My thick, soft and chewy monster cookies are loaded with fun add-ins like peanut butter, chocolate candy, oats, and butterscotch chips! Just 30 minutes of chilling! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Why You’ll Love This Monster Cookie Recipe
- Tons of texture! Chewy oats, melty chocolate, crisp candy…these monster cookies have it all.
- Soft and chewy. The key is to chill the dough (just 30 minutes!) and slightly underbake your cookies.
- Customizable: Feel free to switch things up and use whatever add-ins you like! Toffee bits, chopped candy bars, and caramel chips are just a few options outside the norm.
- Makes BIG cookies–these are monster cookies, after all! Feel free to double the recipe if 15 cookies isn’t enough for you.
I’m not sure who named monster cookies or what they were thinking when they did so, but in so many ways this name is fitting.
Monster cookies, because they are something of a monstrosity to the cookie world. A jumble of peanut butter, oatmeal, and chocolate chip cookies rolled into one Frankenstein’s creation of a cookie.
Monster cookies, because they are quite literally monstrous in size–we’re talking nearly ¼ cup of dough per cookie!
Monster cookies, because they turn you into a legit cookie monster (I ate half the tray of cookies before they could even finish cooling 🙈).
Whatever the true reasoning behind the name, these beloved cookies tend to be a crowd favorite wherever I bring them. They’re like a cross between my peanut butter cookies, oatmeal cookies, and M&M cookies–what’s not to like? These are simple to make and so much fun to eat!
Ingredients
Don’t be overwhelmed by the amount of ingredients here; the cookie base is simple, and most of what you’re seeing below are our flavorful/textural add-ins!
- Butter. I use unsalted butter and add salt separately; this helps me better control the salt in this monster cookie recipe. If you only have salted butter, then you can use that and reduce the salt to ½ teaspoon.
- Brown sugar. Either light brown or dark brown sugar works well here (dark brown sugar will yield a cookie that’s darker in appearance and richer/sweeter). My personal preference is to use a blend of both.
- Cornstarch. Like in many of my cookie recipes, cornstarch will keep the monster cookies nice and soft (chewy, rather than cakey) and prevents them from spreading to much in the oven.
- Peanut butter. I use creamy, but crunchy will work too if you want even more texture.
- Add-ins. M&M candies (I actually use Unreal brand candies), butterscotch chips, and semisweet chocolate chips, are just a few of my favorite additions to this monster cookie recipe You can swap out the candy pieces for a different chopped up candy (I’ve used chopped up Rolos before, just keep the caramel inside the cookie dough as much as possible when you scoop it!), or substitute different chocolate chips. I liked the blend of half semisweet and half butterscotch chips, but peanut butter chips or caramel chips would also be great additions.
SAM’S TIP: For a bakery-style look, save a few of your add-ins for pressing into the tops of the cookies after baking. Move quickly, though, you must gently press them into the surface within 1-2 minutes of removing the cookies from the oven.
This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Monster Cookies
- Cream the butter, sugar, and peanut butter together in a large bowl.
- Stir in the egg and vanilla extract.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients.
- Fold in your add-ins until incorporated, then cover and chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. If you’d like, you can chill the dough for up to 3 days after this step, but note that the dough becomes more difficult to scoop (you’ll likely need to let it sit at room temperature to soften a bit before scooping) and the cookies tend to spread less.
- Scoop and roll your cookie dough into 3 tablespoon-sized balls and place on your baking sheet.
- Bake, then let the cookies cool completely on their baking sheets before enjoying.
SAM’S TIP: Do not over-bake your monster cookies! If you do, they’ll turn out dry and crumbly instead of soft and chewy. I recommend baking until the edges are just starting to turn a light golden brown, then removing. The centers will still be a bit underdone, but this is fine since they will finish cooking on the hot baking sheet outside the oven. This makes for cookies that stay soft for days.
Frequently Asked Questions
The most likely culprit here is over-measuring your flour. This is very easy to do if you use measuring cups to measure your flour (instead of a kitchen scale). I highly recommend using a kitchen scale in all of your baking and cooking for the most precise results!
You can, but your monster cookies will be a bit more “oaty” and have even more texture to them. You will still use 1 cup.
Some readers have commented that they successfully used cookie butter in this monster cookie recipe. I suspect another nut butter would work as well, but I haven’t tried this myself. If you do, then please let me know how it goes for you in the comments below!
Monster cookies are perfect for the cookie monster in all of us 💙🍪
Enjoy!
