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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Monster Cookies

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 As I’ve mentioned before, I bake “treats” each week for the community group that Ryan and I host at our house. It’s something I genuinely love to do each week, so I almost turned my friend Sarah down when she offered to bring something one week…that is, until Ryan finished off the cookies I planned to serve and I was suddenly without dessert the morning of community groups (in his defense, those cookies are really good and he didn’t realize they were going to be served at community groups!).


Sarah brought these monster cookies over and I held her hostage that night until she promised to share the recipe. I’ve had a lot of monster cookies, even making my own a few years ago, but these were far and above my favorite of any monster cookie I’d ever had before. She’d combined two other monster cookie recipes to come up with this version and thankfully remembered it well enough to email it the next morning.
I followed her recipe exactly, even using quick oats instead of old-fashioned, which are my standby in all cookies featuring oatmeal (thanks Michelle for the oats!). I couldn’t wait to share the finished product with my family over Easter, until my sister Renatta forgot to grab the container of them when leaving our house to hit the road. Our family gave her a hard time all weekend, blaming her for “ruining Easter”, but Ryan and I weren’t too disappointed that we didn’t have to share the remaining cookies!

If you haven’t yet tried monster cookies, now’s your chance. These were thick, chewy, and heavily studded with M&Ms and chocolate chips. I’m pretty sure these will be your new favorite cookie…

One Year Ago: Brownie Macadamia White Chocolate Cookies
Two Years Ago: Mini Truffle Tarts
Three Years Ago: Ranoush Restaurant Review

Monster Cookies
created by Sarah

Ingredients:
-1 stick unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
-3/4 cup brown sugar
-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-1 cup creamy peanut butter
-2 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-scant 1/2 tsp baking soda
-scant 1 cup all-purpose flour
-1/4 tsp salt
-2 cups quick oats
-1 cup M&Ms
-1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugars together with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes. Add peanut butter, eggs, then vanilla, beating after each addition. In a separate bowl combine the baking soda, flour, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, blending just to combine.
3. Fold in the quick oats, M&Ms, and chocolate chips.
4. Roll balls of dough (about 2 tbsp/cookie) [I used a cookie scoop] and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Cookies will appear undone. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
*Cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for one week or frozen.