If food can be a sin, then these cookies are shamefully immoral. Not only do they have a pound of peanut butter in them (which for some people is actually lethal*), but they have enough sugar and butter to make a small village in a developing country happy for a week.

I first tried them at Whole Foods. They were so delicious, I thought I’d go back and read the ingredients. The first three ingredients were sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Only after the fifth or sixth ingredient did they mention grain of any kind. Last week, I was telling my friend about them, and she said, “Oh, monster cookies. My mom used to make them.” The ones she was raised on were not nearly as glycemic coma inducing, so I fiddled with her recipe and tried to bring them a little closer to what Whole Foods had.

Brace yourselves: these are not for the faint of heart, but they’ll make some kid at a bake sale really happy.

*If you are planning on making these for a school bake sale, be sure to check with the school that there are no peanut allergies that would make these too dangerous to have in the building.

monster cookies

1 cup (100g) flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 cups (480g) quick oats
1 1/2 sticks (172g) butter
2 cups (400g) brown sugar
1 cup (190g) granulated sugar
1 pound (450g) peanut butter
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup (170g) semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees celsius). In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and oats. Set aside.

2. Cream the butter and sugars together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add in peanut butter and mix until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Add in eggs, one at a time, incorporating well after each addition.

3. Slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture, and mix until well incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in chocolate chips.

4. Use a large ice cream scoop or your hands to form balls of dough the size of a baseball. Place 6 on a cookie sheet, and press down slightly with your hands. Bake for 15 minutes, or until slightly brown around the edges, and not fully set in the middle.

15 Responses to “bake sale week: monster cookies”

1. VeggieGirl says:

   10 September 2009 at 5:38 am

   Those cookies are so mesmerizing!
2. Connie (the write one) says:

   10 September 2009 at 8:50 am

   Holy cow! Sophie’s eating something!
3. Laura says:

   10 September 2009 at 10:09 am

   oh no.
4. April says:

   10 September 2009 at 10:42 am

   Wow those are huge! Add a little coconut and they would be cowboy cookies! I love those things. I think I’ll make these today! Thanks for the idea! : )
5. Jen T says:

   10 September 2009 at 6:46 pm

   We love Monster cookies at our house, but we have never done them with peanut butter, so I will have to try these. Yum! Thanks for sharing!
6. nickki says:

   11 September 2009 at 3:59 am

   These cookies look so good! My kids would do anything for just one, I’m sure!
7. Malin says:

   14 September 2009 at 1:33 pm

   Now, that’s my kind of cookie! I can take a loootta sugar!
8. AJ says:

   14 September 2009 at 7:27 pm

   I made these cookies and was able to save some of the cookie batter for another day. My family loved them. Thank you for the delish recipe.
9. Jessica M. says:

   29 September 2009 at 6:54 pm

   Hi! I’m new to sophistimom…my sister-in-law introduced me to it this summer and I’ve been visiting regularly ever since. I made monster cookies today; they’re the stuff of childhood dreams! Next week, we have cousins visiting from out of state. I’ve saved some dough to be cooked up right before their arrival so I can be dubbed the coolest auntie in the whole world.
10. Jamieanne says:

    11 October 2009 at 1:00 pm

    I just discovered your blog today and I’m so glad I did – you have so many great desserts and beautiful photos! I LOVE the look of these monster cookies, these are definitely now on my to-bake list!
11. Connie says:

    12 January 2010 at 7:01 pm

    I made these for a Share our Strength bakesale, and they were a big seller! I used chocolate peanut butter as some of the peanut butter, which gave it an interesting twist.
    http://ilovepeanutbutter.com/index.php/peanutbutter/peanut-butter/darkchocolatedreams.html
    Thank you for this great recipe!
12. Loose Ends « The Cracked Cheesecake says:

    27 January 2010 at 9:15 pm

    [...] monster cookies ($1) [...]
13. Jona Alvara says:

    30 March 2010 at 4:59 am

    Here is the glycemic index food chart that will help you to decide what to eat. The number given in the chart is indicative of the glycemic level present in the food stuff. Higher the level risky it is for diabetic patients. Lower the level indicates low glycemic presence that is helpful to high blood sugar body.
14. Laura S says:

    1 June 2010 at 8:10 pm

    As the taste-tester said “they taste so exotic” They were a big hit, and eating one cookie was the equivalent of eating four regular cookies. I have to say, it was some of the best cookie dough I’d ever eaten, and I loved how well they cooked. They weren’t too sweet or overpowering…they were just right!
15. Danielle says:

    17 August 2010 at 9:47 am

    how many cups are in one pound of peanut butter?

    I tried to google it, but no luck =[