Soft, thick, and chewy these Monster Cookies are loaded up with M&Ms, chocolate chips, oats, and peanut butter. The perfect answer when you just can’t decide which type of cookie to make!
If cookies are your thing make sure to try out my Salted Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies too!
If you’re on what feels like your 1000th batch of chocolate chip cookies 1) that’s awesome and I want to be friends, and 2) consider switching up your routine with these Monster Cookies!
This monster cookies recipe takes chocolate chip cookies to a whole new level by combining them with oatmeal and peanut butter cookies too. Plus some M&Ms for good measure! The end result is a homemade cookie with the perfect amount of crispy crunchiness on the edges and soft chewiness in the middle.
Plus, when they’re warm from the oven, the chocolate will literally melt in your mouth. Just try and name a better dessert!
Looking for more irresistible cookie recipes? Try my Kitchen Sink Cookies, Butter Cookies, and Linzer Cookies too!
These monster cookies are ALWAYS a hit, with kids and adults alike. Here’s why.
- Super easy to make. Just mix everything together, pop your cookies in the oven, and wait for that wonderful, freshly-baked cookie smell to start wafting through the kitchen!
- Thick, soft, and chewy. These cookies have the most incredible texture. Chilling the dough helps keep them thick while baking and the final result is a perfectly chewy texture.
- Something for everyone. With oats, M&Ms, chocolate chips, and peanut butter, this monster cookie recipe has a little something for everyone – not matter which cookie they typically prefer!
Monster cookies are the result of combining the best parts of oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and M&M cookies. Basically, all of the good stuff packed into one cookie. I like to add in raisins while I’m at it, because why not?
I’m not really sure why they’re called ‘monster cookies,’ but some people think it’s because all of the lumps and different colors make them look monster-like. Whatever the reason is, nobody can deny that they are monstrously delicious!
Recipe Ingredients
The ingredients for this monster cookies recipe are pretty standard. Making these cookies from scratch is no stress!
- Butter: Let it come to room temperature to make mixing easier.
- Creamy Peanut Butter: I don’t recommend using natural peanut butter, as it tends to separate too much.
- Sugar: Both brown sugar and granulated sugar are used to sweeten these cookies.
- Eggs: Tt’s not a bad idea to let these come to room temperature too.
- Vanilla Extract: For extra sweet vanilla flavor!
- Baking Soda: Helps your cookies rise up nice and tall.
- Kosher Salt: If using regular-sized salt granules, reduce the amount of salt.
- All Purpose Flour
- Rolled (Old Fashioned) Oats: Quick oats work really well, too.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: You can also use milk chocolate chips.
- M&Ms: Or mini M&Ms if you feel like it!
Other Add-Ins
The fun part of monster cookies is that while they’re already loaded up with pretty much everything, you can still add more to them! Here are a few ideas:
- Peanut butter chips
- Raisins
- Dried cranberries
- Butterscotch chips
- Pretzels
- Shredded coconut
- Reese’s pieces
- Sprinkles
These monster cookies are made in just a few easy steps, though you do need to plan ahead a bit to give the dough time to chill.
- Make the cookie dough. Mix the butter, peanut butter, and sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Mix until smooth then turn the mixer to low and mix in the flour.
- Mix in the add-ins. Slowly mix in the oats then stir in the chocolate chips, M&Ms, and any other add-ins.
- Chill. Cover the dough and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Bake. Portion out 2 tablespoons of dough and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Tips for Success
So now that I’ve convinced you that these monster cookies are the best things ever, here are some tips to help you get the best results:
- Let the refrigerated ingredients come to room temperature. It’s a lot easier to mix the cookie dough when the eggs and butter have come to room temperature, so I highly recommended taking the time to do that.
- Can I make these cookies without a mixer? Absolutely. You’ll definitely get in your arm workout for the day as the dough for this monster cookie recipe is quite thick but you can make them with just a wooden spoon if needed.
- Chill the dough. Though it may be tempting to just pop the cookies right in the oven, I definitely recommend chilling the dough first. Monster cookies are supposed to be thick and chewy and chilling the dough prevents it from spreading quickly in the oven.
