Monster Cookies

     A while ago, my mom's best friend made cookies for a group trip that our families had taken. Unfortunately, I was off at school and was unable to go. However, I did hear my mom and little brother rave about her best friend's cookies. We soon asked her for the recipe, and I told my mom that I would have to experience these for myself. The next time I made a trip home, my mom and I whipped up a batch of these cookies, and let me tell you, they were DELICIOUS. These aren't "Oh, I'll just have one" type of cookies. They are "Oh my goodness, hide them before I devour them all myself" cookies. Brace yourselves, people; you were warned. I don't know where she got this recipe, but props to whoever thought of these amazing little nuggets. This simple recipe is definitely a crowd pleaser each and every time. They're off the cookie platter, just as fast as you can put them on!

What You'll Need:
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (I use natural, but any kind would work)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup M&M's plain chocolate candies- If you can find the baking M&M's, it's an added bonus. Otherwise, regular M&M's would work fine. 


What To Do: 
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and get your cookie sheets ready for deliciousness to be thrust upon them. (Yes, that just happened)

2. In a large bowl, combine softened butter with the brown and white sugar. Mix in peanut butter. Make sure everything is mixed together really well. An electric mixer would be really helpful with this. '

3. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. 

4. Once combined, throw in the oats and baking soda, and keep mixing. 

5. Stir in the chocolate chips and M&M's enough to distribute evenly throughout the dough. 

6. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out mounds of dough and place on your cookie sheets about 1 or 2 inches apart. Of course, you could just use a spoon. I like an ice cream scoop because it gives you pretty consistently sized cookies.

7. Bake about 12 minutes. Be careful not to over bake them. Because they're bigger and quite dense (hence MONSTER cookies), it may take a few additional minutes to fully bake them. Just keep checking on them. 

8. Let them cool... if you can avoid temptation for that long. 

Does anyone else have their own variations?