Monster Cookies
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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
Equipment
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
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Recipe originally published February 2019.
Delicious and so easy! I’ve made other recipes but these are the best so far! Thank you!
Thank you so much, Rachael! I am so glad that you enjoyed the monster cookies. 🙂
My cookies came out perfect!! Thank you. I used resses chips instead of butterscotch. Taste yummy.
I am so glad that you enjoyed the monster cookies, Sandra! 🙂
I made these gluten-free with gluten-free all purpose flour, with an even 1:1 trade to the all purpose flour. I left out the cornstarch since my gf flour had xanthum gum already in it. I found these cookies to be soft and not dry. I will definitely make these again!
Thank you, Lisa! I am so glad that you enjoyed the Monster Cookies and am happy that the gluten-free flour worked so well as a substitute. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
I am an avid Baker, familiar with the kitchen 😉 these had good flavor but were dry. Crumbly, did not move out of ball form on the pan lol. I think an additional egg or milk would have helped the moisture content. I would like to retry the recipe, but when some added wet ingredient to get the chew I was looking for and not such a dry crumbly cookie. I didnt overbake, I actually under baked.
Oh no, I am so sorry to hear that your monster cookies were crumbly, Crystal! My guess would be that a little too much flour was added. When measuring flour you want to spoon flour into measuring cup and then level off. That is just a guess. Regardless, I hope that you still enjoyed the taste. 🙂
I agree. These were not a success. Too crumbly and dry.
Just prepared these as part of a Mother’s Day gift for my momsy. I have to say: they’re absolutely the best cookie I’ve eaten. You’re a sweet genius. Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes. I will be making more in the future!
Thank you so much, Jessica! I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies and hopefully your mom likes them just as much. 🙂
Amazing cookies! They are really good with coffee!! ‼️👍👍😁 Will definitely be baking them again! Maybe I’ll even try some of your other recipes!
I hope you love everything you try, Katrina! 🙂
These cookies are so delicious. We love them. I will be baking these cookies again real soon
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Larry! 🙂
DEEEELICH! I PUT A MINI WHITE PB CUP (DOLLAR TREE) ON EACH. TURNED OUT WONDEBAAH! LOVE THE RECIPE. BUT STILL CAN’T MASTER GANACHE ;( I MADE CHERRY LAST NIGHT FOR MY VALENTINES GOODIES AND ITS STILL TOO LOOSE.KEEP EM COMING!!
Sounds amazing! Thank you for commenting, Sherry, I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies! 🙂
Hi Sam. Could I substitue the instant oats for regular oats and would I still use one cup of oats?
Hi Cathy! I’ve only tried with instant but I think it should work, the cookies will just have more of that oat texture to them. If you try them that way, please let me know how they turn out for you!
Thank you so much for your recipes!!! I have a small cake shop and every one of your recipes always turn out just right!!!!
I am so glad you enjoy all of the recipes! 🙂
You made it look so simple and yummy 😋
Thank you Tammy! 🙂
Good morning
thank you for lovely Monster cookies, i loved
after i finish my duty i will backed it
thank you
zeen
I hope you love them! 🙂
Sadly, I can’t eat peanut butter, and as a great fan of all your other cookie recipes, I wonder if it could be replaced by buttons or would this just ruin the base? I do love the idea of a monster cookie…….
Hi Lizzie! I’m not familiar with buttons but you could make my oatmeal cookies or my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies instead and add the mix-ins. You would want to bump up the amount of chips/candy a bit (just eyeball it and add according to your preference) as those recipes make more dough than this one. I hope that helps!
Buttons are a European thing..they are simply chocolate pieces in the form of a flat disk “button” shape..kind of like chocolate chunks..but not..lol This recipe looks amazing and will be made very soon!!
Looks good will try it soon. Thank you
This recipe doesn’t tell you when to add the chocolate chips. butterscotch chips, and M&Ms, although it is mentioned in the video.
Whoops! Thank you for catching that! You add them in with the oats. I will fix that right now. 🙂
Is it possible to substitute cookie butter for the peanut butter if someone has a peanut allergy?
Hi Jackie! So cookie butter is a little different from peanut butter in consistency so it’s hard to say how it would work without trying. Instead I might recommend you try making my oatmeal cookies and mixing in the add-ins (maybe a little more since that recipe makes more batter) or making my cookie butter cookies and adding the mix ins. I hope that helps!
I did not see your comment at the time I made my cookies. I did try subbing cookie butter for the peanut butter and the cookies were great! I am a peanut butter junkie so I will make them again for myself and use peanut butter. Thank you.
Oh yay! I’m glad it worked out so well, thank you for letting me know! 🙂