Halloween is the one night of the year when we willingly send our children out into the neighborhood dressed as monsters and encourage them to collect enough sugar to last until Christmas. If you think about it, the whole tradition is a little ridiculous. But goodness, it’s fun.
And while the kids are busy deciding what to wear and calculating which neighborhood gives out the best candy, there’s plenty of Halloween mischief to be made in the kitchen.
Holiday baking doesn’t have to be complicated to be memorable. Sometimes, all it takes is a familiar recipe, a handful of colorful candy, and a little imagination.
These Halloween Monster Cookies are just the thing. They’re thick, chewy, loaded with peanut butter, oats, chocolate chips, and candy-coated chocolates, and just spooky enough to earn their name. Add a few candy eyeballs, and suddenly, you have a whole batch of silly little monsters staring back at you.
They’re perfect for classroom parties, neighborhood gatherings, family movie nights, or a sweet treat after an evening of trick-or-treating. And if a few pieces of Halloween candy happen to disappear during the baking process, well, that’s just part of the fun.
Halloween Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup orange, green, and purple candy-coated chocolates
- Candy eyeballs for decorating
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy.
- Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add baking soda, salt, oats, and flour, mixing until combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips and colorful candies.
- Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving about two inches between cookies.
- Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden and the centers are just set.
- Immediately press candy eyeballs onto the warm cookies. Allow them to cool on the baking sheets for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
A little Halloween tip: For extra-large monsters, use a bigger cookie scoop and add an extra minute or two to the baking time. No two monsters have to look alike!
By the time the last trick-or-treater has knocked and the costumes have been tossed aside, the candy bowls will be considerably lighter, and someone will probably have a stomachache. But if a few monster cookies survive until morning, I’d call that a Halloween success.
