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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.
Oh wow these are delicious! I made standard medium scoop cookies and made 1/3 of the dough exactly as the recipe directed excepted omitted the extra yolk as Tieghan suggested for a thicker cookie. Another 1/3 were same except no pretzels and the remaining third had no M&M’s —making for a large family party to accommodate various allergies and preferences. We sampled all 3 and they turned out so tasty! I did keep my dough in the frig between batches and I added the pretzels right before baking by pushing them into the cookies to keep them crunchy. They’re perfect!
Hey Lucy,
Fantastic!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! xx
I plan to make these cookies, but will need to freeze them. I read above that you suggested not adding the pretzels if planning to freeze. I love a hint of salt in a cookie. Can I just top each cookie with a pinch of flaky sea salt before baking?
Hey Mary,
Totally, that would be delicious! Let me know how the recipe turns out, I hope you love them! xx
My husband need cookies for a cookie swap at work tomorrow. He didn’t want the usually chocolate chip cookie, so I gave him this recipe. He made them, and they are delicious! And beautiful. We add some Heath toffee chips. I will definitely be making them for the Christmas cookie tray.
Hey Lori,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! Happy Tuesday! 🎄
I almost didn’t make these based on the reviews (people having trouble) but mine came out great and I’m glad I gave them a try!
Mine didn’t spread and get crispy like the photos but they are chewy and delicious. I subbed butterscotch chips for the white chocolate and used only about 1/2 cup of pretzels. Also added a TBSP of peanut butter. Great cookie.
Hey Diane,
Happy Monday! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad it turned out well for you! Thanks for your comment! xT
Do these freeze well?
Hey Toni,
I would recommend you freeze without the pretzels:) Let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xx
I’ve made these several times now and they are always a hit! I’m trying to make some of my cookies ahead of time. Can you freeze them?
Hey Carly,
Happy Monday! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad it turned out well for you! Thanks for your comment! xT
These are yummy & everyone enjoyed them! The flavor was a little busy with all of the different add-ins but still good. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly & ended up with about 30 cookies. Not sure why it made so many, maybe I needed to make them larger but they were fairly big. The first batch I made per the recipe. For the remaining dough I added 1/2 cup peanut butter chips & they were even better! Would definitely make again & maybe play around with the add-ins but they are really good as is!
Hey Marissa,
Happy Sunday!!☃️ Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xT
Love these cookies! The pretzels really kick it up a notch!
Thanks so much Kristin!! Love to hear that these cookies were enjoyed, thanks for making them:) xx
Love these! I will skip the pretzels next time as they seemed a little soft in the cookie. We did peanut butter m&m’s. So good! Love your recipes!
Hey Kristin,
Happy Sunday!!☃️ Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xT
these were so easy and awesome! made them a little smaller and got just about 3 dozen out of them. so much more interesting than just plain m&m cookies, thanks!
Hey Sarah,
Happy Sunday!!☃️ Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xT
Hi,
My cookies are flat and thin. I followed the exact recipe. Any suggestion?
Hi Meghan,
Thanks for giving these cookies a try! Sounds like your dough may have been to warm, next time I would pop it in the fridge for a bit. I hope this helps! xx
We had trouble baking them- they just didn’t bake through. I have added 10 more min and the bottoms are still very soft and soggy even after letting them cool on the cookie sheet. Followed the directions to the T. 🤷🏼♀️
Hi there,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback. Hmmm, are your baking sheets lined with parchment paper? What temp is your oven at? This doesn’t make much sense! Let me know how I can help! xx
Mine are turning out completely flopped. Do I need to do something different for high altitude? They are paper thin….. I followed the directions to a T. Thank you!
Hey Julie,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! Was there anything you adjusted in the recipe? It’s hard for me to say without seeing them. Let me know! xx
Are the pretzel sticks broken into small pieces or completely crushed? Perfect easy holiday cookie recipe. Thank you
Hey Cindy,
I just break them into pieces:) Let me know if you have any other questions, I hope this recipe turns out well for you! xT
I planning on making these for a holiday cookie bake off competition! Would it be safe to double the recipe? Or make 2 separate batches?
Hey Tiffany,
This recipe makes a lot of dough, so I would make 2 batches:) Let me know how the cookies turn out, I hope you love them! xx