Monster Cookies are made with everything delicious you can think of, and are monstrously good. Peanut butter, oats, chocolate chips, and M&M’s come together to make a soft buttery cookie packed with goodness.
Fresh cookies from the oven have a way of making everything just a little bit better. And these amazing cookies are no exception. In testing, these took a few tries to get just right, but the end result was totally worth it.
Monster Cookies are made in different ways with all kinds of ingredients. I love this recipe because it has all my favorites in one place – creamy peanut butter, M&M’s, chocolate chips, and oats. They are buttery, soft, and delicious.
How to make Monster Cookies
Here is a brief overview of how to make Monster Cookies. For the full recipe including all of the measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Combine dry ingredients. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until fully combined.
- Mix wet ingredients. Beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Then add peanut butter and mix well.
- Add eggs. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients all at once at a low speed. Once you have no risk of flying flour, speed up the mixer just a little and mix until the flour has just disappeared.
- Add chocolate and oats. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and M&M’s.
- Bake. Scoop into one-inch balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, rotating halfway through.
Measuring and Mixing Flour
Measuring and mixing your flour correctly can make or break your baking recipe. Follow these simple tips for the best Monster Cookies!
- Measuring flour. When you measure your flour, start by whisking it in the container you store it in to loosen in up. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level it off. If you use your measuring cup to scoop from the flour container you will likely get packed flour or too much flour. This will result in a crumbly or dry cookie.
- Mixing flour. Most cookie recipes suggest that you mix in the flour a little at a time and advise that you not over-mix. I recently read that you should add it all at once, mixing in slowly at first so it doesn’t go everywhere, and then just mixing until the flour disappears. This lowers the risk of overstimulating the gluten which can lead to a dense cookie.
Monster Cookie Bars
Tips to Making this Monster Cookie Recipe Turn out Perfect
Baking is a science. Unlike cooking, you can’t improvise, and there are things that help recipes turn out better. These tips help any cookie recipe turn out great, not just this one.
- Make sure your baking soda and baking powder are fresh. To test that, put a little baking soda in some vinegar and it should bubble and react immediately. Repeat the process with the baking powder and water. If they don’t react right away, it means that it is time to replace them. Typically baking soda and baking powder need to be replaced every six months.
- Ensure that your butter is room temperature. Room temperature butter means that you can gently press your finger into it and make a dent, but it is not so soft that it goes all the way through. To bring your butter to room temperature quickly, cut it up into one-inch pieces and leave it sitting out on the counter. Please note that room temperature butter is actually still cold to the touch.
- Room-temperature eggs are important. To quickly bring them to room temperature, Get a bowl of lukewarm water and leave the eggs in there for a few minutes.
- Thoroughly whisk your dry ingredients. The last thing you want is a patch of salt in one cookie.
- Use a cookie scoop. This will ensure that all of your cookies are the same size and cookie evenly.
Cookie Scoop
Pro Tip!
Want to make your cookies just as delectable looking as what you see here? As soon as they come out of the oven, add more chocolate chips and M&Ms to the tops of each cookie. You will need about 1/4 to 1/2 cup more of each.
Storing
Store your cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to one week. As with all recipes, use your best discretion when it comes to leftovers.
Freezing Monster Cookies
This Monster Cookie recipe is great to freeze as either dough or as the baked cookies.
Freezing Cookie Dough
To freeze these cookies before baking, follow the recipe up to the point of baking.
- Place the dough balls on a wax lined cookie sheet. Freeze them for 2 to 4 hours to flash freeze.
- Transfer them to an airtight container. Put them back in the freezer and store for up to three months.
- Bake the cookies from frozen. You can bake anywhere from 1 to a full batch of frozen monster cookies. Place the frozen dough balls on parchment lined baking sheets and bake in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 12 to 14 minutes.
Freezing Baked Cookies
- Allow the baked cookies to cool. Once completely cooled, freeze on a parchment-lined baking sheet for one hour.
- Transfer to an airtight container. Put them back in the freezer and freeze for up to three months.
- Enjoy them! You can thaw them out or eat them directly from the freezer.
FAQ
While it can be tempting to go overboard on the mix-ins, the ratio of binders can be thrown off, making the cookies fall apart. Stick to the recipe for the chocolate chips, M&M’s, and oats. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for two minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. If you move them too soon, they will fall apart.
It is best to use regular creamy peanut butter in this recipe. Natural peanut butter or crunchy peanut butter can be too drying and result in a crumbly cookie.
Other Great Cookie Recipes
- Skip the oven with these delicious No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies.
- Your favorite peanut butter cookie with a chocolate twist, these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies are always a crowd pleaser.
- Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles are perfectly crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.
When you try my monster cookie recipe or any of my others, please leave a comment and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you and how your family enjoys my recipes!
Monster Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour see note 1
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)
- 1 cup M&M's
- 1 cup quick cooking oats
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until fully combined. Set aside.1 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Then proceed to beat in the peanut butter until fully combined.1 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
- Then beat the eggs, one at a time, into the butter and sugar mixture. Finally, beat in the vanilla.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Add in the flour mixture all at once (see note 2) mixing it in on a very low speed until you have no risk of flying flour, and then up the speed just a little and mix in until the flour has just disappeared.
- Finally, stir in the chocolate chips, M&M's, and oats.1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup M&M's, 1 cup quick cooking oats
- Use a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop to make uniformly sized cookie balls. (Or make one inch sized dough balls.) Place them two inches apart on the cookie sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until they are golden brown, rotating halfway through.
- Remove from the oven. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for two minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once completely cooled, transfer to an airtight container and store for up to one week.
Notes
- To measure the flour, spoon it into the measuring cup and level off the top rather than scooping it right from the flour container.
- Most cookie recipes suggest that you mix in the flour a little at a time so that the flour does not fly everywhere and advise that you not over-mix. I recently read that you should add it all at once, mixing in slowly at first so it doesn’t go everywhere, and then just mixing until the flour disappears. This lowers the risk of overstimulating the gluten which can lead to a dense cookie.
did you make this
Monster Cookie Recipe
Pam says
What size pan if you want to make these into bars? How long to bake this way?
I have a whole recipe for them: Monster Cookie Bars.
susie says
Do you have a tried and true recipe for the icing/frosting to use for piping? When I say piping I want to pipe some flowers on a cake. I don’t know if it’s called icing or frosting, but the flowers or roses will get hard on the cake.
Thank you, Susie
Yup! This Vanilla Frosting will pipe really well and gets nice and stiff.
Catherine says
Anxious to try these when I daycare my Great 5 yrs old Granddaughter who loves to bake all by herself (with my help) She will love the ADD-IN’s
I hope you both love them!
Sarah says
Do you have a preferred grocery store brand of peanut butter…ie, Jiff, Peter Pan? I usually buy all natural nut butters so I’m not familiar with what would taste best in this recipe. Thanks!