These monster cookies are the classic oatmeal peanut butter cookies all dressed up for Christmas with red and green M&M’s, white chocolate chips and holiday sprinkles. A fun and festive treat for cookie exchanges and gift giving!
It’s Christmas cookie time again, and along cookies recipes such as stained glass cookies and cream cheese spritz cookies, these Christmas monster cookies are on my must-make list every year.
You’ve heard of monster cookies, right? Those oatmeal-peanut butter-M&M-chocolate chip delights? This is a holiday version of the popular classic and I have to say, I like it even better than the original version. It’s a must make Christmas recipe! These cookies have the perfect texture with just a touch of chewiness from the oats.
Table of Contents
Christmas Monster Cookies Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, creamy peanut butter, vanilla extract, all purpose flour, baking soda, salt oats, M&M’s, white chocolate chips and holiday sprinkles.
How Do You Make Monster Cookies?
Preheat the oven, and line a baking sheet with parchment or a nonstick baking mat. Cream the butter and two types of sugar in a large bowl with a mixer until fluffy. Add the egg, peanut butter and vanilla to the bowl, then mix to combine. Next add the flour, salt and baking soda, and mix until just combined. Stir in the oats, M&M’s and chocolate chips. Make cookie dough balls, and dip each ball into the sprinkles. Press a few more M&M candies and chocolate chips into the top of each ball of dough. Place the dough on a cookie sheet. Bake until the cookies are set and golden brown, then cool on a wire rack. Store the baked cookies in an airtight container, or enjoy right away.
Tips For The Perfect Cookies
- For the prettiest cookies, press some extra M&M’s and white chocolate chips into the tops of the balls of dough before baking. It’s a bit of a tight fit with the sprinkles in the mix too, but it’s totally worth it for a beautiful end result.
- The cookie dough can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking. If you’re planning to make your dough ahead of time, you may want to omit the M&M’s and add them just before baking so that the color from the candies doesn’t stain the dough if it’s in the fridge for a while.
- Look for white chocolate chips that contain cocoa butter rather than palm oil for the best flavor.
- These cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days.
- I recommend using a creamy peanut butter such as Skippy or Jif. Natural peanut butter does not work well in this recipe.
Quick Tip
Use a cookie scoop or a tablespoon measure to make sure all of your cookies are the same size
Recipe FAQs
These monster cookies are a great candidate for the freezer. Simply place the cookies in a single layer in a resealable bag, then freeze until solid. When you’re ready to eat your cookies, take the from the freezer and let them sit at room temperature until they’re soft.
Monster cookies are oatmeal peanut butter cookies that contain add-ins such as M&M candy, chocolate chips or nuts. They typically contain ingredients such as oats, flour, butter, sugar and eggs.
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Flavor Variations
These cookies are delicious as-is, but you can customize some of the ingredients to suit your tastes.
- Chocolate: Not a fan of white chocolate? Try semisweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips instead.
- Add-Ins: Feel free to swap out some or all of the M&M’s and chocolate chips with ingredients such as toffee bits, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pecans or raisins.
These Christmas monster cookies are the perfect thing to take to a cookie exchange because they’re so unique. I also like to package them up in gift tins or cellophane bags to give to teachers, friends and family. Everyone who tries these cookies asks me for the recipe!
More Holiday Treats
Peppermint Brownies
1 hr 10 mins
Red Velvet Cookies
35 mins
Reindeer Chow
11 mins
Peppermint Patties Recipe
11 mins
Crock Pot Candy
1 hr 35 mins
Monster Cookies Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Monster Cookies (Christmas Version)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/4 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup holiday M&M’s plus more for tops of cookies
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips plus more for tops of cookies
- 1/3 cup holiday sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line a sheet pan with a piece of parchment paper or silicon baking mat
- Place the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Beat until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
- Add the egg, peanut butter and vanilla to the bowl and mix until combined
- Add the flour, salt and baking soda to the bowl and mix until just combined. Stir in the oats.
- Add the M&M’s and white chocolate chips to the bowl and gently fold them into the dough.
- Make 2 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared sheet pan. You will need to bake the cookies in batches.
- Press the top of each cookie dough ball into the sprinkles.
- Press a few M&M’s and white chocolate chips onto the top of each cookie dough ball.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
- Cool the cookies on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack
- Repeat the process with the remaining cookie dough. Cool all cookies completely then serve.
- Store any leftover cookies in a sealed container for up to 5 days, or you can freeze the cookies for up to 2 months.
Notes
- The cookie dough can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking. If you’re planning to make your dough ahead of time, you may want to omit the M&M’s and add them just before baking so that the color from the candies doesn’t stain the dough if it’s in the fridge for a while.
- Look for white chocolate chips that contain cocoa butter rather than palm oil for the best flavor.
Love these monster cookies!
These were SO good. I got compliments everywhere I brought them for holiday parties last year. I’m making them again this year!!! (I’m a sucker for anything with M&Ms in it!)
I’m wondering if your butter should be at one cup cuz these cookies are so dry and hard something’s not right with the recipe
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the cookies! The butter amount is correct, since it contains peanut butter it does end up with one cup of fat like you’re suggesting. A few things to consider for next time. How did you measure your flour? The best way to measure flour is to lightly scoop it into a measuring cup with a spoon. It’s important not to pack the flour into the cup, as that can alter the recipe and make the cookies dry if there’s too much flour. Did you use a tablespoon measure to portion out your balls of dough? If the balls were less than 2 tablespoons, they may have baked for too long which can result in a harder cookie. Also, some ovens can run hot. I’d recommend reducing the bake time to 9-10 minutes to see if that helps in case your oven runs warmer. It does seem to me like your cookies got overbaked. Hope all these tips help!
Making these delicious cookies today adding Heath bits. All ingredients are family favorites.
The recipe says baking soda, while the video says salt. Which is it?
It’s baking soda, thanks for catching that!
Can you omit the oatmeal? Was planning on doing oatmeal choc chip and didnt want to do two oatmeal cookies!!
I would be hesitant to omit the oatmeal because it could make the dough too wet, I haven’t tested it this way myself.
Okay, thank you! Maybe I will test with a different add on like pretzels!