Can there really be a more perfect October treat than Halloween monster cookies? Made with your favorite candy, this recipe always bakes up gooey and delicious. To make them even more spooky, I used candy eyes to turn them into real monster cookies.
Seriously, these cookies are so good. I’m not entirely sure how monster cookies were invented, but I feel like someone decided to take all the best cookie ingredients and mix them into one monstrous cookie.
And…because I wanted to make these cookies even cuter, I added eyeballs to go on each cookie! It brings the word “monster cookie” to a whole new level!
Look at them! Are they not the cutest little Monster Cookies you ever did see?
You can actually use this recipe after Halloween, too. I’m going to let you in on a little life hack here, but shhh! — don’t tell my kids: monster cookies are a great way to use up Halloween candy. Unwrap treats you didn’t hand out, or raid your kids’ Halloween bags…just sayin’!
What are monster cookies?
Typically, monster cookies are made with some combination of peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips, and M&Ms or Reese’s Pieces. The result is a chewy, thick, soft cookie that’s especially popular with kids.
Monster cookies actually get their name because they are the Frankenstein’s monster of cookies – a combination of different ingredients into one monstrous cookie. The scariest part of monster cookies might just be how many you end up eating.
As for ingredients in my monster cookies we have butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, old fashioned oats (oatmeal), milk chocolate chips, and your choice of M&Ms or Reese’s Pieces.
Oh! And of course the cookie eyes too to make them extra scary (or cute…).
Buy or Make Your Own Cookie Eyes
One thing that makes these halloween treats unique is their cookie eyes. You can buy them in the store easily; I’ve found them in the cake decorating sections of most major brand stores for only $1-2 a package.
OR simply make them yourself!
How to Make Your Own Cookie Eyes
Making the eyeballs for these gooey monster eye cookies is actually really easy. Here’s how you make them.
- Melt some white candy melts by heating them for 30 second increments, followed by stirring, until nice and melty.
- Then carefully spoon the melty goodness into a squeeze bottle. If you don’t have a squeeze bottle, you could use a zip lock bag and snip a tiny hole at the end. Squeeze onto wax paper to create the white of the eyes.
- Then use mini chocolate chips and push the pointed end down into the white candy melts.
- Allow them to cool for 10 minutes or until hardened. They should peel right off the wax paper with no problems.
They were so easy and my monster cookies would not have been the same without them! Brings a new meaning to the word “Eye Candy“. Haha.
How to make Halloween Monster Cookies – Step by Step
*A detailed (with measurements) and printable recipe card is available at the bottom of this post.
You’ll start by preheating your oven and pulling out your baking sheets.
- In an electric stand mixer or large mixing bowl add the softened butter and peanut butter. Beat on low speed until they’re blended together.
- Then add the brown and white sugar. Increase your mixer speed to high and beat in the sugar for 3 minutes or until blended smoothly. The texture should be light and fluffy.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract to the bowl, mixing on low speed only until combined.
- Mix in baking soda and oats until well combined. Do not over mix.
- Stir in the milk chocolate chips and M&Ms or Reese’s Pieces gently until everything is fully combined.
- Form the cookies and bake away!
When forming the cookies, it’s best to make bigger cookies so they bake with the right texture. I recommend using a 4 tablespoon or ¼ cup size cookie scoop to form your monster cookies.
Roll cookie dough into a ball by hand and place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet. Leave at least 2 inches of space between your cookies.
Bake on the lowest oven rack for 11 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the bottom edges.
Remove from the oven and immediately place a few extra candy pieces and two candy eyeballs on top of the cookies while they’re hot. Lightly press them in.
Allow monster cookies to cool for 10 minutes before eating.
Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container or Halloween cookie jar at room temperature.
Make Ahead & Freeze For Later
To freeze this Halloween monster cookie dough, follow the recipe directions up to placing the dough on the baking sheet. Then put them in the freezer instead of the oven! After they’re frozen, remove the cookie dough balls from the baking tray and transfer them to a reusable gallon sized freezer bag.
Frozen cookie dough keeps for about a month in the freezer. Then bake from frozen, adding a few additional minutes to the baking time to allow for thawing.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- When forming the cookies, it’s best to make bigger cookies so they bake with the right texture. I recommend using a 4 tablespoon or ¼ cup size cookie scoop to form your monster cookies.
- For a delicious gooey treat, warm cooled cookies in the microwave for 15-20 seconds.
- For best results, don’t use “natural” peanut butter. Natural peanut butter can change the taste and texture of the cookies because it lacks sugar and salt compared to regular peanut butter varieties.
- Make one monstrous monster cookie for a fun twist! Instead of smaller balls, form a giant cookie dough mound in the center of a baking sheet. You’ll need to add a few more minutes to the baking time
- For gooey-er cookies, bake them on the center oven rack for 9-10 minutes, or until the tops and bottoms of the cookies are golden brown. The insides of the cookies will stay gooey when you take them out.
