Monster cookies are everything good that there is about cookie-baking and candy-eating. They are sometimes referred to as “kitchen sink cookies” because at first glance it seems that just about everything but the kitchen sink is thrown into these cookies. Peanut butter, oats, chocolate chips, M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces… They are basically the Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies on steroids. Not only more ingredients, but bigger too. The monster cookies go the no-holds-barred route when it comes to size. And when it comes to cookies (at least in my book), bigger is always better. Which is probably why the Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies are two of my absolute favorites. Big, thick, chewy. Love ‘em. And I love these.
The fabulous thing about these cookies is that they are totally adaptable to your tastes and you can go hog wild in creating the perfect cookie for you. The original recipe calls for butterscotch chips (not Reese’s Pieces) but with peanut butter in the batter, and because I have a serious love affair with Reese’s Pieces, I decided to nix the butterscotch chips for Reese’s Pieces. You could also use peanut butter chips, which would be fabulous as well. Really, whatever you like, throw in! I think chopped nuts would be great too. I somewhat included nuts by using chunky peanut butter instead of creamy, but that’s really a personal preference. I briefly considered peanut M&M’s but figured they would be too big for the cookies (probably a good call). The key here is to make the monster cookies your monster! Dig deep and channel that inner mad scientist.
What would your ultimate monster cookie have in it?
(I looked high and low for red, white and blue M&M’s to use in these – they would be great to take to a 4th of July picnic this weekend! – but I couldn’t find any.)
One year ago: No Bake Cookies (The most popular recipe on the site!)
Two years ago: Wedding Shower Cake
Monster Cookies
Yield: 26 large cookies
Prep Time: 45 minutes | Bake Time: 10-12 minutes per baking sheet
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon corn syrup
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup (4 ounces, or 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1½ cups chunky peanut butter
4½ cups rolled oats
½ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup chocolate chips
¾ cup Reese’s Pieces
¾ cup M&M’s1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (If you don’t have three baking sheets, just be sure to cool the ones coming out of the oven before placing more cookie dough on them. If I’m short on sheets I will run them under cold water to cool them down.)
2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the eggs, both sugars, vanilla extract, corn syrup, baking soda and salt. Then stir in the melted butter and peanut butter, followed by the oats and flour. Lastly, stir in the chocolate chips, Reese’s pieces and M&M’s. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
3. Drop the dough by ¼ cupfuls onto baking sheets (if weighing, each ball of dough was approximately 2.7 oz or 77g). Use your fingers to flatten the dough slightly. Baking for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are a light golden brown. Cool on a rack and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.
*Note: I found that since I used both M&M’s and Reese’s Pieces, some of the candy pieces fell out when scooping the cookies if a particular ball of dough was overrun with both. Not a big deal, just know that you might lose some candy.
(Recipe adapted from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion
)
Tags: Candy, Cookies, Oats, Peanut Butter
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I once had a cookie like this that had chopped pretzels in it. Tasted so damn good!
Will have to try these cookies…they would be festive with red/white/blue M&Ms. Try looking at Walmart for the different colors M&Ms…I’ve seen them in individual tubs – sold by color. They were located where the large packaged candies are displayed. If you have a Michael’s in your area, they also sell them – individual tubs. They are on the “high” side, but at least you get what you want.
You can also buy red/white/blue sprinkles in a small plastic container.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes!!
Hi Judy, Thanks for the tip! I did look at Wal-Mart for the M&M’s in the section you mentioned but didn’t find any. I didn’t check Michael’s though, I will definitely do that next time!
these look great… your recipe looks wonderful & sweet….& a great way to use up chocolates, chips etc.!
i am going to prep/ assemble & freeze the dough balls…& bake fresh out of the oven for july 4th!
THANKS!
I am making these tonight!
Peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies — the best!!! Ur add-ins only make this taste sensation sound even better!!!
I think I spotted a puddle of drool under my office chair…..
I love cookies that have tons of add-ins. The recipe and pictures look great! I’m heading to a friend’s house this weekend for a BBQ and will have to take these along for the ride.
Thanks for sharing the yummy cookie recipe! My son would love these.
Yum— these make me want to break into the highest part of the pantry where the m&ms are “hidden” and get baking! Everything you create is so pretty and inviting, and these little cookies are no exception. Can’t wait to see what’s next.
- Lauren, Lauren’s Little Kitchen
This is such a classic recipe. I loved having these as a kid!!
I’ve made these before and they are delicious. Nice and chewy but soft and scrumptious. Now you got me thinking that I need to make them again!
Love it! I can’t wait to experiment with my own!
These are more filling than cookie! What a wonderful recipe for kids – I’m sure this would be fun to mix and bake together (and, of course, eat them!)
These monster cookies look Fab, I will have to give them a try next time I bake cookies, we seriously love some Reese’s Pieces at our house!
These are great with the M&Ms peeking out… how can any kid (of any size and age!) say no to these?
These cookies look awesome! I would love to enjoy a few of these with a cold glass of milk!
I tried a mix for Monster cookies that added raisins and peanuts and we were not impressed. I’ll settle for just a multitude of different chocolates thank you very much.
Wow these look amazing!! I’m such a cookie monster – this is going straight to the top of my to bake list. Thanks
I love monster cookies! The Reese’s Pieces make an awesome addition…I’ll have to try that next time!
These are gorgeous cookies. My husband will truly love these, especially that you mentioned peanut butter, that is his favorite.
I’m going hog wild for yours!!
What fun! I love how colorful they are! These look like Wonka cookies to me!
