An easy no-bake peanut butter cookie recipe with quick-cooking oats topped with chocolate chips and M&Ms.
JUMP TO RECIPEHusband and our oldest are in Canada visiting family. And I am OVER IT. At first I thought it would be a fun change of pace for it to just be me and the younger kiddos for a few days… we’d eat at restaurants Daddy doesn’t like, we’d watch movies they pick out, we’d all sleep in the "big bed".
Well, we’ve eaten enough Chinese food to feed a small village, we’ve watched the movies and every night has been a slumber party in my room and now I just want my whole family home!
We’re one of those annoying families who do everything together. We all genuinely like each others' company so it's weird when some of us are missing!
The one good thing that came from having part of our tribe out of town was that I had some free time to knock out a few recipes for y’all. The first one I want to share with you is my no-bake version of Monster Cookies!
WHAT ARE MONSTER COOKIES?
Traditional Monster Cookies are made with a flour, peanut butter and rolled-oat base (sort of a mash-up of traditional chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies and oatmeal cookies) with M&Ms and chocolate chips mixed in and/or placed on top.
There are flourless versions of the recipe as well as slab or bar versions wherein the batter is cooked in a sheet pan then cut into squares.
I was thinking of making some and started going over the ingredients in my head to see if I had what I needed to make them… peanut butter, oats, butter, sugar… check, check, check, check…
Then I had the best idea! These are the same ingredients I use in my No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies! I decided to make my no-bakes then just top them with M&Ms and chocolate chips to make NO-BAKE Monster Cookies!!
This entire batch of cookies was DONE in under 20 minutes. BOOM! DONE! The kids were ecstatic to have freshly made cookies and I was tickled with myself for thinking of a new recipe! Especially one that I didn’t have to turn the oven on for!
TIPS FOR MAKING NO-BAKE COOKIES
No-bake cookies can be persnickety. If you don’t boil the mixture long enough, they won’t set up. If you boil it too long, they will be crumbly. Boil the mixture exactly one minute for perfect, tender cookies.
Only use REAL butter.
Old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats can be used but quick-cooking oats make for softer cookies and are usually preferred.
Line a work surface with parchment paper and have the oats measured and ready in your mixing bowl before starting the recipe. You need to be able to move to each step of the recipe without delay to ensure your cookie dough sets up properly.
NOTES ABOUT NO-BAKE MONSTER COOKIES RECIPE
- If you add the chocolate chips and M&Ms too soon, they will melt. Scoop out all the cookies then, starting with the first cookie you scooped (the coolest) and working through to the last, place the chips and candy onto the cookies, pressing down just slightly. The cookies will still be soft enough to work with but not so hot that everything melts. Make a test cookie – if the chocolate chips start to melt and lose their shape, wait a minute then try again.
- The cookie base is very sweet so I highly recommend using semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (instead of milk chocolate) to balance the sweetness a little.
- If you don’t have parchment paper, a clean, dry counter will work as well.
- No-bake cookies can be persnickety. If you don’t boil the mixture long enough, they won’t set up. If you boil it too long, they will be crumbly. This recipe is exactly how I make all my no-bake cookies. Follow it and you should be A-OK.
- Only use real butter.
- If you love no-bake cookie recipes, be sure to check out my recipe for Triple Chocolate No-Bake Cookies too!
Recipe for No-Bake Monster Cookies
No-Bake Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups quick-cooking oats
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 stick REAL salted butter (1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup mini M&Ms
Instructions
- Line a work surface with parchment paper. Add the quick-cooking oats to a large mixing bowl then set aside.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar and milk then bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Once boiling, cook mixture for 1 full minute. Remove from heat immediately. Do not let mixture boil longer than 1 minute.
- Add peanut butter and vanilla to the saucepan then stir until peanut butter is melted. Pour mixture into the mixing bowl with oats then gently stir until well combined.
- Using a cookie scoop or two tablespoons (I use a 1½ inch cookie scoop), scoop portions of dough onto parchment paper. Once all the dough has been portioned out, starting with the first cookie and working through to the last (coolest to warmest), place M&Ms and chocolate chips onto each cookie (see notes for tips).
- Allow cookies to completely cool and set-up then move to an air-tight container to store.
Notes
- If you add the chocolate chips and M&Ms too soon, they will melt. Scoop out all the cookies then, starting with the first cookie you scooped (the coolest) and working through to the last, place the chips and candy onto the cookies, pressing down just slightly. The cookies will still be soft enough to work with but not so hot that everything melts. Make a test cookie – if the chocolate chips start to melt and lose their shape, wait a minute then try again.
- The cookie base is very sweet so I highly recommend using semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (instead of milk chocolate) to balance the sweetness a little.
- If you don’t have parchment paper, a clean, dry counter will work as well but you may need a spatula to move the cookies.
- No-bake cookies can be persnickety. If you don’t boil the mixture long enough, they won’t set up. If you boil it too long, they will be crumbly. This recipe is exactly how I make all my no-bake cookies. Follow it and you should be A-OK.
- Only use real butter.
Welcome back to posting! I've missed your stories and recipes. Will be making these babies over the weekend.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to be back! The kids have had me hopping all summer with baseball and softball!
DeleteThese hardened too fast. Before you scoop them all onto the parchment paper the first ones are too hard to push down the chocolate chips and m&m's into. They turned out a crumbley mess even following the directions precisely.
ReplyDeleteThese are everyone’s favorite cookie during the holidays! Thank you for the recipe.
ReplyDelete