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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, so be careful when cooking the cookie dough! 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, my trick is 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.
Watch the How-To Reel
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.
This post was originally published on December 3, 2021
Absolutely worth the work- these are incredible and a great addition to my Christmas Cookie rotation!
Thanks so much, Sue! I am so glad you enjoyed these cookies, I appreciate you making them! xT
Hi Tieghan, how does the dough freeze?
Hey Cherish,
You bet, you can definitely freeze this dough. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
These are so good! I did a gluten free version by using almond flour and gluten free pretzels and they turned out great! I also used semi sweet and dark chocolate chips instead of white. Excellent cookie. They definitely spread, so be sure to space enough apart
Hey Krisi,
Awesome!! Love to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for making it! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you. Happy Sunday! xxT
Hello can I use quick oats ?
Hi Steffani,
For this recipe you will want to use the old fashioned oats:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
These sound amazing!! My daughter and I are making a variety of cookies for friends and want to make these into bars vs. individual cookies to save on time. It seems as if a 9 x 13 pan is almost too small given how much dough there will be……what would you suggest? Maybe if we made an extra half of the recipe, we could make two 9 x 13 pans??
thanks!
Hey Sarah,
So sorry, I have not tried this recipe as bar cookies. I think I would just follow the recipe as written, fill your pan and use any extra dough for cookies. You might also like this recipe:
https://fett-weg.today/christmas-mm-cookie-bars/%3C/a%3E%3Cbr /> I hope this helps! Happy Holidays! xx
Not bad but they have a very strong baking soda taste, I had a feeling 2 tsp of each was going to be too much.
Hi Christine,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback. Sorry to hear you had a baking soda taste, I don’t think anyone has ever mentioned that before. Let me know if I can help in any other way! xx
These cookies were so good! I ended up cooking them for a bit longer and they turned out great!
Hey Naomi,
Awesome!! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for making it! Have the best weekend! xxT
I absolutely love this recipe and I’m trying to perfect it but I feel like I am doing something wrong. I’m following the recipe word for word but mine are not spreading and come out somewhat dry, not gooey. Not sure what to change!
Hi Chelsea,
So glad to hear you have been enjoying this recipe! Is your dough cold? That is going to prevent the cookies from spreading. Have you tried banging your baking sheet on the counter? That will make for a flatter cookie. I would reduce your bake time as well. I hope this helps! xx
I’m really excited to make these this year! Have you ever made the dough ahead of time and freeze the dough? I’m wondering if it will do well to freeze the dough with all the fun toppings.
Hey Kelly,
That will be just fine for you to do:) I hope you love these cookies, please let me know if you give them a try! xx
I loooove making these cookies. I’ve made them several times. They are exceptionally tasty, easy to make, and pretty! My question to you @Tieghan is, what if I made them smaller in size? I need to bring cookies for a holiday cookie swap, and these are too large. Or if these would not come out as well as smaller cookies, do you have any similar cookie recipes that would be great for the holiday cookie swap?
Hey Cathy,
So glad to hear you have been enjoying this recipe! Yes, you could totally make these smaller:) Have fun at the cookie exchange! xx
Just made Snickerdoodle cookies and they were delicious. I to wonder if you can mix and store in frig to bake another day? Do pretzels get soft?
Hey Deb,
Thanks so much! That will be just fine for you to do, you can add the pretzels the next day! I hope you love these cookies! xT
Can the dough be made a day in advance and refrigerated?
Hi Chris,
You bet, that will work nicely for you! I hope you love this recipe! Happy Holidays! xx
These are sooo good!I almost ate all of the dough beforehand 🙂
Lol thanks so much, Alyssa! Love to hear you enjoyed these cookies! Have the best week! xT
I made these last night for a Christmas party and they were a big hit!
Hey Tessa,
Happy Holidays!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe and appreciate you making it! Thanks for your comment:) xx
I made these last year, they were a hit!
Hey Andie,
Fantastic!! Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your comment! So glad to hear it was enjoyed! Have the best weekend:) xxT