Monster Cookies

By Maria Lichty

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Quick Summary

Monster Cookies are loaded with oats, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and M&M‘S. Everyone loves this classic cookie recipe, even the Cookie Monster approves!

Monster Cookies on cooling rack with chocolate chips and M&M's.

I always describe myself as a cookie monster (have you seen the hundreds of cookie recipes on our site?), so of course I love Monster Cookies.

This classic cookie recipe is made with so many delicious ingredients: oats, peanut butter, M&M’S, chocolate chips…just listing it out makes me want a fresh batch in the oven right now! They are loaded with goodness.

Why are they called Monster Cookies? It’s because they’re like the Frankenstein’s monster of the cookie world…a bunch of cookies all mashed together in ONE recipe!

The cookies are part peanut butter cookie, part oatmeal cookie, part chocolate chip cookie, part M&M cookie, and 100% DELICIOUS cookie! All of the BEST in one cookie.

You also need to check out my Monster Cookie Bars, they are equally delicious.

The ingredient list might look a little long, but you probably already have most of the ingredients in your pantry.

  • Oats– use old fashioned oats and not quick oats.
  • All-purpose flour
  • Baking soda– check the date to make sure it is fresh)
  • Salt
  • Butter– I like to use unsalted butter for baking so I can control the amount of salt.
  • Peanut butter– I normally love natural peanut butter, but for this recipe, I use regular creamy Skippy peanut butter.
  • Sugar– brown sugar and granulated sugar
  • Egg– always use large eggs.
  • Vanilla extract
  • Chocolate chips– I like semi-sweet chocolate chips, but milk or dark chocolate work well too.
  • M&M’S– the colorful candies are the star of the cookies.
  • Flake sea salt– for sprinkling on top!
Monster Cookies with with chocolate chips & M&M's.

How to Make Monster Cookies

We’ve got a pretty standard cookie procedure here! Let’s get baking!

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat baking mats.
  • Get all the dry ingredients stirred together in a big mixing bowl: oats, flour, baking soda, and salt. Set it aside; we’ll come back to it in a minute.
  • Use a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the peanut butter, softened butter, and sugars together on medium speed until everything is creamy and smooth. Use a spatula to scrape the sides down if necessary!
  • Add in the egg and vanilla and keep that mixer going until everything is good and combined.
  • Add in the dry ingredients, but only mix them until they’re just combined! Don’t over mix! Finish the dough off by gently stirring in chocolate chips and M&M’s.
  • Scoop the dough into balls with about two tablespoons of dough per cookie. Place them on the prepared sheets with two inches between each cookie.
  • Now we bake! Give them 10-12 minutes in the oven, until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges but soft in the middle.
  • Remove them from the oven and sprinkle with sea salt. This is also a great tie to press a few additional chocolate chips or M&Ms into the tops so they look nice and extra colorful.
  • Let the cookies cook for about 5 minutes. These cookies have a LOT of goodness baked in, so you want to make sure they’re set before moving to a wire rack to cool completely!
  • This cookie recipe can easily be doubled! Sometimes you NEED a MONSTER batch of MONSTER cookies:)

Optional Add-Ins

These cookies are already loaded, but the sky is really the limit here! If you want to add something additional, try…

  • Peanut butter chips or butterscotch chips
  • Pretzels
  • Coconut
  • Raisins or dried cranberries
  • Peanuts, almonds, or walnuts
stack of monster cookies

How to Store & Freeze

How to Store: You can store the monster cookies on the countertop in an airtight container for 3 to 5 days. To keep the cookies soft, place a piece of bread in the container. The bread will get rock hard, but the cookies will stay soft.

To freeze the cookie dough, scoop the dough into balls and place onto a cookie sheet and pop them in the freezer for about an hour, just until they lose their stickiness and are mostly frozen. After that you can put them into a freezer-safe container or freezer bag! When you’re ready to bake, pull them out and bake as directed, just add a couple of minutes to the baking time.

To freeze baked cookies, place cooled cookies in a freezer container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost and enjoy or you can even eat them frozen! I love frozen monster cookies!

Monster cookie broken in half with melty chocolate and M&M's.

See all of our COOKIE RECIPES HERE!

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Monster Cookies

Monster Cookies are loaded with oats, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and M&M'S. Everyone loves this classic cookie recipe, even the Cookie Monster approves!
4.59 from 177 votes

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Line two large baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, stir together the oats, flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  • Using a stand mixer or hand-held mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter, and sugars together until creamy and smooth, on medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, if necessary. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
  • Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low until just until the combined. Don’t over mix. Gently stir in the chocolate chips and M&M’s.
  • Scoop the cookies into round balls, about 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie, and place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches in between cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges, but still soft in the middle.
  • Remove cookies from oven and sprinkle the cookies with sea salt. You can also gently press additional chocolate chips and M&M’s on top of the cookies to make them look extra pretty. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes or until set. When set, transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Notes

You can easily double this recipe, I often do because more cookies is always a good idea:) 

Nutrition

Calories: 256kcal, Carbohydrates: 31g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 25mg, Sodium: 113mg, Potassium: 86mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 22g, Vitamin A: 207IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 33mg, Iron: 1mg
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Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
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4.59 from 177 votes (145 ratings without comment)

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Comments

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  1. 5 stars
    Simple and tasty. Will triple next bake, I would like to freeze a third of the dough to see how it does.

  2. I have a monster cookie recipe that makes 144 large cookies & doesn’t use flour at all. I’ll have to try yours & compare.

  3. Made these yesterday..so yummy. I used some left over Christmas M&M’s but sorted out the green for a St. Pat’s salute and also added chopped up Trader Joe’s mini PB cups and some mini chocolate chips. I tested one and quickly gifted the rest…too tempting to have in the house they were that good.
    Thanks for sharing!

    1. Yes, must make sure it is creamy and stirred well. If it is a dry/stiff almond butter the cookies will be dry.

    2. 5 stars
      I substituted the PB for cookie butter and they turned out great! I’m sure you could try soy butter or sunflower butter as well if you have a nut allergy in your family like I do!

  4. Would these cookies turn out with it I cut the sugar in half? It seems they would be sweet enough with the chocolate chips and candy.

  5. If we only have quick oats on hand, and don’t want to go to the store…will it work? Maybe use a little more? Thanks!

    1. Yes, you can use quick oats if that is all you have. The texture will be a little different, but still good:)

  6. Hi Maria,
    I’m hoping that you, Josh, Maxwell and Caleb are all okay. I just heard about the earthquake and the effect it had on SLC! You bring such happiness to my home all the time and I just wanted you to know we are thinking about you. That was the last thing you all needed on top of the Corona Virus!!

    1. Hi Ginny-thank you so much for your sweet note. We are safe and doing well. Thanks for checking in. Sending our best to you!

  7. 5 stars
    Thanks for the recipe! We love Monster Cookies!! I gifted to a family who just found out their son has celiac disease and they were thrilled that they were gluten free! Super addictive!!

  8. 5 stars
    We have the first batch in the oven right now and delivering it to some of our military family friends on camp for our Sunday Service Activity 🙂 The rest of the batch will be baked and frozen for after school snacks this coming week Thank you for sharing Maria!. You are truly the queen of cookies

  9. 5 stars
    Hi Maria,
    I baked these cookies and my family loved them! I realized later that they are in your cookbook. Everything is basically doubled in the cookbook except the flour. I’m curious if there is a reason. If I made this ratio, the flour would be 1 cup in the cookbook version. Which is right for the recipe? Should I adjust my cookbook recipe?

    1. The recipe in the cookbook is different. They are larger and have pretzels. Both are good! I make them both:)

  10. 5 stars
    It was my very first time making cookies and this recipe turned out just perfectly! I just changed the old-fashioned oats for quick oats (because that’s what I had on hand) and didn’t use brown sugar but still loved the result! Thank you for sharing! Greetings from El Salvador ❤

  11. 5 stars
    I’ve made these twice now and they are DELICIOUS! Everyone who tries these cookies loves them 🙂 This time I did a mix of regular-sized M&Ms and the mini ones for fun (still keeping the total M&Ms at 3/4 cup). Definitely recommend adding the extra M&Ms on top as well as the directions suggest!

