We try to keep Christmas simple and meaningful. But one thing we can't skip is the cookie baking. We love cookies all year round but at Christmas time it is fun to have lots of variety for quick gift giving and hospitality.I remember many times, my dad coming into the house and asking mom if she had something to give a neighbor, or the milk man, or someone else that had happened by. Mom always was able to find a loaf of homemade bread, plate of cookies or box of homemade candy to wrap up with a bow. I love the example of impromptu sharing and want to be prepared to do the same.
I'm hoping to share some favorite simple cookie recipes. Don't look for anything fancy, just homemade yumminess.
We always made monster cookies at Thanksgiving just in time for deer hunting season. Ed isn't real big on hunting but he likes the monster cookie tradition! The original recipe makes a huge amount. I often make only half and included this smaller batch recipe at the end. Traditionally the cookies are made very large (monster size) but I make them normal size.
Monster Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
3 cup peanut butter
2 cup sugar
2 cup brown sugar
Cream butters and sugars together.
6 eggs
Mix well.
9 cup quick oatmeal
4 tsp baking soda
Mix well.
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup M&Ms
Stir in.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
If you don't have a large mixer, the last ingredients will need to be stirred in by hand in a large dish pan. Or you can divide the recipe in half.
Monster Cookies - Small Batch
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
Cream butters and sugars together.
3 eggs
Mix well.
4 1/2 cup quick oatmeal
2 tsp baking soda
Mix well.
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup M&Ms
Stir in.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Gina, that's just exactly what I needed for my cookie gifts. Thanks! ~Liz
ReplyDeleteThis is a favorite recipe with my mom's best friend! They are wonderful; she makes the huge size.
ReplyDeleteI love to bake cookies.....I'm excited to see which varieties you share.
ReplyDeleteThanks and happy baking!!!
I love this recipe and need to make cookies for a concession stand. This will be perfect. Thanks for reminding me.
ReplyDeleteRegina
oh, we LOVE Monster Cookies!! That's what's in my cookie jar right now. The recipe in Mennonite Country-Style is the really huge batch - mix in the a dishpan and takes, among other things, 1 dozen eggs. Um, I make the small half-batch.
ReplyDeleteI also use half raisins, half chocolate chips. Not at all traditional, I know, but I feel a little better giving them to my kids are snacks then.
I also love the little story about your mom, handing out goodies.
Oatmeal? Eggs? Peanut butter? Why, they're practically health food! I can't wait to make these with my boys. :)
ReplyDeleteThese sound so good but unfortunately I can't make them because my dd is allergic to peanuts. I could use Sunbutter but it is $7 a jar and would go way too quick and make the cookies way too expensive. Is there anything I could substitute the peanut butter for?
ReplyDeleteOcean5 - you could use almond butter - i use the organic kind that you grind yourself at whole foods - it may also be more expensive than you want to pay, but if you don't make them often they are a great rare treat!
ReplyDeleteI love this Home Joys blog!
I made these the other day. I'm not sure what I did wrong but they did not seem like they wanted to hold together. I used the type of oatmeal that cooks in 1 minute. Is that not the right kind? No flour used here?
ReplyDeleteLisa -
ReplyDeleteSorry the recipe didn't work for you. I'm not sure what happened. I use quick oats but I think that is different then the 1 minute oats. But I would have to look at my package to see. The cookies do not have any flour. Maybe next time, try adding just slightly less oats and see if that helps.
Gina
If I have free time, I usually spend it baking, so I was so glad to happen upon your recipe for Monster Cookies. They have all of the ingredients to please almost any taste and don't last long once I put them out. I found that the half recipe made 50 cookies. I made them today for a Super Bowl party and I know they will go fast! Thanks for sharing your recipe with all of us. : )
ReplyDeleteGina, I grew up making Monster Cookies at my aunt's house. She loved to bake cookies with my sister and I when we were small girls. My mother was never excited about baking with "help." I have never seen the recipe anywhere else and have no idea where she got it. Maybe it was a hunting thing, my uncle went deer hunting, I have no idea. The only difference between our recipes is that we flattened our cookie dough balls before we baked them. We would spread shortening on the bottom of a flat-bottomed drinking glass and dip the bottom of the glass in a small bowl of granulated sugar and then squish the ball evenly flat with it, dipping the glass in more sugar as needed. I'm not sure why our recipe calls for that, but I'm guessing they cook more evenly or maybe quicker when they are the monster-sized that way? Anyway, that's how we make ours.
ReplyDeleteShannon
I never heard of flattening the cookies - but maybe that would help it bake more evenly!
DeleteGina
I love making these cookies! But my recipe calls for double the amounts as your large batch does! Maybe I will downsize to your large batch! ;)
ReplyDeleteI love these, but I had so much trouble with the dough balls falling to pieces when it came to putting them into the baking pan! Anyone any advice? (I used peanuts instead of M and Ms but I wouldn't have thought it would make that much difference).
ReplyDelete