Healthy Monster Cookies
We’ve got some major drama going on around here.
If ever a child didn’t need a whole week devoted to expressing emotion, jazz hands and voice projection, it’s Gigi. She’s got those skills down.
So there was very little surprise and very lotta squeals of joy when she proudly announced Monday that she got the role of “Marie” in the camp’s production of The Aristocats.
Do you know the song “Scales and Arpeggios?”
Every truly cultured music student knows.
I assure you, Gigi does. As do I, Lulu, Daddy and our neighbors on all sides.
I saw six different cats in our yard this morning alone.
Oh dear.
What the girls weren’t so familiar with was a role in the first act that isn’t in the Disney version: the maids.
“What’s a maid?” Lulu scrunched up her nose like the word was something very, very bad. Poor misguided child.
“It’s someone that cleans your house all the time!” I explained.
“Yeah!” our Gigi chimed in, “Wouldn’t that be cool?”
“Oh, yes!” I agreed.
Gigi continued, “And you know what would be really cool?”
“If they could cook for us all the time too!”
Ouch.
That especially hurts on the eve of my turn at providing snacks for camp.
Let’s see your maid make these cookies, my little Aristocat.
They’re doughy, sweet but not too sweet, peanut buttery and studded with chocolate chips and candies.
In other words, they’re purrrrrfect.
Healthy Monster Cookies
Makes at least 36 large cookies
- 1 c. natural peanut butter (or nut or seed butter of your choice)
- 1/4 c. organic butter or vegan margarine (i.e. Earth Balance)
- 3 organic or flax eggs (3 T. ground flax + 1/2 c. +1 T. water, whisked and allowed to sit until thickened)
- 1/2 c. non-dairy or organic milk
- 1 1/2 c. stevia baking blend or sucanat
- 1 T. vanilla
- 2 c. oat flour (or old-fashioned oats, finely ground)
- 1 c. old fashioned oats
- 1 1/2 t. baking soda
- 3/4 t. sea salt
- 1 c. chocolate chips
- 1/2 c. chocolate candies (i.e. Sunspire Sundrops)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Using an electric or stand mixer, cream together peanut butter, butter, eggs, milk and sweetener of your choice, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine oat flour, oats, baking soda and salt.
Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until well combined.
Fold in chocolate chips and candies.
Scoop dough out by heaping spoonful and place on a lightly greased or Silpat lined baking sheet.
Bake for 14-17 minutes, until cookies are set and lightly browned. Allow to cool for one minute before transferring to a cooling rack.
(Hint: Make a double batch now and freeze for school lunches!)
I’ve been seeing monster cookies all over Pinterest lately. Must make ASAP! Wish I had these for camp back in the day.
Or a maid. Either way.
My mom used to make cookies like these all the time when I was little! She used m and m’s and I loved how the colors would kind of make the cookies look like they were rainbow tie-died!!
We used to always take these camping too. I think every kiddo has Monster Cookie memories.
Made with oats and oat flour…..I love it! This would be a great snack for the kiddos after the first day of school. Thanks!
Yes! I’ve got to start gearing my mind towards that school year feeding frenzy between lunches and snacks. Hope these fit the bill!
Oh dear goodness. These cookies…. yumm-o. I’m itching for something sweet now. Thanks oh so much.
These look delicious ! Can’t wait to make them!
Do mi so do, do mi so do…thanks for getting that in my head! These cookies look delish. Are they husband-friendly?
You just made my night by “singing” that. And my husband ate two BEFORE dinner…
Do you think coconut butter might work in place of the vegan margarine or butter? I’m so jealous you can make these for your daughters camp – everything at my sons daycare has to be nut free!
We couldn’t have red food dye or kiwi? No problem! Yes, you could use coconut oil or even a vegetable oil (if you’re okay with that) for the butter/margarine.
Ditto! Tree nuts and peanuts are absolutely forbidden at schools/community centres/day cares/etc. here in Toronto. It makes baking for bake sales, etc. *very* boring! I’m hugely envious, MamaPea, that you are free from such restrictions.
Would sunflower seed butter work? That’d be a great sub (although it does turn baked goods green…)
Yum!!!!!!! Okay…. If I don’t have the stevia or sucanat – would I just use brown sugar? Same amount? Am I taking away from them being healthy then? Haha! Thank you!
Yes, yes, and yes.
I would actually do maybe 1/2 c. brown sugar, 3/4 c. sugar.
Ive seen so many monster cookies, monster dips, monster-layered brownies and although I love a good gluttoney monster dip, it’s awesome to see you make these a little bit healthier. You know, so I can have an extra one or two
sigh. i wish i had a maid that cooked for me. i guess i’ll just have to do for now – with a handful of monster cookies at my side!
I love monster cookies. They’re my absolute favorite. Now I have an excuse to eat even more since these are healthy
awww I’m so happy for Gigi getting the role! She seems like such a precious lil gem full of life, zest, and spunk! Although, I think Lulu might be spunkier
oh, these would also be purrrrrfect with reeses pieces to make it even more buttery~mmmm!!
