Peanut Butter Christmas Mice

 I fully intended to get this posted before Christmas, but life got busy.  So, you can either stick this in your archives for next year, or use different colored M&M noses and make them valentine mice or whatever other holiday you choose.  This recipe was originally posted in Taste of Home a few years ago.  The last time I made it was at least 3 years ago, but Ethan has a good memory.  His cub scout pack held a cookie derby last week, and this was the first cookie that popped in to his head.

 These are fun to make, and definitely a kid friendly project.  I find that the dough is just a touch crumbly, so my 3 year old wasn't so much help, but the two bigger kids managed just fine.

 They took great delight in making the eyes and ears point different directions to give the mice a little more individuality.

 I felt a little barbaric sticking the poor suckers in the oven. 

 As soon as they come out, you insert the tasty licorice tail (another fun task for kids).

Bonus points for making a Christmas tree out of gingerbread cookies to complete the whole Night Before Christmas scene.  These are exceptionally cute cookies, fun to make and tasty too.  I highly recommend them for a snowy day activity.

Peanut Butter Mice Cookies

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. baking soda
1 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup peanut halves
1/4 cup mini M&Ms (green and red for Christmas, or whatever color you choose)
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
60 2" lengths of shoestring licorice (we used Twizzler pull n' peel)

In a medium bowl, cream the peanut butter, butter and sugars.  Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, baking soda, and then the flour until a dough forms.  Cover with saran wrap and chill for an hour or until easy to handle.

Roll into 1" balls, lightly pinching one end of it to form a nose.  Insert two peanut halves for ears, two chocolate chips for eyes, and a mini M&M for a nose as shown above.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until set.  Immediately insert tail pieces, allow to cool for a few minutes on the sheet, then carefully remove to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.