Patriotic Monster Cookies
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These delicious, easy Patriotic Monster Cookies are the best! So soft and chewy, this flavor-packed treat is loaded with chocolate chips, red, white and blue M&M candies with peanut butter and oats is our favorite best monster cookie recipe!
More Oatmeal Cookies? Check out Flourless Jumbo Peanut Butter Monster Cookies! {Healthy} and my Monster Nutella and Peanut Butter Cookies, and these Hearty Pumpkin Chai Spiced Oatmeal Cookies (Chocolate Chips & Cranberries included) for some other versions!
Why Are They Called Monster Cookies?
They might be called monster cookies because they are the Frankenstein’s monster of the cookie world – a mashup of different components or “everything but the kitchen sink” sort of cookies!
However they got their name, they are old-school, traditional cookies that have been around from generation to generation, just like all of your classic chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies and peanut butter cookies you have bookmarked over the years!
So, if you love peanut butter oatmeal cookies loaded up with m&m’s and chocolate chips, then these are the cookies for you! We made them special to celebrate the 4th of July! Simple and festive!
We love how easy this easy monster cookie recipe is to make and best of all, you do not have to chill your cookie dough beforehand! LOVE when we don’t have to chill dough, so we can devour cookies quicker, right? 🙂
We’re cookie monsters eating monster cookies without the wait! Ha!
Why These Patriotic Monster Cookies Are So Thick
With all the goodies inside, these cookies bake up super thick, but you have the option to control how thick you want them.
We used a cookie scoop to get evenly sized portions of dough. So when you scoop your dough out you can leave them as actual rounded thick scoops or flatten the tops a little with the back of a spoon or your fingers, depending how you want them to look in the end.
The cookies will spread a little but not much. This easy monster cookie recipe will also ensure all your cookies bake evenly as well, so what are you waiting for? Perfect for memorial day!
Ingredients You Need
Best Monster Cookies Recipe
- unsalted butter, softened
- peanut butter, we used Jif no sugar added, it’s delicious! Can also use crunchy
- brown sugar
- granulated sugar
- egg
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- quick oats or old-fashioned rolled oats, use gluten-free oats for gluten free option
- baking soda
- salt
- m&m candies, we used red white and blue! Add more to the tops before baking!
- milk chocolate chips of choice
- Other add-ins: raisins nuts, dried fruits, peanut chocolate chips, etc.
Instructions How to Make The Best Red, White and Blue Monster Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to the creamed mixture and beat until well combined.
- Stir in the red, white and blue m&m candies and chocolate chips and any other add-ins you want.
- Using a 2 tablespoon scoop or drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet 2 inches apart and flatten slightly with the back of a spoon or leave as is if you want thicker. Bake for 11-12 minutes. If smaller 1 tablespoon cookies, 8 minutes, if larger cookie scoop (¼ cup), 15-18 minutes.
- Let the baked cookies set on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes to set up before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Cookies will crumble if moved before setting up time. Enjoy!!!
More Variations
- For a special treat, make monster ice cream sandwich cookies by taking 2 cookies and adding a scoop of ice cream in between and roll them in some sprinkles or mini chocolate chips for summer fun!
- Switch out the red, white and blue theme for any season with color coordinated m&m’s!
Cookie Tips
The cool thing about these patriotic cookies is that they are totally adaptable to your tastes and you can have fun in creating the perfect cookie type for you! You’ll love this easy patriotic monster cookie recipe!
- We went light on the oats….so, if you want more oats, add more oats for heartier cookies! We only added in a half cup with a combination of 1/4 quick oats and 1/4 cup rolled oats! This recipe uses 1 1/4 cup flour + 1/2 cup oats. So if you want 1 cup of oats, only add 3/4 cup of flour, so it totals 1 & 3/4 cups of the combination of oats and flour. Old-fashioned oats will have more texture than quick oats, so that’s why we did a combination. You can always throw in a tablespoon or 3 more of oats without adjusting the flour measurement as well, without issue.
- Peanut butter options! Use creamy, peanut butters, such as Jif, Skippy, Justin’s or Peter Pan as others may be too greasy and not play well with the other ingredients!
- Same with the m&m’s and chocolate chips. Add as much or less to your liking.
- Other Add-ins or Mix-ins. Raisins, peanuts, crunch peanut butter, peanut butter chips, mini m&m’s, mini chocolate chips, coconut, toffee bits, peanut butter cups, white chocolate chips, dried cherries, seriously, whatever sounds good!
- Under bake these slightly. The edges will look just set or a little dry but the middle will still look a little wet. Remove them from the oven and leave them on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before removing them. They will finish cooking on their own, so there is no risk of overbaking. Trust this!
Preparing Cookie Dough Ahead of Time
- You can prepare the cookie dough and refrigerate for up to 3 days before baking. When ready, let it sit on the counter for about 30 minutes before scooping and proceeding with baking.
Storing Patriotic Monster Cookies
- These cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freezing Cookies
- You can freeze the baked red, white and blue monster cookies by wrapping them individually in plastic wrap, then place them in a zip lock bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
- You can also scoop up or roll the raw cookie dough balls and freeze them for up to 2 months. Bake for an extra minute or two!
Our Patriotic Monster cookies are a delicious baking adventure that can be enjoyed by everyone. Whether you like this classic easy recipe for monster cookies or want to experiment with fun variations, monster cookies are an easy and enjoyable way to satisfy your cravings for celebrating red, white and blue!
Who’s ready to bake up a batch? Share on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook!
More Festive Party Desserts?
- Funfetti Party Cookie Bars
- Leftover Candy Cookie Pie
- Retro Red White and Blue Explosion Cake
- Birthday Confetti Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
- Monster and Mummy Chocolate Covered Graham Cracker Cookies
- 23 Delicious Ways M&M’s Will Melt Your Heart {and Not Melt In Your Hands}
- Halloween Reese’s Cookie Bars
- Pumpkin Chai Oatmeal Cookies
- Soft Batch Monster Cookies
Patriotic Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup peanut butter we used Jif no sugar added, it's delicious! Can also use crunchy
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ¼ cups flour
- ½ cup quick oats or old-fashioned rolled oats use gluten-free oats if desired
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup m&m candies For Patriotic - we used red white and blue! Add more to the tops before baking!
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips we used ChocZero milk chocolate chips
- Other add-ins: raisins nuts, dried fruits, peanut chocolate chips, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to the creamed mixture and beat until well combined.
- Stir in the m&m candies and chocolate chips and any other add-ins you want.
- Using a 2 tablespoon scoop or drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet 2 inches apart and flatten slightly with the back of a spoon or leave as is if you want thicker. Bake for 11-12 minutes. If smaller 1 tablespoon cookies, 8 minutes, if larger cookie scoop (1/4 cup), 15-18 minutes.
- Let the cookies set on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes to set up before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Cookies will crumble if moved before setting up time. Enjoy!!!
Notes
Oh man are these Monster Cookies ever chock-full of goodness! What an absolute treat!
Kim, I love monster cookies, and these look so scrumptious and festive! I love such an easy recipe, too!