1. Addy will love you forever for the GF treat!
2. Bring me one or you’re dead to me.
3. Kidding, kidding!…sort of.
Bahahaha!
I will pack a few away for you and the kiddos. “Marie” informed me that they weren’t allowed to bring cookies and I had to run to the store for fruit leathers and string cheese tonight. Ugh.
But you shall get your share.
WHAT? Lame. Poor little kitties.
Every truly cultures student knows,
You must learn your scales and your arpeggioooooooooooooooooos….
This looks great! Yum! HRH might even be fooled into eating them (if not, oh well, more for me!)
Great camp snack. Maybe their mouths will be too full to sing
I tell you what, if I had a maid I would ask them (very politely) to make these
This is such a fabulous recipe! They would be easy to add raisins to instead to skip the chocolate, although, who would ever want to do that.
Thanks girl!
Not me!
This entire post is all kinds of awesome. Way to go Gigi!!! It must be exciting for you, as a mom, to see her pursuing something that is just so “her” at such a young age. I totally know we’ll see her on the red carpet someday. I’ll be like, “I read her mom’s blog!”
These cookies are all kinds of awesome too. TJ opens in 1/2 hour in my building’s lobby (yes, I love rubbing that in…) so I can run down and get peanut butter so I can make these! Sweet!
I just want to encourage her to do everything she wants, and this summer has really been about letting them try and do all sorts of things. I don’t want to hold them back…even if it means taking Lulu to a karate class. Oh yes, that’s happening.
Oooo, this is a great opportunity to get your floor cleaned by hand…wax on, wax off MP…wax on, wax off….
These sound delicious! And I’m sure you can get pretty creative with the add-in’s.
Yup, raisins and nuts would be great too!
My sisters and I loved Aristocrats and watched it waaaaaaay too many times growing up!! Cookies, however, you can never have to many of!!!!
Guess what we are watching for movie night tonight?
Perfect for lunch boxes! They look really delicious!
These look similar to your healthy chocolate chip protein cookies (which are AWESOME). Can these monster cookies e made with some protein powder? Can some of the oat flour e replaced with chia meal?
Thanks!!!
I haven’t tried either sub, but I don’t see why not! I’d sub both in for maybe half of the oat flour? And yes, I modified these from that recipe…nice spot!
These make the chocolate chip cookies I made look so boring…and I couldn’t be happier about that! And congrats to Gigi on her theatrical debut
Thanks, Joy!
Ahaha oooh Gigi!! I literally laughed out loud, and I hate typing LOL and I never really LOL while at the computer, but I totally did.
Also, I’d like a cookie. I’m probably going to make them today…you always know how to create recipes with ingredients that I already have on hand and I love you for that. And for a lot of other reasons, too.
Do me soh me do me soh me fa la so it goes! Practicing your scales and your arpeggios!
I know pretty much every single Disney song by heart.
I think you should write a Disney movie about cookies. Mmm, cookies.
I didn’t mention this post to my daughter this morning! For fear of having to watch the Aristocats for the umpteenth time.
The cookies look delicious too!
My girls (now 16 and 19) loved The Aristocats (but they thought it was called The Rest of the Cats and I never wanted to correct them)! One year my older daughter was 5 or 6 and she dressed as Marie for Halloween (we purchased the official costume and everything). Apparently, not many people know who Marie is because everyone would ooh and aah over the little sister (dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz) and then glance at the big sister and say things like, “Oh, and a bunny?”
Fun/funny memories. Enjoy your girls at this stage. They really do grow up fast!
The Rest of Cats. That is priceless.
I love regular monster cookies, so I’m going to have to try these for a healthier treat!
These look delicious! And good luck to Gigi in her play – she sounds just like me when I was little:) The aristocats was always a favourite Disney Movie of mine, too, wish I could see it!:)
congrats to Gigi! how exciting! and the cast is going to love those cookies! monster cookies ROCK!
I want to take these cookies out of my laptop and eat them as I can’t do this so will wait till the weekend and will try them at home my kids are going to love it.
Hope you all love ‘em!
I’ve never seen Aristocats, but I’m not sure why, since I love cats! Congrats, Gigi! Also, I never knew about Sundrops. I love M&M’s but don’t eat them much cause of the artificial coloring. This is good news!
Yes, food coloring (specifically red dye) was on the banned from camp list, so I had to hunt these down! They taste great, though.
I’ve been on a huge cookie kick lately and none of my attempts have turned out lately! This recipe may just be the winner to satisfy my cookie cravings
Hope I don’t fail you!
These cookies are looking mighty tasty I must say! Think this may be on the list for this weekend, most likely will try and sub in coconut oil for the earth balance
Yum! These cookies look absolutely delicious. And I want a maid. And a cook.
