Baking Monster Cookies, Amish Style

That is one monster of a cookie.

Last night I set out with the intention of making Monster Cookies using a recipe from The Amish Cook's Baking Book. I measured the sugars and butter into my large bowl and grabbed my hand mixer to cream the butter and sugars together. Trouble was, the beaters would not stay in the machine part of the mixer. Like, at all. I tried switching them around, using the other pair of beaters, but all to no avail. Mind you, this hand mixer was old. I don't know how old, but it was my mom's and I took it when I moved out on my own because she had bought herself a brand-new one. Needless to say, I was now mixer-less. How the h-e-double-hockey-sticks am I supposed to cream butter and sugar without a machine?

No, the irony of this predicament was not lost on me. Here I was trying to bake a recipe from an Amish cookbook and my damn machine goes kaput, forcing to make the batch of cookies entirely by hand, sans electricity (save, of course, for the baking in the oven part). Yes, somewhere above the clouds, God was laughing at me. Perhaps he was even rolling on the floor.

Despite my little problem, the cookies turned out rather good. They're nowhere near as good as my famous chocolate chip cookies or my super-duper chocolate cookies, but these are an entirely different type of cookie. These have oats, peanut butter, milk chocolate chips, semisweet chocolate chips, and M&Ms. Boo-ya. I tell myself that they're kind of healthy because of the oats and peanut butter. My coworker said that it's okay to eat them because they're like a granola bar. They're nice and soft, with that hearty, oaty texture and plenty of chocolate. Oh, and did I mention that they have peanut butter in them? Because they do. And the combo of peanut butter and chocolate is awesome.

Cookie time!

Monster Cookies
adapted from the Amish Cook's Baking Book


2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp corn syrup
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups M&Ms

Heat oven to 350 degrees F, with the racks at the lower-middle and upper-middle positions.

Cream together the butter and sugars (by hand, if you must). Add the eggs and mix well after each addition. Before mixing in the third egg, add the vanilla, corn syrup, and baking soda. After adding the last egg, add the peanut butter and mix well until combined. Stir in the oats until combined, then stir in the chocolate chips and M&Ms.

Drop the batter onto ungreased cookie sheets using a soup spoon. Form into a somewhat cohesive ball, and keep the cookies 2 inches apart on two baking sheets. Stick the baking sheets on the racks in the oven and bake for a total of 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time.

Remove the pans from the oven when the cookies are golden brown around the edges. Cool on the sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer to wire racks (or your mouth) to cool completely. Enjoy!