Photo by Erin Smith
Happy October! How can it be time to turn the page on the calendar again? Living in the Midwest, I enjoy the changing seasons and find my taste buds changing as well. I’m ready to unpack my sweaters, get hiking to see the fall colors, a good cup of hot cocoa, the crisp air, anything with pumpkin in it and fall baking in general.
Monster Cookies take me WAY back to middle school. While I dined on the schools finest, my friend always brought lunches from home that looked better than anything that was on our divided trays. One day, she pulled out the biggest cookie I had ever seen. It was as big as a paper plate, so she willingly divided that thing up and shared with all of us. At the time, I didn’t know you could have chocolate chips, M&M’s and peanut butter in the same cookie. What?!?!?
I’m not sure what the tiny amount of corn syrup does to this recipe, but I still add it. The recipe is very forgiving so if you decide to skip it, go for it! You can make it your own by adjusting the ingredients and adding your own combination. Peanuts, pecans, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips or raisins anyone?
I’m a huge fan of using cookie scoops like these but if you don’t have them, use 2 tablespoons to scoop your cookies.
The original recipe requires you to make them in a roaster pan or the kitchen sink because there’s so much dough. I cut the recipe in half so you’re not baking all day so you’ll be able to get outside and enjoy the colors. Don’t forget to bring along a cookie to share. And some hot cocoa!
Monster Cookies
- 2 sticks butter (softened)
- 2 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups white sugar
- 6 eggs
- 3 cups peanut butter
- 1 tsp corn syrup
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 4 teaspoons baking soda
- 9 cups oatmeal (gluten free if necessary)
- 1 pound chocolate chips
- 1 pound M&M’s
- Preheat oven to 350º. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a very large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until fluffy. Add eggs and mix well. Add peanut butter, corn syrup and vanilla and beat. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop dough onto a cookie sheet and slightly flatten. If you’d like your cookies to look pretty, save some of the M&M’s and chocolate chips to add to the top of your cookies before baking. Don’t put more than 6 cookies on a sheet.
- Bake about 10 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
- Store in an airtight container. These cookies freeze well.