this is totally the version I’m going for.
The soup you see in photos used cubed chicken and carrots and celery because that’s what I usually have around, but go nuts.
Use shredded leftover rotisserie chicken, toss some corn in there, chop up some parsnips and make it a party. Make the chicken soup that’s in your heart. 😉
I also included instructions in the recipe notes for my favorite way to cook chicken for soup if you don’t have any cooked chicken already on hand. It’s the same method from my How to Cook Shredded Chicken and How to Cook Chicken Breasts for Recipes posts, so if you want to see step-by-step walkthroughs, you can click on through and see it there.
More Chicken Soup Recipes
- Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Chicken Carcass Soup
- Chicken Peasant Soup
- Chicken Parm Soup
- Easy Taco Soup
Ingredients
- ▢ 2 cups ( 1 14-ounce can ) chicken broth
- ▢ 1 medium carrot sliced 1/2-inch
- ▢ 1 medium celery rib sliced 1/2-inch
- ▢ 1/4 cup diced onion
- ▢ 3/4 cup egg noodles
- ▢ 3/4 cup ( 3oz ) diced or shredded cooked chicken
- ▢ 1/8 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- ▢ 1/8 teaspoon basil
- ▢ Salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a medium pot (with a lid), combine vegetables and chicken broth. Cover and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes.
- Add noodles, chicken, and spices. Re-cover and cook according to noodle package instructions, until noodles are al dente. If broth level looks low, add 1/4 to 3/4 cup of filtered water. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Small-batch Chocolate Mini M&M Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup 1 tablespoon ( 68g ) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons natural cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons ( 2oz ) unsalted butter very soft*
- 1/4 cup ( 50g ) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ( 13g ) brown sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup mini M&M’s or chocolate chips or ( 2 1-ounce mini M&M tubes)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Whisk in egg yolk, milk, and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Fold in M&Ms or chocolate chips.
- Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour, up to 24.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Divide the dough into 6 rounded mounds on the baking sheet and bake for 9 to 12 minutes, until centers just look set.
- Cool cookies on the baking tray and enjoy!
