One of my fondest memories from my childhood revolves around a cookie (I know, typical huh?)

My first holiday in the U.S. that I remember is Halloween. In my 2nd grade class, we had all gathered at the rug, and my teacher read us a book titled Monster Mash and then she played us the Monster Mash song. All the students around me danced, while I stood in bewilderment – what the heck was the Wolf Man, and the zombie? My confusion continued for a couple minutes … and then a few more…

The only thing that made sense to me were the cookies. My teacher held out a plate with these giant and decadent cookies, studded with M&Ms and chocolate chips. I took one, and sniffed at it inquiringly. My classmate said, “it really isn’t made from monsters, but it is MONSTROUSLY GOOD!”

Even to this day, I have to agree. These cookies are MONSTROUSLY delicious – full of sweet M&Ms, chocolate, and peanut butter! Best of all, it is so adorable and colorful!

Ingredients (2 dozen):

1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark, but you can use light as well)

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 large egg

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1/3 cup oats

1/2 cup M&Ms (Pick your favorite! I used dark chocolate.)

1/4 cup chocolate chips (Again, pick your favorite. I used dark again.)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and cane sugar together on medium speed for approximately 3 minutes. Next, mix in the peanut butter until smooth. Add in the egg & vanilla. Mix it in until smooth. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold the dry flour mixture into the wet mixture and slowly mix. DO NOT OVERMIX. It is essential to the softness of the cookie! Fold in the oats, M&Ms, and chocolate chips. Roll 1.5 inch balls of dough onto the sheets. If you want your cookies to look colorful, you can also stud the tops of the cookies with extra M&Ms. Bake for 9-10 minutes, BUT NOT MORE THAN 10 MINUTES! When you take the cookies out of the oven, it will still be round and you will think that they are not done yet. LOOKS ARE DECEIVING. PULL THEM OUT. Gently press down on the cookies with the back of a spoon or a small plate, until the cookies flatten a bit. Cracks will appear, but it’ll fit in with the whole monster theme. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then cool on a rack for a further 10 minutes.

These cookies ARE SO SOFT AND MOIST! 🙂 Look at how it just ….. SPLITS IN TWO!

P.S. Check out Matty’s Monster-Mash MASTERPIECE!