Monster Cookies

Yesterday I had the urge to bake something. It was rainy and windy out and I just didn't want to go anywhere. So I started looking through cookbooks to see what I could make with stuff I already had at home. Turned out that I had just enough ingredients to make Monster cookies from Baked (I LOVE this cookbook if you hadn't noticed).

Ingredients:

1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking soda
pinch of salt
5 3/4 C. rolled oats
3/4 C. (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 1/2 C. firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 C. granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1/4 tsp light corn syrup
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 C. creamy peanut butter
1 C. semisweet chocolate chips
1 C. M&Ms

Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Add the oats and stir until the ingredients are evenly combined.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth and pale in color. Add the sugars and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Do not overmix.

Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth and scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the corn syrup and vanilla and beat until just incorporated.

Scrape down the bowl and add the peanut butter. Mix on low speed until just combined. Add the oat mixture in three additions, mixing on low speed until just incorporated.

Use a spatula or wooden spoon to fold in the chocolate chips and M&Ms. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for 5 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Use an ice cream scoop with a release mechanism to scoop out the dough in 2-tablespoon size balls onto the prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-15 min., rotating the pans halfway through the baking time (I didn't rotate them and they turned out fine for me), until the cookies just begin to brown. Let cool on the pans for 8-10 min. before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.




Note that after making the dough I thought it seemed like an awful lot for just the 36 cookies that the recipe says it makes. Turns out it's double the amount of dough, so if you make the recipe as given you will end up with 72 cookies instead of 36. That's A LOT of cookies!! I have way too many to eat with just 3 of us at home. Fortunately we'll be visiting my parents soon and can unload some on them! Plus I might send some with my husband to work next week. I'm on cookie overload!!

The authors also said that they specifically bought bags of orange only M&Ms which was their favorite at www.m-ms.com. I, on the other hand, only had a bag of valentine M&Ms at home (dark pink, light pink, red, and white mixture). The orange in the cookbook's picture looks much more appetizing than my valentine colors.