Gluten-Free Monster Cookies
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Our gluten-free monster cookies are fully loaded with goodies! The soft peanut butter cookie dough is packed with chewy oats, colorful M&Ms and plenty of chocolate chips in every bite.
Have you had monster cookies before? Whether this is your first time making them or your 500th time making them, you’re in for a treat! These easy gluten-free peanut butter cookies are loaded with oats, M&Ms and chocolate chips, for a . I LOVE this combination of flavors!
The dough is easy to mix up, doesn’t require a long chill time, and produces soft, chewy cookies with the PERFECT texture. They’re moist, packed with goodies, and so fun for any occasion.
Another thing to love about this easy monster cookie recipe? They start with simple ingredients…
Gather Your Ingredients
These easy monster cookies center around simple pantry staples, plus a few fun mix-ins, so it’s easy to keep the ingredients on hand for cookie cravings! Let’s take a look:
- Gluten-Free Flour. We love and recommend King Arthur Measure For Measure Gluten-Free Flour for these cookies. If you use another 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, be sure it contains xanthan gum! We highly recommend weighing the flour (and other dry ingredients) for the best results, but if you don’t have a kitchen scale, we recommend using the scoop and level method to avoid packing extra flour into the measuring cup.
- Certified Gluten-Free Oats. I love a mix of certified gluten-free rolled oats (sometimes labeled old-fashioned oats) and gluten-free quick oats (sometimes labeled quick-cooking oats).
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda. For the perfect puff & spread.
- Salt. I use kosher salt. If you’re using fine table salt, you may prefer using a pinch less than I suggest.
- Butter. Softened butter is a must!
- Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar. A mix of light brown sugar & white sugar gives our cookies a moist texture & delicious flavor.
- Creamy Peanut Butter. This is a time for traditional smooth peanut butter (like JIF or Skippy), not drippy natural peanut butter. We’ve found natural peanut butter causes the cookies to spread more, and dries the cookies out.
- Eggs & An Egg Yolk. Using two whole eggs + an extra egg yolk gives these cookies a chewy, fudgy texture that’s PERFECT.
- Vanilla. Plenty of vanilla extract. Always.
- Mini M&Ms. I actually prefer using mini m&m candies over regular m&ms because they look better and fill out the cookie dough more uniformly.
- Chocolate Chips & Mini Chocolate Chips. I use regular size chocolate chips in the cookie dough, then love adding some mini chocolate chips on top of the cookies. It looks gorgeous! (I recommend semi sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips for the best cookies!)
Ingredient Check: Are M&Ms Gluten-Free?
Many varieties of m&m candies ARE gluten-free, including milk chocolate m&ms, dark chocolate m&ms, peanut butter m&ms, peanut m&ms. Check out all the flavors of gluten-free M&Ms here!
How To Make Gluten-Free Monster Cookies, Step By Step
As always, you can find the full recipe with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below!
- Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine gluten-free flour, gluten-free oats, quick cooking oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine until evenly blended and fluffy. Set aside.
- Cream Butter & Sugar. In a stand mixer (or large bowl), combine softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed 2-3 minutes with the paddle attachment (or a handheld electric mixer) until the mixture is light, fluffy, and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Build The Dough. Mix in the peanut butter until fully incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time, followed by the egg yolk, and the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix until just a few dry patches remain.
- Add Mix-Ins. Then, add 1 1/4 cups mini M&Ms, and 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips to the dough. Stir the mix-ins in by hand with a spatula (so you don’t break the M&Ms), until the dough is well blended and the goodies are well distributed.
- Chill 30 Minutes. Cover the dough and chill 30 minutes in the refrigerator while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat & Prep. While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. (This way, you can alternate the baking sheet with each batch so you don’t put cool dough on a hot baking sheet.)
- Scoop & Roll. Working just 6 cookies at a time, use a large cookie scoop to measure 3-Tablespoon balls of cookie dough. Roll the dough balls smooth between your palms and place 6 cookie dough balls on a prepared baking sheet. (Return the rest of the dough to the fridge in between batches)
- Bake Cookies. Bake cookies just 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies look just set. They won’t brown much, and the centers should still be a touch soft/underdone. The cookies will continue to bake and set on the cookie sheet. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, top each cookie with some of the extra mini M&Ms and the mini chocolate chips. Let the cookies cool 4-5 min on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Repeat this process, alternating baking sheets with each batch.
- Serve & Store. Enjoy once the cookies have cooled. Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature 1-2 days, or freeze up to 2 months.
Cookie Baking Tips to Help You
Now that you know how to make our gluten-free monster cookie recipe, let’s take it up a notch by refining your technique!
Holiday Twists & Variations
Now that you know how to make classic Monster cookies, let’s talk about fun twists! Here are a few variations to try when you’re craving something different:
- Halloween. For gluten-free Halloween monster cookies, try adding eyeball sprinkles after the cookies come out of the oven! It gives these delicious cookies a fun Monster look that’s perfect during spooky season!
