This recipe as been updated (and upgraded!) as of October 2022.
These soft-baked Peanut Butter Monster Cookies are stuffed with delicious, natural peanut butter, quick oats, chocolate chips, and your favorite candy-coated chocolate pieces! What’s not to like?! Both kids and adults will love these quick & easy cookies!
Peanut Butter Monster Cookies
Months ago, after seeing Monster Cookies all over Instagram, I took one of my favorite peanut butter cookies and turned them into the Frankenstein mash-up that are MONSTER cookies! If you’re unfamiliar, these fun cookies have oatmeal, chocolate chips, and candy pieces all mixed in. And they’re delicious. My version is super sweet, soft-baked, and has lots of chocolate. They’re also quick and easy to make and the dough requires zero chill time!
To get your monster cookies just right, you’ll want to roll the dough balls and then flatten/shape them into discs about 1/2″ thick. I like to press extra chocolate chips and candy pieces into the dough discs right before baking. If you find that your dough balls are crumbling apart because of the chocolate chips and candy pieces, you can take a few of those chocolate pieces out, roll and flatten the dough ball, and then press those some pieces back into the top!
What You’ll Need
- Plant-based butter (or regular butter) is blended with the sugars for a traditional cookie texture. Added bonus: buttery flavor!
- Brown sugar adds sweetness, moisture, and flavor. I like to use light brown sugar for this recipe.
- White granulated sugar adds even more sweetness…and crispy edges on Day 1 of baking (these cookies get softer after Day 1).
- Natural peanut butter is the kind made with just peanuts. For this recipe, you want the peanut butter to be nice and runny – room temperature is best! I haven’t tested these cookies with any other nut butters.
- Eggs bind the cookies together and keep them moist. The extra egg yolk adds chewiness to the cookies. I haven’t tested these with any egg replacements.
- Vanilla extract adds flavor – you never want to skip this when baking cookies that call for it!
- Corn starch also adds chewiness to these cookies and helps keep them soft for a couple of days after baking (these cookies never make it past Day 3 in our house!).
- Baking soda leavens the cookies and helps them spread in the oven.
- Salt enhances flavor.
- All-purpose flour makes up the cookie dough. I like to use an unbleached variety. If your flour looks lumpy, I recommend sifting it first.
- Quick oats are more processed and smaller than old-fashioned oats. I find that quick oats are easier to mix in and help hold the dough balls together.
- Chocolate chips + candy pieces turn these into classic monster cookies. Feel free to add more or less of one or the other, depending on your preferences. Be sure the total amount of both doesn’t exceed 10 Tbsp or you’ll have a hard time getting your dough balls to bind together (too many mix-ins = “crumbly” dough balls).
More Peanut Butter Cookies
Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut Butter Swirl Brownie Cookies
Salted Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cookies
Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies with Ganache
Peanut Butter Monster Cookies
Soft-baked Monster Cookies stuffed with oatmeal, chocolate chips, and candy pieces. These quick & easy cookies will delight kids and adults alike!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (58g) plant-based butter (or regular butter), softened
- 1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/2 cup (100g) white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (128g) natural peanut butter (made with just peanuts), room temp (see Note 1)
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (98g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (50g) quick oats
- 5 Tbsp chocolate chips (plus more to top cookies)
- 5 Tbsp chocolate candy pieces (plus more to top cookies)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bring the eggs to room temperature by placing them in a glass of warm water for ~10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter and sugars for 30 seconds. Beat in the runny peanut butter. And then beat in the egg and egg yolk. Beat in the vanilla.
- Beat in the corn starch, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour and quick oats and use a large spoon to combine the ingredients. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and candy pieces.
- Scoop dough balls 3 Tbsp in size (6 per baking sheet). Roll dough balls smooth and place on prepared baking sheet. Slightly flatten each dough ball into a disc shape. Press extra chocolate chips and candies into the tops of the dough "discs".
- Bake cookies at 350°F for 11-13 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
- Repeat Steps 4 & 5 to finish baking the cookies, making sure the baking sheet is cool before placing dough balls on top.
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature (Note: cookies will be chewier and softer on the second day).
Notes
- Peanut Butter: it's important to use a natural, runny peanut butter in this recipe. Find one made with just peanuts and use it at room temperature.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving:
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[…] flying off the cooling rack (at least that’s how it went down at my house). I started with my Peanut Butter Monster Cookies recipe and tweaked the amount of dry ingredients to get these big, sturdy Peanut Butter Oatmeal […]