These soft & thick monster cookies are made from a super easy peanut butter cookie dough loaded with oats, Reese's pieces, and chocolate chips! With the addition of candy eyes, they have an adorable, spooky look that makes them perfect for a Halloween party.
These monster cookies are not a peanut butter oatmeal cookie with Reese's pieces and chocolate chips, but rather a soft peanut butter cookie with a balanced mixture of oats, candy, and various sized chocolate chips!
For more Halloween recipes, try Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes with Meringue Ghosts, Mummy White Chocolate Brownies, Monster Cookie Bars, and Gooey Candy Bar Blondies.
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Why you'll love these monster cookies
- Soft & Thick Texture: The best comforting cookie has an extra soft & thick texture in my opinion!
- Peanut Butter Flavor: Just like all monster cookies should be, these have a classic peanut butter flavor in every bite.
- The Best Mix-Ins: These cookies are loaded with rolled oats, Reese's pieces, and various sizes of chocolate chips.
Ingredient Notes
- Unsalted Butter: Use a high-quality butter, such as Kerrygold.
- Peanut Butter: I recommend only using thick and creamy peanut butter, like Jif or Skippy.
- Sugars: You'll need a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar.
- Eggs: Just one egg plus and egg yolk for extra chew.
- Flour: PLEASE weigh your flour with a scale! I provided both weight and volume measurements below, but just like with all cookies there are few ingredients which means there is little room for error.
- Leavening: You'll need cornstarch, baking powder, and baking soda to make these cookies extra thick and soft.
- Oats: For even more flavor, try toasting your oats on the stove for a few minutes until aromatic.
- Reese's Pieces: I like to lean into the chocolate peanut butter flavor and add Reese's Pieces. Plus the orange and yellow colors make them extra Halloweeny! You can also swap them for M&Ms, if you prefer.
- Chocolate: I used a variety of chocolate for visual appeal and a balance of chocolate flavors. I recommend Guittard bittersweet chocolate chips, Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips, and Enjoy Life semi-sweet mini chocolate chips.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Here are step-by-step photos and instructions on how to make this monster cookie recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.
Combine the dry ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream the peanut butter & butter, then add the sugars
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and peanut butter on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Add the sugars and continue beating for 2-3 more minutes until light & fluffy.
Finish the cookie dough & chill
Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until fully combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. Lastly, fold in the oats, Reese's pieces, and chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Portion the cookie dough & freeze
Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough onto a small parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze the cookie dough for 15 minutes.
Bake
Place the cookie dough on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches a part, and top with more oats, Reese's pieces, and chocolate chips as desired. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet, top with candy eyes if desired, and enjoy!
Expert Baking Tips
- I recommend using a thick, creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy.
- I recommend using a variety of chocolate chip sizes, as well as a mixture of semi-sweet and bittersweet for visual appeal and balance of chocolate flavor.
- To achieve perfectly round cookies, use a large cookie cutter or round glass, and gently circle around the cookies when they immediately come out of the oven.
Recipe FAQs
Classic monster cookies are made with four key ingredients: peanut butter, rolled oats, M&Ms or Reese's pieces, and chocolate chips. My version is essentially a soft peanut butter cookie with oats, Reese's pieces, and chocolate chips mixed in!
I highly recommend only using a thick, creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy.
Yes, the dough is pretty soft so it's necessary to chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. Chilling the dough helps it to not only firm up, but also develop a more pronounced peanut butter flavor.
Storage Tips
Store these cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for about 2-3 days. You can also freeze scooped cookie dough balls or baked cookies for up to 3 months.
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.Â
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Other cookie recipes to try
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📖 Recipe
Soft & Thick Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- 160 g (1 â…“ cup) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 113 g (½ cup) unsalted butter, cold & cubed
- 135 g (½ cup) creamy peanut butter
- 160 g (¾ cup) brown sugar
- 50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 68 g (¾ cup) old fashioned rolled oats
- 100 g (½ cup) Reese's pieces
- 85 g chocolate chips
- Candy eyes, for decorating
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and peanut butter on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the sugars and continue beating for 2-3 more minutes until light & fluffy.
- Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until fully combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Lastly, fold in the oats, Reese's pieces, and chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.
- Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough onto a small parchment lined baking sheet.
- Freeze the cookie dough for 15 minutes.
- Place the cookie dough on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches a part, and top with more oats, Reese's pieces, and chocolate chips as desired.
- Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet, top with candy eyes if desired, and enjoy!
Notes
- I recommend using a thick, creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy.
- I recommend using a variety of chocolate chip sizes, as well as a mixture of semi-sweet and bittersweet for visual appeal and balance of chocolate flavor.
- To achieve perfectly round cookies, use a large cookie cutter or round glass, and gently circle around the cookies when they immediately come out of the oven.
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