    1. 5 stars
      Made these and LOVE them. I live at high altitude so added 2 TBSP flour to prevent excessive spreading. I chilled them overnight…they didn’t flatten out so I smashed them a bit with a spoon…..I will make them again and again. Great recipe.

  12. 5 stars
    Delicious and very easy to make. The sprinkle of flaked salt puts these over the top 🙂 Thanks for the great recipe!

    1. Sure, you can make big cookies. Make sure you space them out more and you will have to bake for a few additional minutes.

  13. 5 stars
    These are amazing! I made them for our small group and they were devoured. I’ll def make a 2X batch next time!

  14. Hi Maria,
    I baked these cookies a few days ago and they are so so delicious!! (And dangerous!!). I was happy with the amount of peanut butter flavour in the recipe because it wasn’t overpowering. Sometimes all you taste is the peanut butter….perfect ratio!! Thanks and keep the cookie recipes coming!!

  15. 5 stars
    Made these yesterday and used Valentines peanut butter m&m’s that were roughly chopped, finely chopped pecans, and semi sweet chocolate chunks and they’re a hit!! I cut the baking time by 2 minutes and they turned out perfect. Thank you for a great recipe!

  16. 4 stars
    I just tried these. I used not quite 3/4c mini M&M and 1/2 cup Reese mini cup in half. I found cookies extremely sweet ! I loosely put a 1/2 c of brown not even packed. I think next time I will omit the granular sugar completely. And i made them with a tsp and still got over 3 dozen decent size cookies Otherwise good cookies!

  17. 5 stars
    My kids love these cookies!! They request these all the time. These are the best and so easy! I make a triple batch every time. Would highly recommend!!

  18. 5 stars
    I made these for my boyfriend’s work event today and they were a HUGE HIT! Every person who ate them complimented them multiple times, and kept asking for the recipe. I doubled the recipe and used a combo of peanut butter m&m’s, mini m&m’s, mini chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips. The sprinkle of sea salt was a perfect touch too.

  19. 5 stars
    I substituted the peanut butter for Wowbutter( Soy butter) because my kids are both allergic to nuts. Turned out perfectly and tasted wonderful!

  20. 5 stars
    The Mega Monster Cookie version from the cookbook was one of the first cookies I made from you and I’ve been hooked on all your cookies since. The recipe is easy to follow and so delicious. All my co-workers love them when I bring them in.

  21. 4 stars
    I made these and triple checked that I followed the recipe and the batter was so loose that they spread completely flat. Wondering if chilling the batter would help that or adding more flour. The taste is great.

  22. 5 stars
    These cookies have become so beloved in our household that my 13 year old son has printed out the recipe to store with our baking supplies. He willingly helps (or makes them himself) because he likes them so much. And I much prefer that he eats cookies containing peanut butter & oatmeal over typical sugar/butter/flour varieties. I use mini m&m’s and mini chips, sometimes adding in extra ingredients like nuts & other flavor chips for fun.

  23. 5 stars
    Made these cookies exactly as the recipe states. They were absolutely perfect. My family couldn’t stop eating them. I used my 1.5 Tsp scoop and got about 25 cookies out of the recipe. I baked them until the edges started to brown, then pulled them out of the oven and sprinkled with flaked sea salt. Perfection. This recipe is a keeper.

  24. 5 stars
    This is a great recipe! I took your advice and added some peanut butter chips. They look amazing and taste even better. Thanks for another amazing cookie!

  25. 5 stars
    These are the perfect cookie. Sweet and salty, crunchy on the outside soft on the inside, chocolate and peanut butter..seriously everything you can want. I’ve made them twice, making them gluten free/dairy free with 1:1 flour and dairy free butter. Served them at a party and everyone raved about them, including people with no dietary restrictions. Thank you for a phenomenal recipe. A forever favorite now.

  26. 5 stars
    I’ve made this recipe 3 times in the last 2 weeks. I made them extra monster-y for Halloween by adding eyeball sprinkles and some food dye. Highly recommend for any season though ;⁠)

  27. 5 stars
    I’ve made these a few times now and they’ve come out perfect every time. I get so many compliments on these cookies.