These cooking look pretty fantastic! I might try making them with those chocolate-covered sunflower seeds they sell at Trader Joe’s.
*cookies. Food blogger typo.
Never had monster cookies, but these sound fantastic. Maybe the maid will have a cookoff?
I made these tonight with coconut butter instead of Earth Balance. Used the same measurements and they turned out delish! Thank you!
Wonderful! Thanks for providing the modifications with your feedback!
When you tell it to print the recipe, the “Preheat” step doesn’t print. Thought you might like to know!! I have a batch of them in the oven right now, and look forward to eating them! The batter tastes good!! I have to tell you that you’re my new favorite cooking blog (and cookbook of course… the library copy I have has a few new stains on it!). Although we’re not vegan or vegetarian at all, you are helping me to make the switch a few habits at a time. Thanks!
Thanks, Lynn…I’ll fix the recipe. I guess I just got ahead of myself. Hope you love the cookies and are having a fabulous weekend. Thanks for all the love!
Yum! These are in the oven right now! Just so you know, when I hit print this recipe it didn’t say what temperature to bake at- but I found it in the original post
I will fix it, thanks Kim! Enjoy the cookies!
I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately….but baking always cheers me up. Especially baking your recipes. Making these is officially added to today’s to-do list.
Hugs, sweetie. Hope these help do the trick.
PS thanks, they were delicious!
<3
Those cookies are amazing, I made one batch and they got eaten so quickly I had to make more. Got friends over at the weekend and these cookies will be making an appearance, even if it is only for a few minutes until they are gone.
Excellent! Glad you enjoyed them, Sophie!
My mom used to make these all the time! And now that there is a healthy version I think I’m going to be revisiting my childhood real soon! Thanks!
Hi MamaPea and readers!
I made these cookies the other day and managed to get a few in the oven before eating all of the dough… They were delicious! Soft and chewy and peanut-buttery, but quite different from your pics. I made a few substitutes according to what I had in the pantry, and found I still needed to add a bit more bulk because the dough was quite wet. Here are my substitutions, and I would love some advice from you or your readers on why they might have turned out the way they did (delicious) because I am just curious.
1. I have a crappy oven that may or may not be accurate.
2. I used regular milk (it’s lite here in Australia, and equivalent to 1% in the States I think)
3. Used a mix of brown sugar and low gi sugar instead of stevia
4. Used regular butter (about 50grams)
5. Measured my oat flour in the food processor after blending from oats
6. Used about 1.5 cups of oat flour and .5 cup of wholemeal flour
7. Mixture of mini M & Ms and chocolate chips
After these substitutions, I added about another 1/2C regular oats and about 1/4C more of flour, which really helped thicken it. Any “baking-as-a-form-of-chemistry” geeks out there who care to chime in?
Regardless, I will be baking these again soon, and may even eat less of the dough this time! (Sorry, was this post too long?) ; )
My dough was also really wet and I needed to add about 1 cup more of oats. They are delicious!
Welllll of course these look AWESOME. I continue to be amazed at the wonderful things avail vegan style. THANKS!
Remind me when i get home from the jungle in early October this is one of the first things i need to make? Well, after i pump myself full of fruit since it’s been extremely scarce since i left…omg if i could have fruit right now…
Just made these and they are AWESOME! My daughter says they are the best ever! I subbed white and brown sugar, and couldnt find the candy pieces so I used a mixture of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips, Aaand, I didnt have oat flour so I used half white and half almond flour. All that and it didnt even mess them up! I had to force myself to quit eating the batter.
I cant tell you how excited I am to learn about these chocolates!! I have a 9mo old girl and am already trying to figure out ways to get around artificial colors and flavors without her feeling weird (aka not like the other kids). Thanks a bunch!
Thank you sooo much for this recipe. I was getting prepared to make these for the first day of school for my kids and googled Monster cookie recipes, oh my I got one with 2 sticks of butter one that used a whole jar of peanut butter. Not the kind of welcome home cookie I was planning on. Then I was wondering if I substituted whole wheat flour for the oat flour would that work and raisins for the chocolate chips? I have one that loves Oatmeal Raisin and one that likes MM cookies so this would be the best of both worlds. Thank you again for a recipe that I can be happy about making for my family.
Excellent! So glad you all enjoyed.
I’ve made these cookies five times and they’re so delicious. Addictive, even. But I have a problem I’m hoping you can help me with. I’m a breastfeeding mama with a baby that can’t tolerate dairy and eggs, not vegan. So this recipe was great but I changed it a little by using real sugar and rice milk since I can’t use any dairy. My cookies come out of the oven like warm, gooey, flat sheets that I have to peel up. (Which I gladly do since eating them ant-eater style is tempting but not in line with my southern upbringing.) They aren’t fluffy, chunky balls of cookie like yours. I tried increasing the oat flour but all I get is a heavier flat cookie. What do you think could be going wrong?