Peanut butter, chocolate chips, M&Ms, and cookies…nothing bad in your life can happen when you put all of these things together!

My love for monster cookies is beyond any normal person. I pride myself on my ability to have self control when it comes to desserts, but I lose all of that control when it comes to cookies, especially monster cookies. My mom used to make monster cookies all the time when I was growing up because you can change up the M&Ms colors to coordinate with a holiday or team color (similar to my pink popcorn with M&Ms). I played a lot of sports growing up and this was a great way to add in a little team spirit.

Monster cookies are essentially an oatmeal cookie packed with a lot of stuff AND they are supposed to be big, which is why they are called “monster cookies.” You do not have to make these cookies really big, but if you do then it gives you the ability to say you only had one cookie…it may have been the size of two put together, but technically it was just one.

Tips for Homemade Monster Cookies

*Make sure your ingredients are all room temperature. This will help everything mix evenly together.

*Don’t over-mix the chocolate and M&Ms. If you are using a stand mixer with an attachment, you could potentially break the chocolate and M&Ms up too much. You can even use a spatula to mix them in to prevent any breaking.

*Baking times will vary based on how large you make the cookies. Mine were about a 1/4 cup and took 15-20 minutes at 350, but if you make them smaller they could bake up faster.

*Make sure to use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is at the correct temperature.

*Allow the cookies to cool completely before moving them. My recipe makes for a much more crumbly cookie than a typical monster cookie and they need the time to set up after baking.

Monster cookies

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup butter

1 egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 cup oats

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup M&Ms

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (a hand mixer works as well) mix the butter and sugar together until it is pale in color and lighter in texture (aka “creaming” the butter and sugar together)

Add the peanut butter and mix well

Slowly mix in the egg and vanilla and combine until mixed well; make sure to use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is mixed

Mix together the oats, flour, salt, baking power, and baking soda into a separate bowl

With the mixer on low, slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined

With the mixer on low, or stirring by hand, mix in the chocolate and the M&Ms into the batter, being careful not to break them up too much; scrape down the sides again to make sure everything is incorporated

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop the cookies onto the cookie sheet making sure they are spaced out since the cookies will spread as they bake

*Add a few more M&Ms to the top of the cookies before putting them in the oven if you want to clearly see the specific colors*

Baking time will depend on how large you decide to make the cookies; if you do 1/4 cup scoop it can take about 15-20 minutes or until the edges start to get slightly golden

Allow the cookies to cool completely before moving them from the baking sheet