Kate's Monster Cookies

Some foods take on a legendary status in families.  For my family those foods include Dad's chili, chicken paprikas, Mom's cheesecakes, and most importantly Monster Cookies. 

Monster Cookies entered our lives sometime around 1990 through a recipe my Grandma Emily discovered.  The recipe was actually called "Kate's Monster Cookies", so I knew they were meant for me.  We never looked back.  If my friends knew two things, it was that they were always welcome at my parents' house, and that there would always be Monster Cookies.

When I moved away for college, the recipe for Monster Cookies came with me.  I made a slight variation to our original recipe - less white sugar.  The variation was made by mistake, but as the taste and consistency of the cookies was actually improved, the variation became the law.  My college roommates couldn't get enough of these beloved "Monsters".  Later, my co-workers demanded that I make them again and again and begged for the recipe.  I'm really not over-selling these cookies to you.  They are, quite simply, the best cookie ever.  These cookies have oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and M&Ms.  There are chewy and crunchy.  They are alpha and omega.  They are ying and yang. 

Hope you love them as much as I do.

KATE'S MONSTER COOKIES

makes 7 DOZEN (And don't even think about halving this recipe.  You will want them all.  Plus, they freeze really well.)

1 C (two sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 C creamy peanut butter
2 1/4 C brown sugar
2 Tbsp sugar
6 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp light corn syrup
1/2 C flour
1 Tbsp baking soda
9 C Quick Quaker Oats
2 C M&Ms
2 C chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and sugar. Mix in eggs, one at a time.  Add vanilla and corn syrup and mix until blended.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking soda together.

Add the flour mixture to the batter.

Add the quick oats, one cup at a time.  Mix at the lowest speed.  The mixture will start to really fill up your mixing bowl.  The more you can do with the electric mixer though, the better, because the dough is very thick and difficult to stir by hand.

Add M&Ms and mix at low speed.  Add chocolate chips and mix.  Mix in by hand if you have to/want to.

Refrigerate dough for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll dough into 1.5 inch balls.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet, one inch apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes at 350 degrees.  They are done when you just start seeing a little golden brown on the tops of the cookies.  Let cookies sit for a minute on the pan, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool.


TIPS
1. Refrigerate the dough between batches. 

2. If the dough is too sticky for your liking while you are rolling them into balls, add a little flour.  But don't go overboard adding extra flour or the taste will be adversely effected.  My hands are absolutely covered with sticky dough when I am rolling the dough into balls, so don't be surprised by that.

3. Take the rings off your hands before shaping the dough into balls.  Like I said, it gets messy.

4. Use RED and GREEN seasonal M&Ms and voila!  You have the perfect Christmas Cookies.

5. You can make the dough one day ahead of time and refrigerate the dough overnight in a covered bowl if you want. It takes kind of a long time to make these since the recipe makes so many cookies, so I often make half of the Monsters one day, and finish them up the next day.

6. These cookies do not break easily, so they are the best kind of cookie to make and ship to friends.  If you know anyone in college, they are a wonderful study food - you get the sugar rush plus all the protein from the peanut butter. 

7. Do not over bake.  They should be a bit chewy inside.