Working Mom Redemption (aka, The Cookie Playdate)

When I was an editor at Real Simple a few years ago, and then later at Cookie, I won the lottery. The working mom's lottery. After years of fist-pounding and squeaky-wheeling, I was granted a four-day work week. Not four days in the office, then one working from home. That fifth day -- Wednesday, then later Friday -- was off. Mine. I could drop off and pick up the girls from school. I could go to the dry-cleaner. I could go to Trader Joe's during off hours!

But best of all, I could host playdates.

I could've invited kids over on Saturdays or Sundays, of course, but since the family was together so rarely during the week, we generally tried our hardest to place a moratorium on structured weekend plans. As a result, I met their classmates at drop-off and I saw them at birthday parties, but I was rarely able to witness how my daughters interacted, one-on-one, with their pals. And it killed me. I would say on my personal working mom's guilt-o-meter* it was one of the things that registered the highest. And so on those Fridays off, I tried to schedule playdates as often as I could. And as often as I could on those playdates, I tried my hardest to be Fun Mom. Which of course, meant homemade cookies. (Sorry, Mme. Secretary of State.)

The level of kid involvement evolved as they got older, but as early as two, the girls were mesmerized by the simple act of pushing a few M&Ms into spooned cookie dough rounds. And since the recipe for Tollhouse Cookies has been tattooed on my brain from so many years of making them with my mom, that's usually the cookie dough of choice.

*I'll show you mine if you show me yours...?

Working Mom M&M Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips or M&Ms or both

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate, reserving a little pile of M&Ms for each kid helping. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto ungreased baking sheets. Have the kids push their M&Ms into rounds.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.