Last weekend we went out of town. We didn’t go far, just drove a few hours south to Springfield for our friend’s son’s first birthday party. We actually got to the party late, missing the cake, the singing and most of the festivities. But we were excited to be with our friends anyway. So we helped clean up the party (the most adorable monster-themed party I have ever seen, by the way!), then headed out to dinner.
After eating the best salsa ever and two pitiful tacos that came back to haunt me later that night (yes, I said it), we spent the night crossing our fingers that the tornadoes weren’t headed our way. Then we went to our friends’ church the next morning, stayed for their Sunday school class’s potluck lunch, and hit the road.
Since I have a fancy smartphone now, I was able to check my email all afternoon as Mark drove us home. That’s how I knew that our small group meeting with snacks on Sunday night had been switched to a dinner so our friend Scott could practice smoking ribs. He’s a competitive barbecuer (griller? smoker?!) and Mark loves ribs, so I simply replied with, “Sounds great!”
Everyone else replied with, “What can I bring?”
SIGH. I followed up, assuming better late than never, asking if I could bring something. Because that’s what polite people do. My friend Amanda jumped on my offer and said that if I wanted to try out a new recipe (as I tend to do whenever we get together), I sure could.
Well, I couldn’t very well show up empty-handed after all that, could I? (Plus, I’m always up for a chance to try out a new recipe on my friends!)
We got home just over an hour before we needed to leave again to get to small group. So I flipped open my laptop and searched through my recent pins and bookmarks. I knew there was just a slim chance that I’d find something fitting my criteria: easy, quick, using ingredients found in my house.
But I did it. I had pinned monster cookies from Just a Taste. The recipe said prep time was 15 minutes and cook time was 20 minutes, and I had almost all the ingredients in my pantry. Mark was up for quick trip to the grocery store for M&Ms and chocolate chips, so I pulled out the bowls and got busy.
Monster Cookies
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 tbsp vanilla
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 cup M&Ms
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Preheat your oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugars together, then beat in the eggs, peanut butter, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Stir in the oatmeal and fold in the M&Ms and chocolate chips. Scoop big blobs of dough (feel free to admire my technical terms here) onto a cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. Yields about three dozen huge cookies.
This recipe reminded me of the cookies my cousins made when we were kids. They called them buffalo chips, which sounds gross now that I think about it. And when an old friend asked me to track down the recipe a while back, I was sad to see that it called for both coconuts and nuts. Ick. No offense to my first encounter with monster-sized cookies, but this version with M&Ms and chocolate chips is way better! It was like a no-bake cookie with chocolate.
I don’t mean to go on and on about this, but these cookies were really good. So good that my friend Amanda couldn’t wait for me to send her the recipe. She got on my Pinterest page and tracked it down to make for her family! And, as she and I agreed, with the large amounts of oatmeal in these cookies, they totally qualify as breakfast food.
Do you like nuts or coconut in your cookies? (Or do you prefer all chocolate, all the time like me?)
This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Made by You Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, 33 Shades of Green, Works for Me Wednesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, I’m Lovin’ It, Sweet Tooth Friday, Foodie Friday and Show and Tell Saturday. It will also be linked to Ingredient Spotlight at Eat at Home Cooks.
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Ooo nice, that sounds really good! Proud of you for keeping it together and making it work – even while trying a new recipe!! Way to go!!
Hehe – I may have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off in the process. But yeah…kept it together…mostly. ;)
Those look good! I just made cookies the other day in which I added reese’s pieces, chocolate chips, peanut butter and oatmeal. Definitely yum.
I hate those hand/forehead moments.
Oh my. That sounds awesome. Did you post the recipe on your blog?? :)
Mmm yummy! Stopping by from Tempt my Tummy!
Thanks for sharing. Always happy to find a yummy cookie that doesn’t have flour in it. Will definitely give it a try!
Absolutely! Thanks for stopping by, Jan!
is the oatmeal quick oats? I always seem to use the wrong kind in recipes :) thanks, they look awesome and I can’t wait to make them.
I had to go look! I used regular (not quick) oats. But I’m not sure that was what I was supposed to do!! I don’t know for sure that either would work, though, so I’d go with regular oats. :)
okay thanks
Look great! I will be making these with WheyLow and whatever kind of dark chocolate chips I find…too bad they don’t make Dark Choc. M&M;s … hmmmm…. they will be even healthier…
Cindy, I’ve never seen dark chocolate M&Ms but they do make them. I only know because I bought a big bag of the regular kind yesterday and saw an ad for dark chocolate ones on the back!
Yum Yum!!! I just found your blog on foodie friday. I’ll host a party every month with a different theme and would love you to join! Please visit my blog for more information on “My Sweet Party” post uploaded 2nd of May.
http://www.meandmysweets.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/my-sweet-party-chocolate-cake-love.html
Johanna
These look so amazing! wish my kids weren’t allergic to PB.
Blessings!
Amber @ recipeswelove.net
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