Santa’s Favorite Cake Batter M&M’s® Cookies and a Hostess Gift Idea

I love Christmas baking!
To the point where I sort of feel like Buddy the Elf when I’m ready to get started on a new recipe. 

About 10 years ago I went to my first Christmas Cookie Exchange Party hosted by a dear friend of mine, and attending has become an annual tradition ever since, even after she moved 5 hours away. A few of my friends and I have scheduled our Decembers around begin able to road trip to her house and attend the party. 
And I’m not going to lie, we get serious about our cookies. Over the years we’ve laughed because well before Thanksgiving we all begin experimenting with recipes, and making our families taste test the cookies until they’re finally perfect (the family never complains about this, by the way). Each of us want to bring the one cookie that puts all the others to shame  The one that impresses everyone, the one that gives our friends cookie envy, the one they only wish they brought. Okay, maybe that’s a little extreme. But trust me, cookie exchange baking business is not to be taken lightly.


I’ve learned that the perfect cookie exchange recipe uses quality ingredients, has to be easy enough to make several dozen, taste delicious, and look pretty.
This year I’m ahead of the game, because I already know I’ll be bringing my Santa’s Favorite Cake Batter M&M’s® Cookies. My not-so-secret ingredients are the M&M’s® White Peppermint candies. No one expects the delicious taste of peppermint when they take that first bite, but the flavors of Christmas just burst in your mouth!

Walmart has many varieties of the holiday flavored M&M’s® and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to pair the peppermint flavor with the M&M’s® Holiday Milk Chocolate or the M&M’s® Holiday Peanut, so I bought both and figured I could decide later at home which ones to use. I also picked a gallon of Great Value milk (because really, what are cookies without milk) and a couple of boxes of Pillsbury™ Funfetti® cake mix (make sure you look for the holiday box with the red & green candies, they’ll make your cookies even more festive).

I shared this photo on Instagram after that shopping trip, because if I’m making Christmas cookies I might as well pick up a few ornaments and decorations for the house while I’m at it, right? 
Christmas cookie baking apparently starts me on the path to Christmas everything! 

My competitive nature is disappointed when we don’t hold an official contest at our party for the best cookie (because I think we should), so I’m really excited about the #BakeInTheFun Sweepstakes!

Holiday #BakeInTheFun
You’ll be surprised how simple yet absolutely delicious this cookie recipe is! And even better, one batch of dough yields 3 dozen cookies, which is perfect for a cookie exchange party. And, if you need more, it’s very easy to double or even triple.

Pair these cookies with a tall, cool glass of milk for a delicious melt in your mouth treat. 

We all know you can’t go to a party without a hostess gift, even if you are bringing dozens of your delicious cookies.

Click HERE to print this cookie jar gift tag for the Santa’s Favorite Cake Batter M&M’s® Cookies. 


Fold in half, punch a hole in the corner, and tie it with twine or pretty ribbon onto a quart sized jar full of the dry ingredients from this cookie recipe.

Add a pretty piece of fabric to the top of the jar, decorate it with colorful washi tape, and you have a fantastic “Cookie in a Jar” hostess gift to present.

And regarding giving this holiday season, I shopped for my ingredients at Walmart because I learned that when you purchase 2 bags of M&M’s® (9.4 oz bags or larger), up to a gallon of milk will be donated to The Great American Milk Drive. Through this drive and small donations made at pourmilklove.com families in need in our local communities will receive their own gallon of milk this holiday season.

It’s heartbreaking to think that of the 46.5 million Americans (including one in every six children) who rely on Feeding America food banks, there are still those who miss out on the essential nutrients supplied by milk because it’s not typically donated to food banks. I know I personally never really considered the need for milk for hungry children and families, because I know it’s perishable. Feeding America and The Great American Milk Drive is the first-ever national program to help deliver milk to families who need it most, and if you and I can help that while simply shopping for ingredients for cookies for my own family, then that’s something I’m on board for.
And because every little bit helps, click HERE for a printable coupon from Ibotta.