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These Monster Cookies are GIANT, and loaded with oats, peanut butter, M&M’s, and chocolate chips. A hearty cookie with big flavor in every bite!
Featured with this recipe
Monster Cookies are a favorite around our house, and quite possibly my favorite cookie of all time. They’re the perfect cookie to serve after school with a tall glass of milk, or when you’re in charge of soccer team snacks. We call them “Monster Cookies” for three reasons:
1) This recipe makes a MONSTROUS amount of cookies.
2) The cookies themselves are HUGE.
3) They are a monster mash-up of EVERYTHING! Oats, peanut butter, M&M’s and, of course, chocolate chips. And with a chewy texture, lots of candies, and oatmeal, even your pickiest monsters will gobble these up!
In addition, people are going to start calling you the Cookie Monster because you will NOT be able to stop snacking on these!
Ingredients in Monster Cookies
These giant cookies really do have everything but the kitchen sink, all mashed into one giant cookie recipe. Here’s what you need:
- Butter – use two sticks of butter equaling one cup.
- Eggs – six whole eggs.
- Sugar – two cups, regular white sugar.
- Brown sugar – you’ll need about two and a quarter cups of brown sugar for this monster cookies recipe.
- Peanut butter – you can use all natural peanut butter, crunchy or creamy peanut butter, any kind of nut butter you have on hand.
- Vanilla extract – again, note the quantity. This recipe calls for a half tablespoon instead of the usual teaspoon.
- Karo syrup – just a half tablespoon of light Karo syrup gives the cookies a nice sweetness and helps the dough hold its shape.
- Baking soda – 4 teaspoons to help those cookies rise.
- Oats – you can use old-fashioned oats or Quaker quick oats for this recipe. Oatmeal cookies generally use old fashioned oats, but for this recipe you can use either.
- Chocolate chips – I usually use regular semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you could throw in mini-chocolate chips too.
- M&Ms -Regular, milk chocolate M&M candies are perfect here! You can also use mini m&ms.
- Flour – notice this only calls for one and a half cups, which doesn’t seem like a lot in relation to the other ingredient quantities. But with the amount of oatmeal, you don’t need as much flour.
Additions/Substitutions to Monster Cookies
There are no wrong answers when it comes to adding or switching out ingredients in these monster cookies. Here are some ideas to add:
- White chocolate chips
- Butterscotch chips
- Reese’s Pieces
- Nuts – chopped pecans, peanuts, walnuts, etc.
- Crushed pretzels
- Sprinkle kosher salt on top of each cookie dough ball before baking.
- Make them Christmas style! Use red and green M&Ms (careful to not use the mint ones, that would not be a good surprise with these cookies) or add Christmas sprinkles.
Where Did Monster Cookies Come From?
According to houseofnasheats.com, Monster cookies were invented by Mr. Dick Wesley, a University of Michigan photographer, in 1971. As the father of six children, he tried to find creative ways to use up food they had on hand. His original recipe included chocolate coated candies as well as leftover jam that wasn’t being eaten fast enough.
For me, they originated in Las Vegas. I took voice lessons in high school and every Christmas my teacher would bake these cookies and hand them out to her students. It was truly the most wonderful time of the year! This recipe is everything you need for holiday baking — its easy, it makes a TON for all your friends and neighbors, and the cookies are SO GOOD!
A Few Baking Tips
- Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl after mixing. Such a big batch of dough can be difficult to handle, so use a scraper to incorporate all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Use a large cookie scoop or ¼ measuring cup to measure out each cookie so they bake evenly.
- Space the cookie dough balls out really well on the baking sheet so they don’t run into each other while they bake. Typically, 6-8 cookie dough balls for a standard baking sheet.
- Make sure you don’t over-bake these cookies; they’re best when they are soft! Check them at twelve minutes; you only want golden brown edges and they will continue baking while they cool on the sheet.
- If you’re looking for a smaller batch, simply cut the recipe in half and the recipe will still turn out great! You can also make the full amount and save half for later. The dough can be refrigerated or frozen and made later. See our tips for how to freeze cookie dough.
- Use some extra M&M’s to push on top of the scooped cookies before baking. This will make them more colorful and who doesn’t love a little extra chocolate.
Frequently Asked Questions about Monster Cookies
Monster cookies are a mash-up of the ingredients found in chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, oatmeal cookies, and M&M cookies.
Use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. If your cookies are consistently flat after baking, your oven might be too hot. The butter in the cookie dough melts too fast in an oven that’s too hot before the other ingredients can create the cookie structure. Try turning your oven down a few degrees and see if that helps.
Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet after baking for at least five minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Moving them too early will cause them to fall apart.
Yes! Make the whole batch, then freeze cookie dough scoops in a freezer safe container. It’ll stay fresh in the freezer for up to three months. Just make sure to let the dough thaw to room temperature before you put it in the oven. For full instructions, see our post on how to freeze cookie dough.
Read More: The Best Homemade Christmas Cookies
More Cookies to Make with Your Family
If you’re anything like us, the holidays mean lots and lots of baking! We love to make all kinds of treats for our family and friends to enjoy! We hope these other holiday cookie recipes will fill your kitchen not only with amazing aromas, but with memorable moments as well!
- Chocolate Orange Cookies
- Dipped Ritz Cookies
- Andes Mint Cookies
- Elf Cookies
- Molasses Cookies
- The Best Christmas Sugar Cookies Ever – and How to Decorate Them
- 3-Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gingerbread Man Cookies
Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 2 1/2 cups peanut butter
- 1/2 tablespoon vanilla
- 1/2 tablespoon light Karo syrup
- 4 teaspoons baking soda
- 7 1/2 cups Quaker quick oats
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups M&M's
- 1 1/2 cups flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream the butter, eggs, sugar, and brown sugar.
- Add peanut butter, vanilla, Karo syrup, baking soda, and oats. Mix until combined.
- Add chocolate chips and M&M's. Mix until combined.
- Add flour. Mix until combined.
- Scoop onto a greased cookie sheet using a ¼ cup cookie scoop.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes. Use a spatula to move cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Notes
- Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl after mixing. Such a big batch of dough can be difficult to handle, so make sure you’re incorporating all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Use a large cookie scoop to measure out each cookie so they bake evenly.
- Space the cookie dough balls out really well on the baking sheet so they don’t run into each other while they bake.
- Make sure you don’t over-bake these cookies; they’re best when they are soft!
- If you’re looking for a smaller batch, simply cut the recipe in half (or even fourth) and the recipe will still turn out great!
Can someone please tell me if these cookies are nice and soft/chewy, or are they crunchy?
They are very soft and chewy! Be sure to follow the baking time closely for best results.
These were delicious though they were a challenge to make with the kids around because they kept stealing all of the m&m’s! Sneaky kiddos!
Whipped up a batch of these to satisfy my sweet tooth and they did not disappoint! Easily, my new favorite treat; yum!
One of my favorite cookies! I love making these HUGE! My kids love these. Always a BIG hit!
Will these hold up if baked & frozen ahead of time to be wrapped up later to put in Xmas stockings? I do most of my baking right after Thanksgiving and freeze for a month with perfect results for gift giving.
Thanks,
Mary
They should freeze as well as any other cookie. What a great idea to get all that Christmas baking done ahead of time. You are on top of it!
Hello 🙂 could you tell me how many cookies this recipe makes?
I’m sorry this is being answered so late! If you’ve already made the cookies you know this recipe makes a ton of cookies! It really depends on the size of cookie. If you make the cookies extra large as in the recipe (1/4 cup dough per cookie), it will make about 14 dozen cookies.
Are the measurements correct for the oats? 42 oz is closer to 5 cups not 15. I just want to make sure before I go buy everything.
15 cups is correct. It should be close to 42 oz. Oats are very light. Hope this helps!
Hi,
I LOVE your recipe.
Could you give me the recipe for a smaler batch please ? Maybe with 2 or 3 egs, the easier one.
I am froh germany and to Baker with lbs and cups,…….
That would be really Kind.
King regards
Michaela
We are currently re-doing our recipes so you can easily adjust and change amounts and measurements. Keep checking back and we will have that all fixed up for you soon!
By chance have you ever made these with Stevia or another sugar substitute? Thank you for all the wonderful recipes you share
You are welcome, Carrie. I haven’t tried these cookies with a sugar substitute. Because this recipe makes a huge batch of cookies, I would quarter the recipe when trying a substitute for the sugar. It would be a lot of waste if it didn’t turn out. I have tried Swerve in some of my baking as a sugar substitute and I’ve liked it.
Keep in mind that Stevia doesn’t replace sugar in equal amounts or ratios. I think Splenda can be substituted in equal amounts. It would be nice if the company that makes Stevia would publish some recipes in their ads.
It would be super helpful if the ingredients were ALL listed in cups instead of some being referred to as lbs or oz. i have big cans of brown sugar, oats and peanut butter so I’m not sure how to figure the weight.
Hi Rebecca, I’ve included the cup measurements in the recipe. The pounds and ounces are also listed because you can buy peanut butter, oats, and brown sugar in those sizes of containers. I hope this helps!