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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.
Do you know how long these would be good for if you freeze? I plan to make them for a grad party. They are so good!!!!
Hey Stacy,
I would say up to 3 months. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know how it turns out! xx
This was about darn near the best cookie I’ve ever had. I used the spring colored M&Ms, along with every other ingredient listed. Although I was hesitant to mix in pretzels, they were the perfect touch of salt for the sweetness of all the chocolate. The only thing I omitted was the extra egg yolk. They turned out absolutely fantastic. A great addition to my never-ending list of cookie recipes! I will be using this recipe with different mix-ins for the years to come!
Hey Macy,
Happy Friday!! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xx
My favorite monster cookie recipe! Made at Christmas and a big hit. Adding it to the many cookies I make at Christmas to give as gifts. Just made with the spring colored M&M’s!
Hey Clare,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed!! Have the best week:) xTieghan
This is the best recipe! Am a big baker and I constantly use this as the basis for my cookies- adding in peanut butter cups or oreos occasionally.
Hi Heather,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, I am so glad it was a hit! Thanks for sharing your review!? xT
Made these twice now. First was at Christmas and had left over white & semi sweet chocolate chips, so decided to finish those off by making again, went and bought M&M Pastel colors for spring. They look so pretty. Going to package them up and drop off at grandkids. Followed your recipe and didn’t change a thing.
Hey Lauren,
Wonderful!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! ?xTieghan
The pretzels tasted stale after it was baked. Would have been better without in my opinion.
Hi there,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. xx
Hey, I’m wanting to make these cookies soon and am wondering if I could add peanut butter? Do you think I could do 1 stick of butter and 1/2 cup of peanut butter ? Thanks 🙂
Hey Lydia,
I probably wouldn’t adjust the butter, I would just add some swirls of peanut butter at the end. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope it turns out amazing for you! xTieghan
Thanks! I saw that as an option to make a thicker cookie, that was my only thought that maybe it was the problem. I’ll try again, they look amazing!
I hope you love the recipe Lisa!
I made these and didn’t do the extra egg yolk. They were really dry. I have no idea what I did wrong. Any thoughts?
Hey Lisa,
I would add the extra egg yolk next time:) Let me know if that helps! xTieghan
These will become a regular on my Christmas cookie trays! They are absolutely delicious and I followed the baking instructions exactly. My family isn’t a fan of white chocolate, so I omitted them.
Hey Judy,
Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a go, I love to hear that it was a winner!! xTieghan
These cookies are delicious! I made Valentine Monster Cookies by adding the Cupid mix M&M’s. Be careful when you rotate your baking sheet. My parchment paper slipped and I lost a few cookies to the bottom of my oven☹️
Hey Mary Lynn,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was a winner. Have the best weekend:) xT
Great recipe!
Hey Mary,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! xxT
Hands down best cookie recipe ever! And the dough is a great base i plan to use for chocolate chip cookies in the future. I subbed butterscotch chips for white chocolate and it was ???? Froze half the batch and love having it on hand. Thank you!
Hey there,
I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! xxTieghan
These were a hit with my family! Perfectly chewy with all the good stuff! I only baked half of the cookies and froze the rest. Every now and then I pop a few in the oven for a treat! Thanks Tieghan ❤️
Hi Hope,
Awesome!! Love to hear this recipe was a winner, thanks for making it. Have the best week:) xT
I’m making now. Can I use instant oats in place of regular oats? I only have instant . Thank you.
Hi Kathy,
Sorry, instant oats won’t give you the same results, you will want to use regular oats. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan, I went ahead and make the cookies with instant oats. I doubled the recipe and did not add the extra egg yolks. I read your comment about spreading. They actually turned out delicious! They stayed in their conformed shaped and didn’t spread. Everyone ate them up. Im sure they will taste even better with regular oats. It’s on my shopping list. Thanks for a great recipe!
Ohh so great to hear this!! Thanks for making them!!