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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.
Definitely 6 star worthy! Why? Three kinds of chocolate and pretzel sticks! No way these only make 20 cookies. Made 24 monster size and ate enough dough to make another 4! Had to buy my Christmas M&M’s in theater size boxes. Each box contained 1/2 cup. And plan on closer to 1/3 cup of M&M’s to garnish the cookie tops. Well done Tieghan. Merry Christmas!
Hey Gerry,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
Delicious and addictive! These cookies are a must have for the holidays, but be warned, they won’t last long (at least in my house) – my family loves them!
I found that just adding the 1 cup of M&M’s was plenty (I skipped the additional adding of the M&M’s while baking). Also, I found 8-10 minutes was plenty of time, and didn’t need to flip the pan. They turned out amazing!
Hey Megan,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
I’ve made these for Christmas the past two years, and I always have to make a second batch! I do find that sometimes I have to add a little bit of baking time, so keep that in mind if you’re making these 🙂
Hey Shannon,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
Added these cookies to our Christmas baking. Delish!!
Hey Kathy,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
SO good! The kids helped me bake them today and they turned out perfect. The directions were spot on and the cooking times were perfect for us too! We ate them hot out of the oven and they were so good! Taking some to a holiday party tonight!
Hey Kelly,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
These turned out to be a complete disaster for me. Followed directions exactly. Don’t know where I went wrong
Hi Brooke,
Sorry to hear these didn’t turn out for you. What exactly happened? I would love to help but need some more info! Happy Holidays! xT
I don’t have salted butter, can I use unsalted butter? Any recipe adjustments I should make if using unsalted butter?
Thank you!!
Hey Becca,
Sure, you could add 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love these cookies! xT
Hi! Would you recommend a different cook time/temperature for a darker pan? Thanks!
Hey Sarah,
You should be able to follow the recipe as is without any issues! Let me know how they turn out! Happy Holidays! xT
These were AMAZING!!! Only used 2 eggs (didn’t add the 1 egg yolk) and they turned out perfect. I got so many compliments!
Hey Maddy,
Happy Friday!!☃️ I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it and your comment! xT
making them now and while recipe says to add one cup of the candy mixture to the dough, i must have a good 2-3 cups left. What do you do with this???
The recipe means to read 1 cup of M&M’s mixed in, plus all of the pretzels, all of the chocolate chunks, & all of the white chocolate.
Hi Tiffany,
You are adding it all in step 3 except for the 1/4 cup of M&M’s that you are going to add in step 5. I hope this helps! xT
Love these cookies! I’ve made them the last 2 years for Christmas and I have done the monster mash ones as well!! Super easy recipe and easy to follow! Delicious!
Hey Molly,
Happy Holidays!!☃️ I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it and your comment! xT
I made these and they came out horrible I’m not sure wat I did wrong they like didn’t rise just were flat and gooey totally disappointed had to throw them away helppppp
Hey Alex,
So sorry to hear you had issues with these cookies! Was there anything you adjusted in the recipe? Did you use old fashioned oats? Were any of your ingredients expired? Is it possible your dough was too warm? Let me know how I can help! xx
Made these tonight and we substituted peanut butter M&Ms and they were sooooo good!
Hey Olivia,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that these cookies were enjoyed, thanks so much for making them! Happy Holidays! xT
I am not a baker and somehow managed to successfully bake a batch of these. I used a 1/4 measuring cup to scoop my dough and the cookies spread as pictured. I got closer to 30 cookies following the recipe and the only thing I changed was using candy cane pieces instead of white chocolate. Will bake again.
Hey Meghan,
Amazing!! Thank you so much for making these cookies and sharing your review, I am so glad they were enjoyed! xT
I can’t be the only person whose biggest struggle was placing the extra m&m’s on top! Great cookies, perfect crowd pleaser!
Delicious! I made them for my 15 year old son. Substituted butterscotch chips for white chocolate chips. Definite crowd pleaser cookie!
Hey Anna,
Happy Holidays!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed and appreciate you giving it a try! 🎄❄️
Hey Katie,
Happy Holidays!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed and appreciate you giving it a try! 🎄❄️