Patriotic Monster Cookies

With Independence Day approaching, it was time to bake up some festive, patriotic recipes to grace our picnic table. These irresistible Patriotic Monster Cookies are chewy peanut butter oatmeal cookies chock full of red, white and blue M&M’s and chocolate chips.

Why You Should Make this Monster Cookie Recipe

• Hot dogs and apple pie are classic Americana as far as foods go. Plus anything red, white, and blue. I’ve made those desserts topped with blueberries and raspberries to look like an American flag,  s’mores desserts, and grilled a slew of burgers and dogs. But a super simple way to make a patriotic dessert is to add red white and blue M&Ms!
• This is a twist on a classic peanut butter oatmeal cookie I’ve been eating since the 1970s.
• If you love peanut butter cookies and oatmeal cookies, you’ll adore monster cookies!

My mom introduced my sisters and me to the Original Monster Cookie Recipe in the ’70s. Her recipe was huge, calling for 2 pounds of peanut butter and nuts in addition to the chocolate.

Extras were stored in our deep freeze and we were known to munch on them frozen. They were dubbed “monster” cookies due to their massive size–which our teenage metabolism could handle quite well.

This is a scaled-down version–and one where you don’t have to calculate how many cups are in a pound of peanut butter! These cookies are super chewy and outrageously delicious. After you try this recipe and fall in love with these cookies, I recommend baking up a batch of Monster Cookie Dough Cupcakes!

Frequently Asked Questions

Tips for Making Monster Cookies

Here are a few tips for making monster cookies:

• Use a cookie disher to scoop out consistent size dough balls.
• Roll between the palms of your hands to make dough balls more symmetrical (chilling the dough first makes this easier)
• PRO-Tip: If your cookies come out of the oven misshapen, hold onto the cookie sheet using an oven mitt, and with the other hand, carefully use a spatula to reshape the hot cookies into rounds.
• PRO-Tip: M&M’s tend to crack in the oven, so reserve what’s left in your bag to press into the hot, fresh out of the oven cookies for a more professional look.
• Use other color combinations depending on the time of year to make festive monster cookies—red and green at Christmas, black and orange for Halloween, pastel M&Ms for Easter.

Our Newest Family Member!

Here’s our newest addition to our family, Miss Isabelle, or Izzy. She’s now 8 weeks old, darling as can be, but full of mischief.

She was pulling out bookmarks from my cookbooks as well as chewing on them, so I removed all temptation from the bottom of the above bookshelf. She decided it was the perfect spot to perch. I’m sure Izzy will be making a few more appearances on the blog.

More Patriotic Holiday Recipes You’ll Love

• Fireworks Pudding Cookies from Crazy for Crust
• 4th of July Meringue Cookies from Shugary Sweets
• Patriotic Funfetti Cookies from Rachel Cooks
• Berry Cheesecake Flag Cake
• White Chocolate Berry Parfaits
• Red White and Blue Strawberries
• Patriotic Skillet Cookies
• Plus check out all my Best Holiday Recipes

Do you have a favorite dish to make on Memorial Day, Independence Day, and/or Labor Day? I’d love to hear about your traditions in the comments.

This recipe was first shared in May 2015. Photos and text were updated in 2020.

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The Recipe:

Patriotic Monster Cookies

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Yield 3 dozen

Flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies full of chocolate chips and M&M's

Ingredients

• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup butter, at room temperature
• 3 eggs
• 1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 ½ cups regular oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup red, white, and blue M&M's, plus more to garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line baking sheets with parchment and set aside.½
2. Beat brown sugar, sugar, and butter at low speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, peanut butter, vanilla, corn syrup, baking soda, and salt beating until combined.
3. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and M&M's.
4. Scoop out rounded tablespoonfuls (or use medium-sized cookie disher) onto prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Notes

This recipe is gluten-free if you use oatmeal that's labeled gluten-free.

Recommended Products

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• 
  Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets Non-Stick Parchment Paper, 25 Sheet, 4 Count
• 
  OXO Good Grips Medium Cookie Scoop
• 
  USA Pan Bakeware Half Sheet Pan

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

36

Serving Size:

1 cookie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 224Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 183mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 2gSugar: 18gProtein: 5g

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