- Don’t overbake the cookies. If they still look a little underdone when it’s time to pull them out, take them out of the oven anyway and let them finish baking as they cool on the cookie tray.
Proper Storage
You can store your monster cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 5 days. The trick of adding a slice of bread to the container to keep the cookies soft definitely works with these!
Yes! You can freeze both the baked monster cookies and the unbaked cookie dough.
- Freezing baked cookies. Allow the cookies to cool completely then transfer to an airtight container or ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 30 days. You can thaw them on the counter or pop them in the microwave.
- Freezing the cookie dough. I recommend freezing monster cookie dough balls by forming the dough balls, flash freezing them on a baking sheet, then transferring them to a ziploc bag. You can read more in my post on How to Freeze Cookie Dough.
- Baking frozen cookie dough. The great thing about freezing the dough balls is that you can just pop them straight into the oven without thawing them first. You’ll just need to add an extra few minutes to the
Everybody loves a good cookie! Try out some of these other easy cookie recipes:
- Soft Sugar Cookies
- Whipped Shortbread Cookies
- Dirty Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Carmelita Cookies
- Orange Crinkle Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
- Yield: 36 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Soft, thick, and chewy these Monster Cookies are loaded up with M&Ms, chocolate chips, oats, and peanut butter. The perfect answer when you just can’t decide which type of cookie to make!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 5 1/2 cups rolled (old fashioned) oats
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup M&Ms
- Optional – 1/2 cup peanut butter chips and/or 1 cup raisins
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add in the eggs one at a time, vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt and mix until smooth for 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour, mixing until combined.
- Slowly add in the oats and mix until incorporated.
- Stir in the chocolate chips, M&Ms, and other optional add-ins.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. While the oven is preheating, remove the dough from the refrigerator to take the chill off.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a medium (2- tablespoon) cookie scoop, portion out the dough and place 2- inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, until lightly golden. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Freeze dough or baked cookies for up to 30 days. See post about freezing cookie dough for tips.
Want To Save This Recipe?
Find more recipes like this:
PIN for later:
Shelley!!! I made these with a twist and they were SO GOOD. My husband doesn’t like M&M’s in his cookies and we didn’t have raisins. I did however have unsweetened coconut, so we threw that in. Just oatmeal, peanut butter chocolate chip coconut cookies and they are amazing!!
These are wonderful – even frozen!
These were by far the best monster cookies I’ve ever had, I promptly deleted all my other recipes! This is my all time favorite cookie, so I’m very excited to have found yours, SO soft & chewy! I took them to work for our super bowl party yesterday & they were a hit, my boys were disappointed that I didn’t bring any home!
SO glad you liked them!!!
My mom made these when I was growing up, and I always thought they were called monster cookies because the recipe was HUGE! Like 2 lb brown sugar, 12 eggs, 3 lb peanutbutter, 1 lb butter (among other ingredients) massive! She mixed them by hand in the kitchen sink because it was too much for the mixer!
Yes, that’s how my recipe is too. Also, my recipe is flour free so it could be gluten free, except it uses 18 cups!!! of oats, so unless you have to be gluten free it is a little pricey to use gf oats. Also some people make the cookies extra big, the size of saucers.
I use a flour-free recipe that is wonderful. 1 C brown sugar, 1 C white sugar, 1/2 C butter, 3 eggs, 1 t vanilla, 3/4 t. corn syrup, 1/2 C butter, 1 1/2 C peanut butter, 2 t. baking soda, 4 1/2 C quick oatmeal, 1 1/4 C chocolate chips, 1 1/4 C M & M’s. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl cream sugars & butter. Add eggs, vanilla, syrup, & peanut butter. Add soda to oatmeal & add to above mixture. Add chocolate chips & M & M’s. Bake 8-10 minutes. I use regular and peanut M & M’s.
Yours is the recipe I have but it looks like it was cut in half. Mine uses double yours, and mine was actually cut in half from the original recipe that used 16 cups of oats. Great cookies!
If I’m about a cup and a half short of rolled oats can I throw in some quick cooking oats to finish it off?
I used a combination of rolled & quick oats & they turned out perfectly, she says in the post above the recipe that it’s fine!