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Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- 10 Tablespoons (141 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ⅔ cup (135 g) light or dark brown sugar tightly packed
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- ½ cup (140 g) creamy peanut butter*
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (115 g) quick oats
- ⅓ cup (60 g) butterscotch chips
- ⅓ cup (60 g) semisweet chips
- ½ cups (100 g) candy coated chocolates Like M&Ms or Unreal chocolates
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Combine butter, sugars, and peanut butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl and use an electric mixer) and beat until creamy and well-combined.10 Tablespoons (141 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature, ⅔ cup (135 g) light or dark brown sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) sugar, ½ cup (140 g) creamy peanut butter*
- Add egg and vanilla extract and stir well.1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Add your flour mixture to your wet ingredients and stir (with mixer on low speed so that you don’t send flour flying everywhere!) until flour is completely incorporated into the batter. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so that ingredients are well-combined.
- Add oats, chocolate and butterscotch chips, and M&Ms and stir well.1 cup (115 g) quick oats, ⅓ cup (60 g) butterscotch chips, ⅓ cup (60 g) semisweet chips, ½ cups (100 g) candy coated chocolates
- Cover cookie dough with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator. Allow dough to chill for at least 30 minutes (this dough may be chilled longer or even overnight if needed).
- 15 minutes before dough is finished chilling, preheat your oven to 350F (175C) and line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Once dough has chilled, remove from the refrigerator and roll into 3 Tablespoon-sized balls and place on prepared cookie sheet, spacing cookie dough at least 2" apart. Use your hand to gently flatten each cookie.
- Bake on 350F (175C) for 13-14 minutes or until edges are beginning to turn light golden brown. Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before enjoying.
Notes
Peanut Butter
This recipe has only been tested with conventional brands of creamy peanut butter and not “natural” peanut butter.Candy Coated Chocolate
I use Unreal chocolate, which doesn’t have food dye. Here is where you can find these chocolates on Amazon, but they’re pricey there and I’m mostly sharing the link for illustrative purposes. You can also find them on Thrive market and sometimes grocery stores or Target for less.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Recipe originally published February 2019.
Hannah
Are these OK to freeze? Looking to make ahead and freeze for the holidays.
Sam
Hi Hannah! That should work just fine. 🙂
Anonimus
this is on my to make list!!
love you recipes!!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We hope you love them 🥰
Bette
My family can’t get enough of these. I’m making more now!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoys them so much, Bette! 🙂
Bette Neiman
Well girl you did it again! 👏 You gave us another GREAT cookie recipe…I made these for the first time today, and everyone was so happy, including myself. The texture and taste are superb. I followed your recipe to the T. They came out beautiful like the bakery. Looks, taste and happiness from all.Thank You@
Kerry
These are delicious but I had trouble with them being crumbly. Just double checking, is it 1 egg or 2? The list says 1 but instructions say “add eggs.” Was I supposed to use more than 1? If not, any ideas on why they might be crumbly? Still delicious and we ate every bit! 😊
Sam
Hi Kerry! I’m so sorry to hear this! You do use just 1 egg in this recipe. Did you make any substitutions here? If not, the most likely culprit here would be too much flour in the dough. I always recommend weighing your flour, if possible, to avoid this. I’m glad you still enjoyed them! 🙂
dix
OMG! Sooo good and easy! Thank you!
Kelly
I’ve always hated making monster cookies, they were always crumbly. This recipe is the best monster cookies I’ve ever made.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy our recipe was a winner! Enjoy, Kelly 😊
Margaret
I made these! With small adjustments to the mix ins – they are delicious! I used white chocolate chips and they remind me of a kitchen sink cookie. Thanks for your recipes! I love following along on your insta as well. 🙂
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Margaret! 🙂
ANNA
I was reading this blog and was: eh noo, I don’t like M&Ms that much (once overeat them as child). But now I found a christmas present again which was: Milka chocolate with m&ms …. What could be more perfect than use it up in delicious cookies as it requires m&ms and chocolate? Well I could give it to someone else, but be honest: which woman in her bad week before would give chocolate away? Voluntarily?? Well, I couldn’t even if I wanted to.
I don’t know id I find Butterscotch Drops, but if not, I’m sure they taste great anyway! Thank you so much for this wonderful idea for less waste ahem … aka (otherwise I would eat it as it is and not be delighted as I could)
Have a nice day
Sam
I hope you love them, Anna! 🙂
ANNA
Hi Sam,
I ended up eating half and making your peanut chocolate cookies with the rest.
Unfortunately the not natural peanut butter here in Germany make me a headache instantly, even if I only lick up the spoon. Don’t know why, could only be the palm fat inside. That’s why I always though I don’t like peanut butter. Natural is all fine.
The cookies thought were really good! I love them.
Perhaps I’m going to look how to make non natural peanut butter from peanut squish.
Sam
I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies! I’d be interested in knowing how making your own peanut butter goes. 🙂
Rhonda
Hi. I haven’t made this recipe yet but it will be on my Christmas cookie list for this coming year! It just looks AMAZING! Thank you for sharing this recipe with all of us!
Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for adding this recipe to your cookie list for next year, Rhonda! I hope that you love them! 🙂