Easy Christmas Monster Cookies
These Christmas monster cookies are the ultimate festive holiday treat—chewy, peanut-buttery, and packed with M&Ms for a pop of color and flavor. They come together in minutes and make the perfect addition to any cookie swap or Christmas dessert table.
The Ultimate Cookie: Packed with Everything You Love.
Monster cookies are something that I was introduced to years ago, and boy was I hooked. A sweet peanut butter base packed with bits of melty chocolate and crumbly oatmeal, it combines the best parts of any favorite cookie recipe to make the ultimate cookie. It will now forever be in our cookie rotation around the holidays. I hope you enjoy it just as much as we did!
Quick Recipe Snapshot
TOTAL TIME: About 50 minutes, start to finish (including the recommended chill time in the fridge). YIELD: 24 delicious cookies.
STORAGE: These cookies store well in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days (if they last that long!)
BEST SERVED: We love them warm from the oven with a glass of milk! They are also piled alongside other festive treats like these hot chocolate cookies and soft gingerbread cookies.
Why You’ll Love These Cookies
Ingredients You’ll Need
Tips for Preparing to Make This Recipe
- Chill the Dough: Chill the dough for a minimum of 30 minutes before baking. This helps to keep the cookies thick and chewy, and avoids overspreading.
- Avoid Overbaking: Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes for the optimal soft and chewy texture. The will continue to bake on the baking sheet slightly once pulled from the oven.
- Variations: Fun add-ins include white chocolate chips, chopped pecans, red and green sprinkles, or other festive candies.
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below!
Step by Step Instructions
- Make the cookie dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars on medium high speed until light, about 1 minute.
- Turn the mixer down to a lower speed, and then beat in the eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla extract until combined.
- Begin adding in the dry ingredients, mixing until thoroughly combined.
- Add in the chocolate chips and M&Ms, mixing well.
- Chill the Dough: Optional but highly recommended! Place the dough in the fridge to chill for a minimum of 30 minutes and for up to 2 days.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pull the chilled dough from the fridge and allow it to sit out on the counter for a few minutes while the oven preheats. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or a silpat baking mat and set aside.
- Using a medium size cookie scoop, scoop out and roll cookie dough into balls of equal size and place on baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until they are just barely starting to turn golden brown and the edges appear set.
- For best results, let them sit on the baking pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions
- Make ahead: You can easily prep these Christmas monster cookies ahead of time! Mix the dough up to 2–3 days in advance, cover it tightly, and keep it chilled in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to bake, let the dough sit at room temperature for 10–15 minutes so it’s easier to scoop.
- Freeze the dough: This cookie dough freezes beautifully! To freeze cookie dough, make cookie dough per recipe instructions, and then scoop out balls of cookie dough and add them to a gallon sized freezer safe bag, making sure to store the bag laying flat in the freezer. Once you are ready to bake, you can pop the cookies straight from the freezer into the oven, or set out on the counter to thaw beforehand. If you are putting them straight in the oven from the freezer, you may need to adjust your baking time to allow the frozen dough extra time to bake.
- Freeze baked cookies: Once completely cooled, place the cookies in an airtight container with parchment between layers and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or warm a cookie in the microwave for 8–10 seconds until warmed through.
Check out more storage tips & recipe FAQs below!
Recipe FAQs & Troubleshooting Tips
This is most likely due to skipping the chill time in the fridge. For best results, chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before baking.
I don’t recommend it. Peanut butter is an essential ingredient to the dough! For a nut-free version, you could try swapping out almond butter in place of the peanut butter.
To get the most “aesthetically pleasing” cookies, place extra chocolate chips and M&Ms on the top of each cookie right before baking. This will ensure each cookie has some festive color!
More Christmas Recipes
Check out these other holiday favorite recipes!
Pin it For Later!
Easy Christmas Monster Cookies
- Total Time: 51 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies 1x
Description
These Christmas monster cookies are the ultimate festive holiday treat—chewy, peanut-buttery, and packed with M&Ms for a pop of color and flavor. They come together in minutes and make the perfect addition to any cookie swap or Christmas dessert table.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 3/4 creamy peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup red and green M&M’s
Instructions
- Make the cookie dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars on medium high speed until light, about 1 minute.
- Turn the mixer down to a lower speed, and then beat in the eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla extract until combined.
- Begin adding in the dry ingredients, mixing until thoroughly combined.
- Add in the chocolate chips and M&Ms, mixing well.
- Chill the Dough: Optional but highly recommended! Place the dough in the fridge to chill for a minimum of 30 minutes and for up to 2 days.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pull the chilled dough from the fridge and allow it to sit out on the counter for a few minutes while the oven preheats. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or a silpat baking mat and set aside.
- Using a medium size cookie scoop, scoop out and roll cookie dough into balls of equal size and place on baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until they are just barely starting to turn golden brown and the edges appear set.
- For best results, let them sit on the baking pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
Notes
- Chill the Dough: Optional but highly recommended! Chill the dough for a minimum of 30 minutes before baking. This helps to keep the cookies thick and chewy, and avoids overspreading.
- Avoid Overbaking: Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes for the optimal soft and chewy texture. The will continue to bake on the baking sheet slightly once pulled from the oven.
- Variations: Fun add-ins include white chocolate chips, chopped pecans, red and green sprinkles, or other festive candies.
- Storage: These cookies will store well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
- Prep Time: 40 mins (30 min chill time)
- Cook Time: 11
- Category: Dessert Recipes
If you loved this recipe, be sure to come back and leave a comment and a 5 star review! Tag me on Instagram with your creations @ourhandcraftedhomeblog.
So festive and delicious! I made these for a Christmas party last month and they came out great!
Yay! So glad you loved them!