Monster Cookies

Monster cookies are chewy cookies packed with chocolate chips, oats, peanut butter, and M&Ms candies.

I grew up with a mom who rarely bought sweets. She’s a phenomenal baker, so she didn’t need to; she made everything we wanted from scratch. That included our birthday cakes, Christmas treats for teachers, and the most incredible chocolate chip cookies.

Her cookies are pretty famous in little Sweet Home, Oregon, and for good reason. They’re perfect. When I was younger, she never made a single batch. She always double or tripled the recipe because my siblings and our friends could never get enough.

These days, I love to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies, and I always use the tricks my mom taught me. Sometimes, though, I like to take the cookies to a new level. I’ve been known to do that with sea salt and peanut butter, but I’ve even been known to take it a step further.

Cue these monster cookies. I’m not sure what the official definition of monster cookies is, but I’ve always understood it to mean cookies that are loaded with all kinds of delightful extras. In this case, those extras are oats, M&Ms, and peanut butter. The result is a moist, chewy cookie that’s packed with flavor and decadence.

Monster Cookies

Ingredients

1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. peanut butter
2 c. flour
3/4 c. old-fashioned oats
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. M&Ms + 1/4 c. for tops of cookies, if desired

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugars in a large bowl on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and peanut butter. Add the flour and oats and mix just until combined. Use a spatula or a wooden spoon mix in the chocolate chips and M&Ms.

Drop cookies by the rounded tablespoon full onto a cookie sheet. Make your cookies a little smaller than usual, as these tend to spread more than regular cookies, maybe because of the oatmeal. If you want M&Ms to show in every cookie, press a few into the top of each dough ball. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are just starting to turn golden at the edges and lose their shine. Transfer to a cooling rack.

For more decadent desserts, don’t forget to follow Winstead Wandering on Pinterest!

How about more sweet treats? Check out these double chocolate brownies or mud hen bars.