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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
I made these for a Christmas party and they were seriously delicious. Chewy, gooey, crispy, crunchy, and oh so chocolatey all at the same time. This was one of my first times baking cookies from scratch so I was a little nervous but they turned out exactly like the photo. I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with closer to 30 cookies vs. 20. I figured I would have leftovers but they were completely gone by the end of the party because everyone loved them so much.
Hey Andrea,
I love to hear that this recipe worked out for you, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! xTieghan
Can I use light brown sugar if I don’t have dark brown sugar? Thanks!
Hi Maddie,
Yes, that would be just fine for you to do. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Can I use quick 1-minute oats?
Hi Deena,
Sorry, you will need to use old fashioned oats for this recipe:) xTieghan
Love add-in everything cookies and great idea for Xmas to empty the baking store! Followed the recipe (including the extra egg for ‘spread’) but unfortunately these turned out too cakey and thick for me. I prefer cookies that spread with a crunchy outside and gooey centre (as in your pictures)! Not sure why mine weren’t like that….
mine turned out like that too! puffy and round not flat
Hey Tiffany,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, these really aren’t meant to be a flat cookie, maybe you got the wrong impression? xTieghan
These cookies turned out amazing! Nom nom! Going to be a go to Xmas cookie from now on!!
Hey Teresa,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed!❄️ xTieghan
These are amazing! They are the perfect combination of salty and sweet. These are going to be my new favorite Christmas cookie for gifting and cookie swaps.
Hey Krista,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed!❄️ xTieghan
So delicious! These made it in the top 5 for me so they were in the Christmas gift boxes I delivered this year!
Hey Sheila,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed!❄️ xTieghan
This recipe was amazing! I did not include the oats and they still turned out delicious! This will be a new cookie for me to make every year going forward!
Hey Laura,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed!❄️ xTieghan
These cookies are so freaking good. They make me want to add pretzels to every cookie recipe!
Hey Rayna,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed!❄️ xTieghan
These look amazing! When mixing the butter, sugars and vanilla….are you creaming them or just blending until mixed? I’m in the middle of a bad streak of not properly creaming butter and sugar and ending up with flat cookies 🙁 Hoping this recipes gets me back on my game!
Hey Kelly,
You are beating until combined. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Question – one cup EACH of the mix ins? I’m guessing so but I read it as one cup total 🙁
Still a great cookie!!
Hi Allie,
Yes, the recipe calls for 1 cup of M&Ms plus 1/4 cup for toppings, 1 cup of chocolate chips, 1 cup of pretzels, and 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips. Not sure where the 1 cups total came from:) Thanks for giving the recipe a try! xTieghan
How ‘crushed’ are the pretzels?
I’m definitely making these!
Hi Linda,
The pretzels are just lightly crushed. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Easy to follow and delicious! My husband liked these so much that he said they might have usurped his favorite— Tollhouse!
Hey Melissa,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed!❄️ xTieghan
If I only have unsalted butter, do I need to add more salt? Can’t wait to make these!
Hey Heather,
I would add 1/4 teaspoon of salt. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
These are amazing. Best cookie recipe I’ve come across.
Hey there,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed!❄️ xTieghan
Just pulling these out of the oven! OMG. I used Cup4Cup GF flour, GF oats and GF pretzel sticks. When I was putting the dough together I was certain I would get more than 20 cookies but using a quarter cup ice cream scoop 20 was almost spot on. I might end up with 22. I sprinkled a little bit of sea salt on top when they came out of the oven. The only other change I made was to chill my dough for about 30 minutes before baking which I find is essential when using gf flour, not so much to retain shape as to temper the spreading out of the cookies as they bake. Don’t omit the step of adding a few M&M’s near the end of the baking! They taste amazing!
Hi Cari,
Did you use same amount of gf flour as recipe calls for?
Thank you!
Lori
Yes, Lori. I always use C4C and replace it exactly as called for. On occasion I also use King Arthur GF flour and also replace that exactly as called for. These cookies really spread out which I know is in part due to the lack of gluten but also the recipe itself. Good luck if you make them!
One last note. I used glutano gf pretzel rods and broke them into about thirds. They sort of disappeared in the cooking so I didn’t appreciate the addition. Not sure what I would do next time as I think they would be a nice addition!
Hey Cari,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you.❄️ xTieghan
Made these exactly as the recipe calls for and they turned out great! Gooey and delicious – the crushed pretzels add such a nice additional texture!
Hey Meagan,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed!❄️ xTieghan