When I was a kid, I HATED baking. I was the oldest of 8, had a step-dad with a major sweet tooth, and a mom who didn’t know the meaning of doing anything in small measures. I was stuck. Stuck with baking for (what seemed) like millions of hours…cookies and more cookies, to be sealed 3 or 4 to a plastic zip baggie, and put in the freezer for lunches. (I’ve seen kiddie pools smaller than some of my mom’s stainless steel bowls that I’ve had to fill to the top with cookie dough!)
As an adult, I bake some but I’d rather cook. Recently, however, I got a craving for my mom’s Monster Cookies…. chewy oatmeal peanut butter cookies loaded with chocolate chips and chocolate candy. Once in a great while I pull out the recipe and make a batch of those cookies…only, I usually only make a ONE-QUARTER-SIZE batch (both for sanity and consumption reasons).
Sanity wasn’t with me this time, however. A monster cookie craving was! So, I pulled out the ingredients and thought, Heck, I haven’t made a WHOLE batch of Monster Cookies since I was a kid…why not…you know, for old times sake?
(Someone should stop me when I have moments like this. Unfortunately, I was home alone, so no voice of reason stepped into rescue me.)
Right off the bat, I realized I had a problem. My largest mixing bowl (which isn’t super small, I want to point out) wasn’t big enough for an entire batch of cookies. As a matter of fact, the ONLY thing remotely close to an appropriate size was my roasting pan. Even then, I had to split the dough in half and mix it in two batches before dumping it all together.
As I stood staring at the mound of cookie dough before me, scenes of my childhood cookie making days flashed before my eyes! What was I thinking?? But with a monster cookie craving to satisfy, I pressed on. (Some friends told me afterwards that monster cookie dough freezes well…I know from experience that the baked version freezes well also…both pieces of information will be helpful to you if you want to try this recipe yourself.)
In the end I can’t really tell you how many cookies a batch of dough makes. The further along I went, the larger I made the cookies (hoping to speed the process along some). My best guess is that you’ll end up with 13-15 dozen nice sized cookies. (Each stack of cookies in the picture is half a dozen cookies high…big cookies…like they serve at coffee shops…cookies the way cookies should be!)
Of course, all was not lost (as a matter of fact, the only thing lost was an evening)…it just took one bite of a warm, chewy cookie to remember why I wanted to make them to begin with. Mmmmm. I do love a good monster cookie from time to time. I’m pretty sure, though, I’m set for the rest of the year in the monster-cookie-craving-department. If I can find space in my freezer for them, that is.
Here’s the whole recipe…but below it, I’ll give you the proportions I USUALLY use:
Monster Cookies
Beat 12 eggs together.
Add and mix well:
2 lbs brown sugar
4 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon Karo syrup
8 teaspoons baking soda
1 lb butter, softened
3 lbs peanut butter
Stir in:
18 cups old-fashioned oatmeal (just an FYI here—those large cylinder shaped containers of oatmeal contain less than 18 cups, so buy two)
1—12 oz package chocolate chips
1—12 oz bag M & M’s
1—12 oz bag Peanut M & M’s
Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet by large mounded tablespoon.
Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
Let cool slightly so they don’t fall apart when you remove them from the cookie sheet (but don’t let them set too long or the candy will stick).
If you don’t feel up to Monster Cookies on that scale, here’s a smaller version of the same thing that will satisfy your taste buds without requiring kitchen duty for the remainder of your day:
Follow directions above, but use these quantities:
3 eggs
½ lb brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons karo syrup
½ cup butter
¾ lb peanut butter
4 ½ cups oatmeal
½ cup chocolate chips
½ cup M & M’s
½ cup Peanut M & M’s
Either way, you’re gonna have a stash of great tasting cookies. So call a friend and invite them over for coffee. Sit down, catch up and munch away!
Enjoy!
