Every once in awhile I run into a dessert that I simply HAVE to try making. These cookies are that dessert. Recently, my husband and I were invited to be a part of a good friend’s wedding in Georgia. At the rehearsal, the groom’s mom handed out little bags filled with these cookies… and the rest is history. I’ve had monster cookies before… but I’ve never had ones that tasted this good! Thick and full of oats- kind of like the oatmeal no-bake cookies… but better. Seriously– you need to try them!
So I got the recipe from Debbie Howard, mom of my recently married friend Josh. It was a really old recipe in one of those church cookbooks where everyone submits recipes. It had alterations scribbled all over the recipe, so it took me three tries, but I finally perfected the recipe. You need to make these exactly as instructed though- or they won’t work as well- and believe me- when they work….? Epic. Cookies.
My biggest mistake was not refrigerating the dough before scooping them out- and they flattened into thin crispy puddles 
You need to refrigerate- so give yourself at least 2 hours extra time for that. Otherwise, they are fairly easy cookies and worth every bit of effort!! Want the recipe? Here you go! (printable recipe)
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 stick of butter (softened to room temperature)
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cups of extra crunchy peanut butter
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 5 cups oatmeal (old-fashioned kind- not instant!)
- ½ cup M&Ms
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 1 tsp vanilla
DIRECTIONS:
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars together and add eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
- Add peanut butter and beat together until well combined.
- In a separate large bowl, toss salt, baking soda, oats, pecans, M&Ms and chocolate chips together.
- Add bowl of dry ingredients to wet and mix well.
- Cover and refrigerate for about two hours (you must do this, or the cookies will spread thin and crunchy when baked). Dough should be just hard enough to still scoop, so test the time a bit, as refrigerators vary in temperature.
- Preheat oven to 365F degrees.
- Use a large cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to place cookie dough on a parchment paper- covered cookie sheet. Roll them smooth with your hands and then flatten them a little bit before baking. Leave room between cookies to allow them to spread a little.
- Bake at 365F degrees for 10-12 minutes. They should be just turning brown on top when you remove them.
- Slide cookies off sheet, still on parchment paper, and allow them to cool on counter- they will seem fragile until they cool and harden up.
- Enjoy!
My thoughts: Well, I already said this once, but these are really delicious cookies. They are thick and chewy and so peanut-buttery! Store them in an air-tight container and they keep for a long time (we are still eating ours a week later!) Enjoy! ~r
We have other epic cookies here- click on a photo to see the recipe!
EASYBAKED 