Monster Cookies

I’m all for elaborate holiday recipes, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes life gets in the way and you want to have something special for, oh let’s say, Halloween, but you’re short on time and energy.  That’s when adding a simple touch to a familiar favorite can make all the difference.  Fun? Check.  Sanity in place after not having to deal with five dozen meticulously decorated Candy Corn cookies?  Check.

I have always loved Monster cookies.  I’m going to assume they were named that because they are pretty much the Frankenstein of the cookie world. They are lumpy and bumpy and you’ve got peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips, and M&M’s involved in one cookie.  And that’s a GOOD thing!  They are perfectly wonderful, little lumpy bumpy creatures.  This version is soft and chewy, as I like to take them out of the oven while they are still pretty soft.  Then, to finish them off and turn them into a Halloween treat, I simply pressed some candy eyes into place.  Boom.  Done.

To start, I mixed up a pretty standard cookie dough base.

Butter, brown sugar, and white sugar were creamed in my mixer.  Flour and baking soda mixed on the side.

Once the butter and sugars were creamy and light, I added in a hefty dose of creamy peanut butter, two eggs, and some vanilla.  Then, I slowly blended in my flour mixture until I had a pretty light and fluffy dough on my hands.

Then, it was time to Franken-stuff these cookies.

In went the oatmeal, chocolate chips, and mini baking M&M’s.  You could use full-sized candies, but I like the little bursts of color.

The dough was pretty soft, so I covered it with plastic wrap and let it chill out in the fridge for a little while as I preheated my oven and got my cookie sheets lined with parchment.

Once the oven was ready, I started scooping out my dough.  I rolled each scoop into a ball, and set it on the cookie sheet.  I had saved a few mini M&M’s, and I pressed a couple into the tops of each cookie, so that color really came through.

The cookies went into the oven for just about nine minutes.  At this point, they were golden on the bottom, cooked on top, but still a little soft in the middle.  I removed the cookie sheet from the oven and allowed the cookies to rest for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before I moved them to a cooling rack.

While they were still nice and soft, though, I pressed the candy eyes into place, which gave each cookie a pretty distinct personality.

You can’t bake them with the candy eyes, or their eyes will…well…weep all over the place.  Save the finishing touch for after they come out of the oven!

So, there you go.  Simple, lumpy-bumpy delicious fun, with just a hint of spooky for your Halloween table. Who doesn’t have time for that?

MONSTER COOKIES