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Christmas Monster Cookies for your December weekend baking…festive, easy, and sweet. Homemade chocolate chip cookies, made with oats, pretzels pieces, plenty of chocolate chunks, white chocolate, and plenty of holiday M&M’s. There’s nothing not to love about these sweet chocolate (crunch) cookies. Each bite is slightly crisp on the edges but soft and gooey in the center…with just a little salty pretzel crunch and milk chocolate throughout.
Fridays in December are just better! There are holiday parties, searching for the perfect gift for someone you love, and baking the nights away with family and friends. Well, at least that’s the “Hallmark” version I have in my head.
The reality is a little less picture-perfect for sure, but I’m definitely doing the baking! It’s one of the reasons we love this season the most. I mean there are so many cookies! As I said on Tuesday, this year I’m really focusing on all of the holiday cookies I haven’t made before.
My list of cookies is a mile long, but I only have a handful of days to share them. So, I’m trying to pick the very best on my list. It’s tricky, but I always knew these cookies needed to be shared. The combination of ingredients is just too good.
The steps are easy
One: gather your ingredients. You’ll need the basics…butter, sugar, flour, etc. Simple, simple, nothing fancy, but all good.
Two: the stir-ins, they’re are the most important part. You’ll need old fashioned oats, salted pretzel twists, semi-sweet or dark chocolate chunks, and white chocolate chips. And then plenty of red and green holiday M&M’s, which really make these cookies.
Three: beat, mix, stir, bake.
Four: eat these cookies warm, just out of the oven, because these are those kind of gooey delicious cookies.
A couple notes
It’s important to note that these cookies do spread. They’re meant to have slightly crisp edges and perfectly soft gooey centers, just like in the photos. My favorite type of cookie…totally delicious.
If you want a bit of a thicker cookie, simply omit the additional egg yolk and use only two eggs. This will give you a thicker cookie without as much spreading.
To get the M&M’s to really pop, I like to add in a few just before the cookies finish baking completely. This way each cookie has a bit of the festive M&M’s right on top.
What I love about these cookies is that they’re so easy to make. They require no chilling and they really are completely no fuss. Especially when it comes to Christmas cookies.
These cookies have perfectly crisp edges, yet soft and gooey centers. They’ve got a nice crunch plus a little saltiness from the pretzels – the best kind of cookie.
I’m excited to include these in the year’s Christmas cookie box. They’re perfect for packing up and gifting to friends for the holidays!
Looking for other Christmas cookies? Here are my favorites:
Easy Vanilla Bean Christmas Lights Cookies
Easy Hot Chocolate Lace Cookies
Lastly, if you make these Christmas Monster Cookies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Christmas Monster Cookies
Servings: 20 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 364 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 1/4 cups holiday M&M’s
- 1 cup mini pretzel sticks, crushed
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla until combined. Beat in the eggs and 1 egg yolk, 1 at a time, until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the oats. 3. Fold in 1 cup of the M&M's, the pretzels, chocolate chips, and white chocolate. 4. Roll the dough into 1/4 cup size balls. Place 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. 5. Transfer to the oven and bake for 8 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake another 2 minutes. Pull the pan out and push the remaining M&M's into the cookies. Bake 2-3 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit on the baking sheet. 6. Eat warm (highly recommended) or let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
My six yr old grandson was just diagnosed with celiac. He is such a picky eater, even with treats! He also hates oatmeal cookies. So, I made them gluten free. Well, he loved them! It was so easy to convert them to gluten free. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hey Colleen,
Thank you so very much for trying this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
Hi Colleen/Tieghan,
These cookies are INCREDIBLE but I wanna try them gluten free. Any tips or tricks to keep in mind when I attempt this? TIA!
♥️
Noelle
Hi Noelle,
You can use an equal amount of GF flour and then GF pretzels and follow the recipe as is. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love the cookies! xT
These turned out perfect! Your directions are so easy to follow which I appreciated and the cookies were delicious and wonderful with the touch of oats. Thanks, T!
Hey Emily,
Thank you so very much for trying this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
I made a gluten free version of these and used peanut butter m&ms instead of regular and everyone loved them! I found they were better the next day, not sure why but yum!
Hi Julia,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it. Have the best week! xTieghan
I really wanted to love these. They looked so Christmasy and fun. But they also looked chewy and someone else said theirs was. Mine were not chewy at all. They were dense and hard. Any idea what I could have done wrong?
Hi Kelly,
Sorry to hear this, was there anything you adjusted in the recipe? Let me know how I can help! xTieghan
A friend made these gluten free for me as I was recovering from a long, terrible case of Covid. They are absolutely the most delicious cookies! Using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 and GF pretzels worked perfectly. These will be a Christmas tradition from now on!
Hey Jennifer,
Fantastic! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy New Year!? xxT
Definitely delicious, but too sweet. I’ll reduce the sugar next time. Because there will be a next time.
Hey Bea,
Fantastic! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy New Year!? xxT
I made these with my kids for New Year’s Eve! And they were so good and so fun to make! We don’t eat eggs so subbed eggs with egg replacer, and they still turned out great.
Hey Rima,
Awesome! I love to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a go! Happy New Year!? xTieghan
Loves this recipe! I used Bob’s red mill GF 1:1 flour and it turned out great! Love that these make a large batch!
Hi Katie,
Awesome! I love to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a go! Happy New Year!? xTieghan
Easily my new favorite cookie recipe! People couldn’t stop eating them at Christmas Eve and I just made another batch
Hey Nikki,
Wonderful! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a go! Happy New Year!? xTieghan
Made these and they were way too sweet for my family’s taste. Don’t think I will be making these again,
Hey there,
So sorry to hear this, thanks for giving the recipe a try! xTieghan
My daughter made these for our Christmas Eve dinner with friends. They were a huge hit!
Hey there,
Wonderful! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a go! Happy New Year!? xTieghan
This is a great recipe, made it twice already, one for my SIL’s cookie party and then again on Christmas Eve to bake fresh on Christmas Day. We’re always so full after Christmas Dinner I thought fresh cookies would be perfect and they were a hit. Chocolately, chewy, crunchy, sweet and salty, they have everything you want in a cookie, and served warm? Amazing. I used various holiday M&Ms on top, a white chocolate pretzel, peanut butter and some regular to add some variation. All were delicious.
Hey Amy,
Fantastic! Love hearing that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
Great addition to my Christmas cookies. My son’s new favorite. I need to make another batch for him to take when he heads back to college.
Hi Lynn,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Happy Holidays!? xT
Everyone loved these this year!
Hi Abigail,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Happy Holidays!? xT
These cookies were a HUGE hit! I do a lot of baking every Christmas and I have 3 cookies that I make for my Christmas trays, one of those recipes got bumped and the Christmas Monster Cookie became the new favorite! So easy to make and sooo delicious!!
Hi Alyson,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Happy Holidays!? xT