Steps 1 and 3 both call for adding baking soda. Does it matter which step or should the 1 tsp of baking soda called for be split and added at both steps?

Garrett: Hey Don, thanks for catching that! Just add it in step 3.

Yum, I love monster cookies! I use Paula Deen's recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_32570,00.html

I'll hitch my wagon to your adult version of these. While I love peanut butter, I'm not a fan of the peanut butter/chocolate combo.

(What's that I hear? Is that the Reese's factory shutting down? Nah...)

Those two "monsters" Matthew and Andrew don't look like they could hurt a fly. They do, however, look like they could do some serious damage to a couple dozen Monster Cookies.

And that look of cookie bliss on Monster Andrew's mug is priceless...

Never thought about the M&M's!!!

That's great!!!

Look at that happy face, this monster cookie sounds sooo delicious!

I printed out the recipe for your beautifully simple Amaretti Cookies and didn't see what the expected yield was. I don't see in this recipe how many cookies to expect to make, either. Am I crazy?

Garrett: The recipe makes about 3 dozen, give or take. =)

The cookies look/sound delicious, but it's the adorable boys that really sell these! Great pictures! :)

I have a recipe for something called Blizzard Cookies that is almost identical to this one except for the "fillings". My recipe is perfect for those days when you just need a good sugar/chocolate fix. 1 cup milk choc. chips + 1 cup white choc. chips go in the batter, then you melt half a cup of dark choc. chip and turn it into the batter to create a marbled effect. The cookies are so chocolatey it's not even funny. I'm gonna hold back on the choc. chips a bit the next time and add some chopped pecans in stead. It sounds yummy!

:)) What a cute pic!!! I love these cookies!

Hi Elise,

I love chunky cookies. I have a friend who makes bakery perfect cookies at home. She loads them with chips, nuts etc. She swears by butter flavored Crisco (GAG) but her cookies always tastes great.

Do you mean to add the baking soda to the wet mixture? In most recipes I have used the baking soda is added to the flour and salt. Then the dry mixture is added to the wet mixture.

When I think I have the time I attempt to bake cookies. Recently I started baking bar cookies. I bake a very easy chocolate chip pie that is more than thick pie shaped cookies or brownies.

Linda

Linda, just add it in before the flour. I have learned that for some chemical reason, adding the baking soda in before the flour always ensures softer cookies. Adding it when sifted with flour creates crunchier cookies. Not sure why. Any chemists out there have an answer?
-Garrett

I may have to make both the kid and adult versions to see which one I like better.
BTW-I'm still gasping from your admission about not loving peanut butter.

Wow, are those kids cute! What a fun photo of him taking a bite of the cookie.

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, BUT, these cookies did not work for me and I followed the recipe exactly. I made the kids version, with peanut butter.

First, the portion of flour is too great. I had a crumbly dough that would not even hold together as well as pie dough. I salvaged things by adding an extra egg.

Second, there is too much butter or peanut butter or both for this recipe. My cookie sheet was greasy with all the fat that cooked out of them during baking.

Anyhow, I suspect my husband will eat them anyhow as he is the type that is of the firm belief that bacon or M & M's makes everything better:)))

Anyhow, this is the first recipe that did not work for me from this site, so I will continue to try recipes in the future.

Hey Jeanette, all issues with the balance of this cookie have now been totally fixed after some more testing. I think that you will now find the recipe to be the PERFECT monster cookie! ~Garrett

I just made a half batch of the adult versions, and they are wonderful! Thanks for the great, easy recipe.

I made a half batch of the kid version last night and they turned out flat and crispy... Please help! I need to experience this cookie as it appears in the photographs!

Kate, I reduced the amount of peanut butter as some are having issues. While I did not have issues with it, make sure that if you are making a half batch, you are only using half the amount of peanut butter shown. The amounts for the kid and adult mix-ins are listed in the recipe for WHOLE BATCHES.

I am thinking these would be ultrafabulous with Reese's Pieces mixed with M&M Mini's instead of regular sized M&M's.

PeanutButterOverload a Go Go!

Thanks for the ideas, the pictures of the children are magnificent.

I will try to make these cookies for my kids, and of course, for me. They seem to be out of this world. Drooling just by reading the recipe.

I just made these and they turned out wonderful! I did cut back on the amount of both sugars used (a habit my mother somehow got me to do!). I made the kid version and used (along with the peanut butter) 1/2 c. mini chocolate chips, 1/4 c. mini reeces pieces, 1/4 c. mini m&m's, and 1/2 c. toffee bits. I don't like having too much 'stuff' in my cookies, but if I were making them to give away I would probably use a little more of each of the mix-ins, just to make them look more fun. Thank you for the yummy cookie recipe! :)

Hey there,
I'm happy about the idea of baking the m&ms into the cookie rather than just dotting them on the top. There's a company here which seems to provide biscuits like this to every cafe in Sydney but the Smarties are on top - so the kids pick off the (stingy) 5 Smarties and then don't eat the biscuit, which is a boring crumble butter not-particularly-nice biscuit anyway. These will get a workout in this house.

I made these for my kids' school office ladies...and I got mean glares from the cafeteria ladies for not making THEM some....so another batch had to be made.
THEY LOVED 'em....
Might make this a new tradition around report card time.
:)

Hello there, has Andrew ever thought making advertising pictures? I would like to know. Beautiful cooking website. Thank you.

I think all that is on Andrew's mind is playing basketball, bugging his older brother, and getting into as much trouble as his mother will allow. ;-) ~Elise