Just bought a few packs of Pretzel M&M’s (had 2 buy one get one free coupons) which I think would be fab in these Monsters. Sounds like the perfect ride-out-the-edge of Tropical Storm Alex baking project.
I love monster cookies! A little bit of everything.
i’ve made a version of “monster cookies” before… but yours look amazing! never thought of reese’s pieces! yumm!
These look awesome! When I used to work at Southern Living Magazine, we made these all of the time. Your version looks wonderful. Love your site!
Fantastic monsters you have out there! They look good and very attractive too!
There is a local coffee shop here in Vancouver that makes it’s own monster sized cookies. Orange cranberry with white chocolate chunks. I could eat myself silly on those if I still worked next store to that shop.
Love the look of these cookies. So fun!
I LOVE monster cookies, these look delicious!!!
how crazy cookies
I remember making these a lot as a kid. These bring back some good memories. I just might have to make a batch soon.
What pretty Monster cookies…They look so good!
YUMM! These look great, I think I would even add in some marshmallows in there to seal the deal! And about those no-bake cookies, I think I go to that recipe everyday and dream of how good and easy they look, except the hubby doesn’t like oatmeal so I haven’t made them yet!
I tried making monster cookies before but they weren’t quite as I remembered. These look like they might be closer to the ones I used to have. Swapping out the butterscotch chips for Reese’s Pieces sounds perfect to me. I’ve seen these Almond Joy pieces that I’ve been intrigued about and I’m thinking they might be yummy in here!
Stop eating the mixture! These are a fantastic alternative to a standard choc chip cookie. I put in m&m’s and smashed up jaffas. Yum.
Hey Michelle – I’ve made these a couple of times (so delicious!), but they seem to come out much flatter than yours. Any idea why this happens? Do you let the butter cool a bit before you add it…I’m thinking this might be my problem. Love your site!
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies with Dark Chocolate Chips and M&M’s would be excellent. Or the Dark Chocolate M&M’s would be even better. Use really good chocolate and really good cocoa – the better the ingredients the better the taste.
Yum! There’s a reason your recipe pops up #1 in a google search for monster cookies! We made them tonight and they are so delicious! I’ve tried tons of different recipes, but your’s is definitely the best!
Thanks Londa! Great to hear your review, I’m so glad you loved these cookies!
My husband is very picky when it comes to Monster Cookies and he LOVES these! They turned out fluffy, soft, chewy, and oh so delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!
Yay! I’m glad these got your hubby’s approval!
I have always wanted to make Monster Cookies, and tonight, listening to the Monster Mash over and over with my 3 year old, I decided THIS was the night. My son was very excited to help make these, and sang Monster Mash the whoooole time. I made a few changes based on what I had- half butter half shortening, no corn syrup (I figured no biggie cause it was a tiny amount, but maybe it was a biggie?) and did chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips and chopped pretzels! Now, I know it would be much better to have the candy coated kind because they are much more fun looking. But anyway, I used an ice cream scoop and got 36 cookies. I baked 6, thinking they would spread a lot, and they didn’t. they stayed in little mounds! After 12 minutes they were still totally balls. After 20 (yikes!) i decided to take them out. I cooled a bit and just ate one- yum. They are a little crisp outside and warm and soft inside- i hope they don’t get too hard as they cool since I baked so long. Do you think it was the shortening and lack of corn syrup that caused them not to spread?
Katie, How cute about your son singing “Monster Mash” while helping you bake! Love it! The shortening could have been the culprit here. I have seen it called for in sugar cookie recipes specifically because it keeps the shape of the cut out cookies, and keeps them from spreading.
I tried yesterday this recipe, and we are already thinking in cooking it again, so you can imagine the success. The only “problem” is that, at home, I only had M&M’s with peanut, but I crushed them and it was also ok.
Thanks for the recipe, it’s really easy and very, very delicious!!
I love peanut M&M’s. They need to be hidden from me
Great substitute!
Good basic recipe, though I modified it a bit. I didn’t melt the butter. I whipped softened butter with the peanut butter first, then added the rest of the “wet” ingredients. I next added this mixture to the “dry” ingredients. I also omitted the corn syrup and reduced the brown sugar by 1/4 cup and the white sugar by 1/4 cup. In order to encourage the cookies to spread a bit, I used a few wet fingers to press each of them down a bit before baking. Divine!
If I wanted to go with a mint theme, do you think I could drop the peanut butter without ruining the texture or composition of the cookies?
Thanks! Brian
I am baking these right now but I don’t think they are coming out right and I am wondering what I did wrong! The dough is so stiff that when I put the flattened balls in the oven to bake, they basically keep that shape! It doesn’t seem to be spreading like most cookies. Has this ever happened to you before? I used all natural peanut butter since that is what I buy. Do you use all natural or something like Jiffy and do you think that would actually make a difference?
Hi Michelle, I actually never bake with all natural peanut butter because it’s texture is so different and it can definitely affect the outcome of baked goods. For baking, I stick with regular peanut butter, such as Jif.
These are officially my favorite cookies ever! I love how chewy they are and how little flour is in them. I bake things for my dad all the time, but this is the only recipe he’s requested I make again! I can’t wait to try these with different mix ins
I’ve been wanting to bake monster cookies all summer, and I finally decided to do so today. I am SO glad I did, and that I followed your recipe. These cookies are delicious and full of my favorite things. I used pretzel m&m’s because they are my new obsession, and while they are slightly bigger than the regular kind, the cookies were not too overloaded and came out perfectly. Thank you so much!