- Don’t just scoop! Rolling the cookie dough into balls with your hands before baking gives you the best results.
- Make a cute Halloween gift or “boo” someone this year: Print out the printable tag (at the bottom of this post) and package up a few of these fun halloween cookies as a gift.
More Halloween Treats & Ideas You’ll Love…
- Free printable Halloween Treasure Hunt with Clues!
- Pumpkin Bowling Fun Activity
- Hot Cocoa “Witches Brew” Recipe
- Quick & Easy Trunk or Treat Decorating Ideas
- Halloween Costumes for Kids (under $10)
- Spider Web Treats
How did your Halloween monster cookies turn out? Did you kids love them? Tag me in your picture on Instagram @happymoneysaver and use the hashtag #happymoneysaver!
Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter softened
- 1¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 4½ cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1 cup m&m’s or reeses pieces
- candy eyeballs unless making them yourself
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 with rack on the lowest level.
- In a stand mixer or large bowl add butter and peanut butter. Beat on low speed until blended together.
- Add brown and white sugar. Turn mixer or beaters on high speed and beat for 3 minutes or until texture is fluffier and lighter than before.
- Add eggs and vanilla to the bowl, mix only until combined.
- Add baking soda and oats, mix well only until combined, do not overmix.
- Add in chocolate chips and m&m’s and stir gently until everything is fully combined.
- It’s best to make bigger cookies for the right texture – so I would recommend using a 4 Tablespoon/1/4 cup size cookie scoop to form your cookies.
- Place cookies on parchment lined baking sheet. Hand roll the cookies into round balls for best results.
- Bake on the lowest oven rack 11-12 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are browned on the edges.
- Immediately after removing from oven, place a few extra m&m pieces and two candy eyeballs on top of cookies, and slightly press down.
- Let cookies cool for 10 minutes before eating.
- Keep any you aren’t eating right away to an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
- Warming leftover cookies these in the microwave for 15-20 seconds is yummy next day.
- Print out the printable tag and gift or “boo” someone this year!
- Dont use “natural” peanut butter, use regular Make one big giant monster cookie if you like – it might need a little more baking time.
- If you want gooey-er cookies you can bake them on the center rack for 9-10 minutes until the tops and bottoms of cookies are golden. The insides will still be gooey when you take them out.
- Best results are to roll the balls in your hands first to form cookies.
Nutrition
Loved this recipe?
Make sure to follow on Instagram @happymoneysaver and on Pinterest @happymoneysaver for more money savin’ recipes!
This post was originally posted on October 17, 2012 and has been updated as of October 28, 2020 with helpful tips, new pictures and a printable recipe too!
If you’d like to give away these monster cookies to someone who watches your “little monsters” or to a friend I created some free little printable tags you can use! Hope you enjoy!!!
Click here to get your FREE printable gift tags for these Halloween Monster Cookies.
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Camden says
I love this idea!! So much fun.
Tin says
Hi Karrie. I can see colored candies incorporated on your monster cookies. Are those m&m’s?
Happy.MoneySaver says
Actually they are Reeses pieces! M&Ms could be a good substitute though!
sandra driesen says
My stepmom always made us kids these every year to share at harvest festival at school, add ins were usually peanut butter chips (not reeses pieces) and m & ms so good I’ve to give this a try too!
Tami says
Love the happy thoughts series. Growing up, we would give homemade gifts for someone’s kindness and called them happy day gifts. This reminded of that, so thank you. Also love the recipe. Using gluten free oats, I can make these for my nephew for Halloween. YIPPIE! Always looking for more “mainstream” recipes that can be converted to CD without mixing up a ton of different flours or buying special ingredients. Thanks.
Tami says
Sorry, my spell check kept changing the GF (gluten free) to CD. Didn’t catch that before I posted.
Tanya says
This has been a recipe in my family for years and is always a favorite for family events. We use M&M’s in ours though.
Barb says
Hi Karrie….Thanks for the cute cookie recipe! I remember making monster cookies years ago, but I believe they had flour in them and I wasn’t all that pleased with them, so I’m anxious to give these a try, and I love how you made them into adorable “monsters”. I know a few people who will be thrilled to receive them:)
Karrie says
Thanks Barb! This recipe is SOOOO good. And over mixers like me just make the cookies better, ha! Have fun!
Tiffany's Treats says
I have making these for years! They turn out perfect everytime and the more you mix the cookie batter, the better they are! I love the creative tag that accompanies these little treats. Can’t wait to give this away as a gift to the many people who have helped me with my three boys along the way! Thanks for posting 🙂
Leah L says
I can’t wait to make these for my daycare! Thank you for sharing this super cute idea!
Sue says
Having been the recipient of a couple of these Monster Cookies, I can say they are fabulous, addictive, yummy, worth begging for…etc.
Karrie says
Yay! So glad you like them Sue!