Could there be a cookie more fit for Halloween than the Monster Cookie? I think not. This one though is loaded with all the favorite goodies I used to hoard from candy bags of Halloweens’ past. Reese’s Pieces, Mini Reese’s Buttercups and M&M’s all do their part here to make this one spooktacular cookie.
Traditionally a monster cookie is a mash up of a peanut butter, oatmeal and chocolate chip cookie all rolled into one with M&Ms and sometimes chocolate chips. I didn’t come up with these, though wish I did. They’ve been around a while. Someone, somewhere, came up with these cookies and I think they were even originally flour-free, before the gluten-free craze. With that said, my Ultimate Monster Cookies do indeed contain flour, though you could probably make them gluten-free with a GF all-purpose flour substitute. I haven’t tried that myself.
I thought I’d do one better here by leaving the peanut butter out of the batter, which can sometimes make it a little too dense, and include it in the form of Reese’s Pieces and Reese’s Minis. This isn’t the place to be stingy with the goods, folks. Dump ’em all in with a hefty dose of M&M’s and chocolate chips too. Sounds like a Hallow’s Eve dream doesn’t it? And just to add to the monster fun, little candy eyeballs are speckled on top. At a recent kids’ Halloween Party, these were the first to go from a table filled to the brim with treats. No doubt your little (and big) ghosts and goblins will enjoy them too.
And in addition to being totally scrumptious, they’re very make-ahead-able. So, if you have too much costume prep or pumpkin pie making to do, you can whip these up way in advance. The dough freezes beautifully. I recommend scooping the chilled batter with an ice cream scoop into rounds first, placing on a tray in the freezer to harden up then store in a freezer-safe zip-top bag so you can just pull them out and bake whenever you need some chocolatey goodness. To get a prettier/ more colorful cookie, dot the tops with a few more chocolate candies before popping in the oven. More chocolate is never a bad thing.
Ultimate Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 oz butter, softened
- 1 cup (200g) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsps kosher salt
- 2 lg eggs, room temp
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 3 c (360g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 c (67g) old fashioned oats
- 2 tsps baking soda
- 11 oz. mixed chocolates (chocolate chips, Reese's Pieces, Reese's Minis, M&Ms) (cut the Reeses Minis in half)
- 1/4 cup candy eyeballs
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350F/ 175C.
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Cream together the butter, both sugars, and salt until smooth.
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Beat in the eggs one at a time, finishing with the vanilla until combined.
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Fold in the flour, oats and baking soda until almost combined, then fold in the chocolate chips and chocolate candies just until no flour remains.
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Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, scoop the cookies into about a two tablespoon sized ball onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours.
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When ready to bake, place the cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Add a few more chocolate candies on top for a prettier cookie. Bake for about 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden brown. Rotate the pans halfway through baking and place a few candy eyeballs on top.
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Cool for a few minutes on the sheet pan before carefully transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
*Don’t skip on chilling the dough before baking.
*Adding the candy eyeballs midway through baking or soon as they’re out of the oven helps them keep their shape.
*The dough freezes well for a few months. Be sure to scoop the cookies first and then chill the dough balls in a freezer safe zip-top bag. Thaw the frozen cookie dough on the sheet pan for a few minutes before baking.
*A little sprinkling of sea salt on the baked cookies is delicious.