- Christmas. For Christmas monster cookies, use red & green m&m candies. They add a fun, festive touch!
- Extra Peanut Butter Flavor. If you’re a peanut butter mega-fan, try adding peanut butter chips for all or some of the semisweet chocolate chips and using Reese’s pieces instead of m&ms. (It’s almost as peanut butter packed as our Reese’s Cookies!)
FAQ + Tricks For The Best Gluten-Free Monster Cookies
Don’t Over-Bake! One secret to moist monster cookies is NOT over-baking. I recommend pulling the cookies out when they look set on the top, but they’re still a tiny bit underdone in the centers. They’ll continue to cook as they cool, and they’ll set perfectly if you slightly under-bake them.
Use A Cookie Scoop! We love this large cookie scoop for measuring perfectly even scoops of cookie dough. It’s also great for measuring meatballs, portioning muffin batter, and more. You’ll definitely get plenty of use out of it!
Don’t Use Natural Peanut Butter. One more time, in case you missed it. Natural peanut butter is my favorite for toast, sandwiches and energy bites, but it will cause your cookies to spread too much and will dry them out. Use a conventional peanut butter, like JIF or Skippy for these gluten-free monster cookies!
Can I Make These Dairy-Free? If you need gluten-free dairy-free monster cookies, you can use vegan butter and dairy-free chocolate chips. Then, swap out the M&Ms for dairy-free chocolate candies, like Choco No Nos, YumEarth ChocoYums, UnReal Chocolate Gems, etc.
🌟 Did You Make This Recipe?
Tell me all about it! Leave a star rating below when you try our Gluten-Free Monster Cookies recipe. I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Gluten-Free Monster Cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cup gluten-free measure-for-measure flour* (210 grams)
- 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats*
- ½ cup gluten-free quick oats*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, softened (226 grams)
- 1 ¼ cup light brown sugar (250 grams)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (66 grams)
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter*
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Mix-Ins & Toppings:
- 1 ¼ cups mini M&Ms for the cookie dough
- 1 ¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips for the cookie dough
- ¼ cup mini M&Ms for topping the cookies
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips for topping the cookies
Instructions
- Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine gluten-free flour, gluten-free oats, quick oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine until evenly blended and fluffy. Set aside.
- Cream Butter & Sugar. In a stand mixer (or large mixing bowl), combine softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed 2-3 minutes with the paddle attachment (or a handheld electric mixer) until the mixture is light, fluffy, and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Build The Dough. Mix in the peanut butter until fully incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time, followed by the egg yolk, and the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the dry ingredients, and mix until just a few dry patches remain.
- Add Mix-Ins. Then, add 1 1/4 cups mini M&Ms, and 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips to the dough. Stir the mix-ins in by hand with a spatula (so you don’t break the M&Ms), until the dough is well blended and the goodies are well distributed.
- Chill 30 Minutes. Cover the dough and chill 30 minutes in the refrigerator while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat & Prep. While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. (This way, you can alternate the baking sheet with each batch so you don’t put cool dough on a hot baking sheet.)
- Scoop & Roll. Working just 6 cookies at a time, use a large cookie scoop to measure 3-Tablespoon balls of cookie dough. Roll the dough balls smooth between your palms and place 6 cookie dough balls on a prepared baking sheet. (Return the rest of the dough to the fridge in between batches)
- Bake Cookies. Bake cookies just 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies look just set. They won’t brown much, and the centers should still be a touch soft/underdone. The cookies will continue to bake and set on the cookie sheet. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, top each cookie with some of the extra mini M&Ms and the mini chocolate chips. Let the cookies cool 4-5 min on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Repeat this process, alternating baking sheets with each batch.
- Serve & Store. Enjoy once the cookies have cooled. Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature 1-2 days, or freeze up to 2 months.
Notes
- Gluten-Free Flour. We love and recommend King Arthur Measure For Measure Gluten-Free Flour for these cookies. If you use another 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, be sure it contains xanthan gum! We highly recommend weighing the flour (and other dry ingredients) for the best results, but if you don’t have a kitchen scale, we recommend using the scoop and level method to avoid packing too much flour into the measuring cup.
- Peanut Butter. Do NOT use natural peanut butter for these cookies, or they’ll spread too much & dry out faster. Use a traditional peanut butter spread, like JIF or Skippy.
- Oats. If needed, you can use all rolled oats or all quick oats for these cookies. I just love the texture you get from using a mix!
- Toppings: I love the look of mini m&ms and mini chocolate chips on top of the cookies. You can use traditional M&Ms and chocolate chips, though your cookies will look different from mine.
Video
Find the recipe:
sweetsandthankyou.com/gluten-free-monster-cookies/
These cookies are amazing!
These cookies are so good! I used SunButter in place of peanut butter and had to use Unreal brand candy gems instead of M&Ms. They turned out fabulous. I cooked them for 11 minutes and they were perfect for my preference. Thank you for the great recipe.
So good to know they work well with sunbutter! Thanks so much for sharing your tips Susan. I appreciate you!