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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.
What size cookie scooper do you recommend for these? Looking at the OXO medium or large cookie scoop ☺️
I would recommend the OXO large scoop! xT
I just made these cookies and they are so good! I feel like they were either cooked a minute too long or didn’t have enough dough with all the mix ins. What could I do next time? Only bake for 12 min? A little less Choc chips or mix ins?
Hi there! Yes maybe add less mix ins if you’re wanting to taste more of the dough! xT
Why does the recipe call for nearly 4 cups total of the M&Ms, pretzels, white chocolate, and chocolate chips, when the cookies only use 1 total cup of the combined mixture?
Would I be able to make the dough in advance and refrigerate it for a couple of hours? We are making these for all the teachers.
Yes, definitely! 🙂 xT
Has anyone tried adding peanut butter chips?
I’m sure peanut butter chips would be super delish in these cookies! xT
Hi there! I’m wondering if I can use gluten free flour? Will they bake the same way?
Hi Chelsea! I haven’t ever made this with gf flour before so can’t say for sure! xT
These have become part of my annual Christmas box. Their always hit and their simple to make (given the complexity of the others in the box…). Thanks for such a winner!!
Thank you so so much Kristen! 🙂 xT
Can u freeze this dough?
Hi Lucinda! Yes, you can definitely freeze this dough! 🙂 xT
You guys need these cookies in your life, THANK YOU HBH! For anyone interested – Variation I did for smaller cookies for cookie swap (made about 100 cookies, cake bake 14 cookies per batch):
– Doubled the recipe (except only used 4 whole eggs, based on another review).
– Subbed white chocolate chips for peanut butter chips for personal preference. Subbed pretzel sticks for broken up regular shape mini pretzels (for some reason, I find the pretzel shaped ones taste better in this cookie).
– Used a 2 TBSP size cookie scoop. Chilled dough 1 hr before baking.
– Baked 7 min, pulled sheet pan out to slap on counter & rotate, returned to oven for 4 min. Still followed original directions to let cool on sheet 5 min before transferring to wire rack.
Thank you so so much Holly! Love this review! 🙂 xT
Hi there! Have included this cookie in my Christmas cookie box last year and have made it a few times! Love this recipe! Wondering if the dough can be frozen to bake later?
Hi Rachel! Thanks so so much! You can totally freeze this dough! xT
I have not made these cookies yet but always freeze cookie dough balls, slightly flattened and ready to go in the oven. That way, I can bake as many as I want at a time.m
Hello! I made these using the recipe to a T and unfortunately they came out very thin/flat. Any suggestions?
Oh no I’m so sorry about that! I would maybe add a little bit more flour if they’re spreading and turning out flat! xT
Delicious and easy! Did not use white chocolate because I felt it didn’t need it. Perfect amount of sweet and salty!!! Made them smaller because I had to make 3 dozen for husbands work cookie exchange and cut cook time by 2.5 min and came out great. Thanks so much!
2nd time making these. I didn’t have white chocolate chips so I substituted 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks. They were amazing! I think the dark chocolate balanced out the sweetness. Yummy!
Thank you so much! Sooo happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂 xT
Hi Tiegan! Love all your receipes! Making this one tomorrow. Does the brown sugar make a difference if its light or dark? I think I just have light on hand.
Hi Stephanie! Light brown sugar should work just fine 🙂 xT
Can I make these smaller? If so, what do you approximate cooking time to be?
I made them half the size. Cooking time was maybe a minute or 2 less.