These are exactly what I think of when I think of a 1980s cookie. Giant mall-sized cookies were the rage, as was the combination of peanut butter and chocolate.
I have been looking for an excuse to make cookies with M&Ms ever since I found some bags of dark chocolate M&Ms on clearance at Target and snatched them up. Candy has gotten so expensive lately! I can’t bring myself to spend over $5 on 10 oz of a basic candy. This recipe was exactly what I was looking for.
These were very easy and quick to make. I made some modifications–I left out the corn syrup (the recipe came together just fine without it thanks to slightly more egg) but added a little flour to make them a bit less gooey. I used dark brown sugar to give it a slightly more caramel flavor than light would. I also halved the recipe. It makes exactly 1 dozen cookies now. I don’t know how she got 2 1/2 dozen out of the recipe! These are huge cookies but since you use a measuring up to scoop the dough, its very easy to get an exact count. 12 used up every scrap of dough.
I have not doubled my recipe but I think it would work. It would be a very large volume of dough so use a big bowl and a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer.
They are very big, chewy cookies—more than a quarter inch thick and about 3 inches wide!
As always, store in an air-tight container at room temperate for maximum freshness and taste.
Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter not "natural"
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 ¼ cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt
- ½ cup M&Ms I used dark chocolate M&Ms
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line 3 cookie sheets
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter and sugars. Add the vanilla, eggs and peanut butter and beat until smooth. Add the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt and mix until a thick, uniform dough forms. Fold in the M&Ms and chips.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and drop the 4 inches apart, onto the lined cookie sheets. Press the center of each cookie down slightly.
- Bake for 14 minutes or until the edges are browned, the center is slightly soft but matte looking.
- Carefully slide the cookies- with the parchment– on to wire racks and cool completely.
Notes
- These are big cookies! If you grease the pan instead of using the recommended parchment paper, allow them to cool in the pan for a couple minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool competely.
- I prefer to bake one pan at a time but if you bake two at a time, rotate them halfway through the total baking time.
updated and adapted from Alison Parsons’ Monster Cookies appearing in What’s Cooking in Our All-American City? II Junior Jam compiled by Rockingham Junior Woman’s Club, Rockingham, North Carolina 1985