Ultimate Monster Cookies

These are easily the BEST monster cookies! They’re thick and soft, loaded with oats and peanut butter, and filled with chocolate candies and chocolate chips. This recipe also includes a secret ingredient to help enhance the flavor and texture, making it unlike any other monster cookie.

What makes these the best monster cookies?

With tons of monster cookie recipes out there, why pick this one? For starters:

1. The dough does not need to be refrigerated. Just mix and bake!
2. It makes thick and huge (monstrous) cookies that live up to the name
3. The texture is perfection – a soft and gooey inside with a chewy outside
4. It calls for a secret ingredient never used before in a monster cookie that gives these cookies a super rich flavor and texture

I know I’m bias here, but seriously these are SO GOOD! They have the perfect amount of oats and peanut butter to give it that classic monster cookie flavor, but turned up just a bit. After trying these, it’ll be your new go-to recipe.

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How to make the cookie dough

This recipe is made just like any other cookie dough, but I’m including a few extra tips to make sure you get it just right!

For starters, combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl other than the main mixing bowl. This includes quick oats, flour, baking soda, and salt.

In your mixing bowl, whip together the butter, peanut butter, and sugar.

Two things here: make sure to use classic creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy…one that you don’t have to mix. If you use a natural peanut butter, the cookies will spread too much and the texture will be completely different.

Second, really whip the three ingredients together for a few minutes until they’re light and fluffy. This helps break down and dissolve the sugar granules so you’re left with a smooth dough. If you don’t mix it enough, the cookies will turn out with a hard crust and cracked surface.

Now comes the fun part…the secret ingredient! Once properly whipped, scrape down the bowl and add vanilla, one egg, and MOLASSES! Give it a good mix until smooth and combined.

Can you taste the molasses?

Yep, this is the secret to getting really rich and chewy monster cookies. The entire recipe only needs 2 teaspoons, so you can’t actually taste it. Don’t worry, they won’t resemble gingerbread cookies one bit. The molasses is only there to help enhance the flavors of this cookie.

It also boost the texture to create extra softness and chewiness. Brown sugar is a combination of regular sugar and molasses, so adding a little extra molasses helps boost the affects of the brown sugar.

I’ve used this exact technique with my halloween candy cookie bars and they turned out so delicious!

Finishing the dough

Once the wet ingredients are well combined, toss in all of the dry ingredients and mix just until they’re absorbed. We don’t want to over mix otherwise you’ll be left with a tough and chewy cookie.

Monster Cookie Mixins

A classic monster cookie includes M&M’s and chocolate chips. For my recipe, I included just these two but you can mix in whatever you want!

Here I used naturally colored candy coated chocolates that you can get at Trader Joe’s or in the bulk food section of your local health food grocer. I love the unique colors it adds to these cookies.

I also used semisweet chocolate chips because they pair really well with the peanut buttery richness of the cookies.

Other mixins include nuts, butterscotch chips, dark chocolate chips or chunks, white chocolate chips, pretzels, toffee, or anything else you have on hand!

Ready to Bake

To bake, scoop the cookie dough using a large 2oz cookie scoop. If you don’t have one, you could also weigh out the dough using a scale. These are monster cookies after all, so they should be a monstrous size!

Bake the cookies at 350F for 15-18 minutes. They’re ready when the centers are puffed and pale and the edges are lightly golden. The cookies will settle and darken as they cool so it’s best to pull them out when they still look a bit underdone.

Let them rest on the cookie sheet for a couple minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. This makes it easier to move them as they will begin to firm up as they cool.

Can I freeze monster cookie dough?

Yes! To freeze the dough, scoop the dough out onto a small tray or baking sheet. You can line the dough up side-by-side in order to squeeze it all onto the tray.

At this point, you can either pop the dough in the fridge for a couple hours to firm up, then toss the dough balls into a freezer bag. Or you can keep them on the tray and wrap with a couple layers of plastic wrap and then foil.

The dough will keep in the freezer for up to a month. To bake, allow the dough to thaw for about an hour before baking. Then bake as instructed.

Can I use old fashioned oats?

If you only have old fashioned oats on hand, you can use those instead. Just know that the cookies will have a more chewy and bulky texture.

Another option is to take your old fashioned oats and place them in a food processor. Give it a couple pulses to break up into smaller pieces.

For more cookie recipes, check out my:

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Maple Snickerdoodles
• Golden Birthday Cookies
• Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Make sure to tag me @butternutbakery on Instagram and leave a review below if you make these Monster Cookies. To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, the buttons above or below this post, or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!

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