Monster Cookies

January 7, 2010

I’ve seen Monster Cookies around the internet for years now, and just never had an excuse to make them. Finally, with Christmas on the calendar, I had a reason!

Do you know how many variations of the Monster Cookie there are? Oh.my.goodness. I was flabbergasted! I used my Google Reader as a starting point, as I always do, and came up with one via the Bake or Break Blog and figured it was as good a place as any to start.

This dough is veeeeeery thick, as most any cookie dough involving oatmeal is. I’m glad my husband was on-hand to help mix in the final items because my dinky little hand mixer couldn’t possibly handle it, and I was getting tired of stirring. I used my regular old cookie scoop and made the cookies “normal” sized rather than “monster” sized as they’re often done. They don’t spread a great deal, so I was able to get quite a few on a cookie sheet. I ended up with over 5 dozen and am still handing them out to random strangers to get them out of my house!

The only complaint I have is that these cookies solidified for me that I don’t care for a strong butterscotch taste. When I used butterscotch chips in Pumpkin Pie Bars, my family didn’t care for them but I didn’t find them offensive. The taste is a great deal stronger in these Monster Cookies, however, and I felt like the butterscotch flavor just overpowers the other components. I’m certain I’ll make Monster Cookies again, but I’ll do some switching around of the ingredients so that they’re more to our tastes.

Monster Cookies
Adapted from Bake or Break, who got it from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook

3 large eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon corn syrup
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 & 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter
4 & 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup chopped M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350. Grease baking sheets (or use Silpat) and set aside

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugars, vanilla, corn syrup, baking soda and salt until mixed. Add melted butter and combine. Add peanut butter, oats and flour – combine thoroughly (this is where the dough will thicken considerably). Finally, stir in the chips and M&Ms and set the dough aside from about 30 minutes. Chilling is not necessary.

Drop the dough onto baking sheets (I got 12 to a cookie sheet using a normal cookie scoop) and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Do not overbake. Resulting cookies will be chewy. Makes about 5 dozen.

Note: To make the Monster-sized cookies that the original recipe suggests, drop the dough by 1/4-cupfuls and flatten a bit before putting into the oven. This should yield approximately 26 4 1/2-inch cookies.