Thursday, November 1, 2012

Halloween Scream - Monster Cookies

It was a dark and stormy night........  when the Monsters attacked......

mmmmmm    grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggg

It was the annual Halloween Chili Feed, so I figured I should make some cookies fitting the occasion.  Monster cookies are kind of a odd baked beast.  Seriously, I love Peanut Butter Cookies and Oatmeal Cookies and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies as well as Cowboy Cookies (Oatmeal Chocolate Chip) but Peanut Butter and Oatmeal with Chocolate is kind of a odd combination to me. It's like throwing all your eggs in one basket and hoping it's not a disaster.  I guess I had never really thought about it when I was a kid.  Every time Grandma made them, we all went nuts for them...  Maybe we were just bedazzled by the colorful M&Ms... Though they are much more colorful now, than they were when I was young (Red & Blue didn't exist and I miss the tan colored ones). Maybe my taste buds have changed.  The kids went nuts for them though, just like we use to when we were young. Maybe it's an age thing.  Who knows. 

There is a plus to these cookies though, between the Peanut Butter and the Eggs, no further binders are needed... Meaning they contain no wheat flour, so they are a "gluten-free". That is unless there is hidden gluten in M&Ms...   Hmmmmmmm

Monster Cookies

1 1/2 cups chunky Peanut Butter
8 TB unsalted Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Granulated Sugar
3 large Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 1/2 cups Quick Oats
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
1 cup M&M's Dark Chocolate candies

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the Peanut Butter and Butter until well combined.

Add the sugars and continue beating until light and fluffy.

Add Eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the Vanilla Extract.


Add Oats, Baking Soda and Salt, stirring by hand to incorporate.

Add Milk Chocolate Chips and M&M's, stirring until uniformly spread through the batter.

Use a scoop (I used a #24 but that is the largest I have.. a #12 would have been better) to portion the dough on an ungreased baking sheet.

(I found candy eyes earlier this month and since I did not get around to decorating sugar cookies by floating royal icing on them, I decided to give the monsters eyes)

Bake 17 to 20 minutes (depending on the size of scoop you use), careful not to over bake, they should look a little bit moist in the center when removed from the oven.... Allow them to cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheets to allow the cookies to finish baking.

Transfer to wire racks and cool completely before storing in an airtight container so they can't escape.

Apparently, I should have gotten the lid on faster....  ;)

Mangia!!
~~

2 comments:

Patti T. said...

So cute with the eyes. Husband will need cookies when he goes to NY hunting later this month. I know what cookies I will be making now. I always send chocolate chip with him, but it is time for a change!

Patti T. said...

Made these for hubby's hunting trip, they were delicious. I was a little bit scared when I noticed there was no flour in the ingredient list. Of course, they turned out great. I have a feeling there will be no cookies coming home from his trip. Thanks again for a great recipe.