We're not really much for cookies or cakes in my house. But a handful of M&Ms after we've put away dinner and are settling down for the evening? That particular treat has become nearly a ritual.
M&Ms may just be the perfect candy. They're crunchy and yet also melt in your mouth (and occasionally in your hand). You can toss back a small handful in one go, as my husband does, or make them last by eating them one at a time, as I love to do. Even their bright primary colors never fail to make me happy. Plus eating a handful as a weeknight treat carries that particular joy of "I'm an adult and I eat candy if I want to."
We'll occasionally dally into peanut M&M territory or give the newest release a try, but my husband and I are fairly devoted to the traditional milk chocolate M&M. When we can get our hands on them, Smarties are our M&M upgrade.
What about you? Do have a favorite weeknight treat?
Related: Candy with a Crunch! Honecomb Candy from The Seattlest
(Image: Emma Christensen)
Red-and-Pink-Stripe...

I feel the same way about the M&M's. Something indulgent, childlike, and totally satisfying to my sweet tooth after I've settled in for the evening.
Mmm, just last night I finished off dinner with a few Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips. Perfect rich flavor to finish a meal.
I am eating M&M's right now. With my breakfast coffee. Don't judge me.
I like a little piece of dark chocolate after dinner.
I have a similar ritual, but with mini snickers. I keep a bag in my desk drawer, and have one (sometimes two) everyday somewhere between 2:30 and 4:30pm, usually with a cup of tea. I eat them in two bites, and it's just enough to feel like a treat without destroying whatever healthy eating I've managed to do the rest of the day. And it keeps me away from the larger items in the vending machine.
@leigha87: Oh good, someone else does that too. Mine is usually a cashew-dried cherry-dark chocolate chip trail mix that I made for later in the day and can't keep my hands out of.
Mejdool dates and almonds for me, if i crave something sweet...
There are certainly benefits to being Canadian--like having Smarties just as available as M&M's.
My favourite after-dinner, every-day kind of treat is ice cream. Usually I go for something with chocolate and peanut butter but every once and a while I feel like a fruity flavour. It's more of a once-a-week thing for me though because I can't help but eat a cereal-sized bowl full. I'm not into those cute, one-scoop bowls when it comes to ice cream.
I love mini M&M's. Sometimes just the M&M's or sometimes I mix them with a handful of nuts and raisins.
It's nearly Easter, so I have a lot of jellybeans in the house right now.
I know this doesn't sound very indulgent but a couple of moist sweet prunes or dates is what my taste buds have gotten used to as my after dinner treat.
A small piece of dark chocolate, especially when dinner has been relatively virtuous.
no m&m's but i do enjoy a small square of chocolate and a big handful of roasted salted nuts (always more nuts than chocolate!). It makes a fairly guilt free quick dessert with no clean up or dishes (if served in your hand!).
After kids are in bed, my husband will go get me a mug of milk and 2 dark hershey's kisses. He'll fix himself a glass of milk with a scoop of ice cream in it. It feels like we are getting away with something-secret, adults only dessert time, so it tastes even better. And the dog gets a slice of cheese. He won't tell.
Am I the only one who thought of Clueless when I read the title?
"I feel like such a heifer. I had two bowls of Special K, 3 pieces of turkey bacon, a handful of popcorn, 5 peanut butter M&M's and like 3 pieces of licorice. "
Haha -- don't let their marketing department hear you
Had mushroom risotto for dinner, and still feeling peckish (that's what happens when I don't eat meat), so I'm going to bump up the calories with a Magnum!
That's funny, I always felt like Smarties were a downgrade from M&Ms.
I can never just have a handful of anything sweet, it's a curse.