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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.

Christmas Monster Cookies | halfbakedharvest.com

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.

Christmas Monster Cookies | halfbakedharvest.com

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.

Christmas Monster Cookies | halfbakedharvest.com

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.

Christmas Monster Cookies | halfbakedharvest.com

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!

Christmas Monster Cookies | halfbakedharvest.com

Looking for other Christmas cookies? Here are my favorites: 

2020 Holiday Cookie Box

Holly Jolly Santa Cookies

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

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
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

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. 
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Christmas Monster Cookies | halfbakedharvest.com

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Comments

  1. I’m excited to try this recipe! These have been my favorite cookies but I’ve always made them with peanut butter. Any way to sneak some into this recipe??

    1. Hi Jenny,
      Sure, you could do peanut butter chips instead of the white chocolate chips, that would be great! I hope you love this recipe! xx

  2. Excited to make these! Question about this and your cookie recipes in general- already adjusted for high altitude? In Denver (5280 ft) so I’m wondering if we need to make adjustments?

    1. Hey Rachel,
      No need to make any adjustments, you can follow the recipe as written. I hope you love these cookies! xx

  3. These are some of my favorite holiday cookies!! I’m making them this weekend and was wondering if I could make the dough a day in advanced and then bake the following day? Would that impact the cookie at all? Thank you!

    1. Hey Gina,
      Happy Friday!!🌟 Love to hear that this recipe was tasty for you, thanks so much for trying it out! Sure, that would be just fine for you to do, I would wait to add the pretzel though and let the dough come to room temp before baking:) xT

    1. Hey Liz,
      So sorry, I’ve not tested this recipe without the eggs. You could certainly try using an egg substitute like chia or flax eggs. Let me know how the cookies turn out, I hope they are delish! xx

    1. Hey Nicole,
      Sure, but you will want to bring this dough back to room temp before baking. Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx

    1. Hey Taryn,
      I would freeze without the pretzels, those tender to get soggy:) Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xx

  4. I made these last night and enjoyed them! I do have two questions: #1. The dough was very thick. It made it VERY difficult to stir all of the candies in at the end. Is this normal? #2. Does the recipe call for one cup of crushed pretzels or one cup of pretzels (then crush)?

    1. Hi Keri,
      Wonderful!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks for giving it a try! Yes, the dough should be very thick. 1 cup of pretzels, then crush. Have a great weekend:)

  5. The BEST cookie recipe. The texture and combination of mix ins are perfect. I get asked to make these at every get together 🙂

    1. Hey Tanya,
      Thank you so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was a winner! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! xx

  6. These are the best! I made them several times last year and am currently making them again now. I’m going to freeze a bunch so I can pull them out when we have guests. Thanks for the great recipe Tieghan!

    1. Hey Ashley,
      I truly appreciate you making this recipe so often and sharing your feedback, love to hear that it is always enjoyed!❄️ xx

  7. These are the best! Is this dough recipe a good base for plain chocolate chip cookies? Or would it be too wet without the oats and pretzels? These are so delicious, and looking for the same yummy texture but in a basic chocolate chip cookie! Thanks!

    1. Gluten issues at our house. I was planning to use a gluten free flour substitute. Does the recipe work with just omitting the pretzels? Or should I purchase some GF ones? Basically I was wondering if the crushed up pretzels thicken the dough or are the pieces a bit bigger just to add some crunch?

      1. Hey Celia,
        You can easily use gluten free flour as well as the gluten free pretzels or just skip those:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx

  8. I’m trying to figure out what cookbook to get my girlfriend. We made these cookies before. So I’m wounding what cookbook of yours these are in. So I don’t buy her a book she already has.

    1. Hi there,
      Thanks so much for making this recipe! The recipes that you see online are only on the website, the recipes that are in the cookbooks are exclusive to the books:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT

  9. 5 stars
    These are my Go-To for all the holidays. How about 4th of July 4th!

    My secret trick is using peanut butter M&M’s.

    1. Hey Tina,
      Fantastic!! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks for trying it out! I hope you had a great holiday weekend!?

    1. Hey Karolyn,
      Yes, these are great to freeze!! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx

  10. I was super excited to make these, but when I did, they were very dry. I double checked that I followed the recipe correctly. The pictures shown look like they have way less oats and pretzels than the ones I made. I tried salvaging the leftover dough by doubling the recipe without adding any oats and that made it better.

    1. Hi Nick,
      Thanks for trying the recipe, so sorry to hear you had some issues. All of the measurements are correct. Was there anything you may have adjusted? xTieghan

  11. 5 stars
    The most amazing cookies! I made these for the holidays and still get requests to make them for other events! In a few batches I added in a tablespoon of peanut butter as well. Hands down the BEST cookies (holiday or not) ever!

    1. Hey Samantha,
      Wonderful!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! I am so glad it was enjoyed. Have a great week! ?xxT