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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
We made these cookies (4 of them) and they were delicious!!! We froze the remaining dough – and have struggled to get the bake time and texture right…Have you frozen these before – and if so how do you modify bake time? Convection or regular bake?
Thanks so much !!!
Hi Chris,
Happy Sunday! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! Sorry, I have not frozen these before and I always use regular bake. xTieghan
Can you freeze these??
Hi Brooke,
You bet! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Question – could you do these as bars? Thank you so much!
Hey Megan,
Sure, these should work well as bars! Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
AMAZING! They were so easy and turn out so pretty! Question- if I wanted to add peanut butter, would I put in less flour or just add an extra egg to make sure they don’t get too dry?
Hey Katie,
I haven’t tried this, but I would add 1/3 cup with the butter. Let me know how it turns out! xTieghan
Tastes good, but it was really difficult to mix everything.
Thanks for giving the recipe a try!
These cookies were so easy to make and such a hit with everyone at a Christmas party! The recipe was easy to follow! I did make smaller cookies so had to run out to buy more M&M’s to place on top as the first bag wasn’t enough but, who doesn’t love more M&M’s?! Thank you for another wonderful recipe!!
Hey Kayla,
Happy Sunday! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! xTieghan
They were super easy and really delicious! I forgot the pretzels when making them, even after I already went to the store to get them? Either way, they were great!
Hey Lexi,
Awesome!! I am so glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! Have the best weekend! xTieghan
Everything but the kitchen sink are in these cookies and they’re delicious!
Hey Jenna,
Awesome!! I am so glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! Have the best weekend! xTieghan
Do these hold up in the freezer? Want to make them for my cookie boxes and need to figure out which recipes I can bake, then freeze over the next few days.
Hey Holly,
Yes, totally okay to pop these in the freezer. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love them! xTieghan
Those look good, excited to make them!
Thanks Victoria! I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan,
I made this with GF flour and GF pretzels (utz brand). I am not sure why, but I think some of the interior pretzels taste hard and chewy. Any ideas why that might be? Thanks for your tips! I will try it again soon.
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try. Sorry, I am confused how they are hard and chewy? I feel like they should really just be hard, like a pretzel. xTieghan
Would you suggest freezing these if we bake now but want to eat on Christmas?
Hi Kara,
Yes, definitely. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
These are as easy to make as advertised. I, too, like to add a new cookie to my rotation each year, and this one is a winner. I omitted the egg yolk, as I like my cookies a little thicker. And I used chocolate chips instead of chunks, because that’s what I had. They are delicious. I may keep these in the rotation!
Hey Adrienne,
Awesome!! I am so glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! Have the best weekend! xTieghan
I made this with 1:1 gluten-free flour, gluten-free pretzels and sprouted oats, and it turned out great! Can’t even tell! 🙂 great recipe!
Hey Janet,
Happy Friday! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for giving it a try! xTieghan
Can you eliminate the oats?
I was wondering the same?
Hey AnneMarie,
Yes, you can skip the oats. Please let me know if you give the cookies a try, I hope you love them! xTieghan
IF you want to make these cookies in advance before your event. Would you recommend freezing the dough, then bake the day of ? Or better to bake them and then freeze? Excited to make these!
Hey Kelsea,
I would freeze the dough and then bake the day of. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan