Monster Cookies

After a wildly successful fundraising campaign ($2,500+ to the Komen Breast Cancer Foundation!) my friend Lauren packed her bags and trekked westward. The agenda for her trip? Get a taste for The Oregon Life (see photos) and to run a half marathon. 

The Oregon Life:

.::The End::. 

I have this thing I do. When people come to town, I bake for them. Lauren's ingredient request? Peanut butter. As you may have noticed, I'm not the biggest fan of peanut butter in my sweets (I guess you could say I'm a purist), as I've featured it on this blog...well...never.

My challenge: bake with peanut butter. Be basically healthy (13.1 is no joke). Be delicious.

This has all the intentions of a trek bar or trail mix. So by value of the transitive property, this is basically healthy. Basically. You've got your peanut butter. You've got your oats. And you've got your M&Ms. The picture of health.

The secret ingredient for outrageous monster cookies is actually an the omission of a key ingredient. Flour. That's right. Don't bother with that mess. You're lookin' at flourless cookies. And the combination of the peanut butter and butter and oats make these delightfully chewy.

Monster Cookies

adapted from the kitchn

Ingredients:

1/2 c. (1 stick or 1/4 lb.) unsalted butter, softened

1+1/2 c. creamy or crunchy peanut butter (I used crunchy)

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

3 eggs, at room temperature 

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. corn syrup

2 tsp. baking soda

4+1/2 c. old fashioned oats (make sure they're not quick cooking!)

1 c.+ M&Ms (or other chocolate candies)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, peanut butter, and both sugars at medium speed until well-combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Then add the vanilla, corn syrup, and baking soda.

(This is the part where it starts to feel weird that there isn't any flour in here. Fear not. The oats will create a nice base and consistency for you.)

Slowly add in the oats and M&Ms, mixing until incorporated.

Drop the dough onto a cookie sheet and shape and slightly flatten. I used a 2 oz scoop - my cookies were BIG! The way God intended.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. You can tell they are done when the edges are firm and the cookies are slightly golden.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet until they have firmed up enough to transfer to a wire rack.

Eat one. Eat two. Hey, go for the third. Then go run a half marathon. Why not? It's for the ta-tas.