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These Gluten Free Monster Cookies are packed with oats, peanut butter, and chocolate candy bar pieces for a fun twist on the fan-favorite cookie using leftover holiday candy!
While still a sweet treat, these cookies are gluten-free, dairy-free, and made with natural sweeteners for a slightly healthier take on traditional monster cookie recipes.
Gluten Free Monster Cookies Loved By The Whole Family!
If you’ve never had a monster cookie before, allow me to persuade you that you absolutely need to remedy that. Monster cookies are thick and chewy cookies made primarily from peanut butter and oats, often studded with milk chocolate candies (aka M&Ms) and chocolate chips, too.
If you are wondering what makes them so special, you are like me before I tried them. But truly, monster cookies are much greater than the sum of their parts. They are a crazy delicious cookie that is decadent and addicting. And my version? Well, instead of using chocolate chips in the dough, I add chopped-up leftover candy (from Halloween or any that you have hanging around the house) to turn them into candy bar monster cookies!
And if all of that isn’t persuading you, I’m also here to say that my version is just a little bit healthier. I know, I know…they’re still decidedly in the dessert category. However, my recipe doesn’t add any flour to the cookies and uses quite a bit less sugar (in the form of maple syrup) than some of the traditional recipes. So, while we made it just a bit more nutrient-dense, it’s still a ridiculously delicious cookie everyone is going to love.
Ingredients Needed and Substitutions
*Scroll down to the recipe card for the full recipe and ingredient list!
- Coconut Oil: Use refined coconut oil if you don’t love the taste of coconut. Or, you can swap this with equal parts melted butter.
- Maple Syrup: Technically you could use honey in this recipe, but it would result in a strong honey flavor and it would make the cookie brown faster. You cannot swap this out for another sweetener such as regular sugar as the cookie will be too dry.
- Creamy Peanut Butter: Crunchy peanut butter will not mix into the cookies evenly. You can swap this with almond butter or another nut butter if you want, but make sure it is a natural no-sugar-added nut butter. See below for the reasons why.
- Egg: This adds structure, helping the cookies keep their shape. We haven’t tested this recipe with egg substitutes but don’t think they would work.
- Vanilla Extract: Use pure vanilla extract, not imitation varieties!
- Baking Soda: Make sure it’s fresh, or your cookies won’t rise!
- Certified Gluten-Free Oats: Quick-cooking oats are best. I don’t recommend using steel-cut or old-fashioned oats, because the texture of the cookies won’t be the same.
- Candy: Don’t skip the hard-shelled candies! They really make the cookies awesome. Then, add your favorite chopped candy bars, or use chocolate chips instead.
The Best Type of Peanut Butter
The type of peanut butter that you use here is very important. It will affect the final outcome of the cookie. Use a no-sugar-added natural peanut butter that is drippy. This means a peanut butter that you have to stir the oil into when you first open it.
This type of peanut butter is essential for three reasons:
- It ensures the proper amount of fat in the cookie.
- It helps the cookie spread.
- It makes sure the cookie isn’t overly sweet.
If you use a different type of peanut butter other than a no-sugar-added drippy natural peanut butter we can’t promise the same results!
What Oats Do I Buy?
- Organic
- Certified gluten-free (if needed)
- Non-GMO
- Glyphosate-free (probably the most important label to me as oats are a heavily sprayed crop here in the US)
My favorite brand is One Degree Organic Foods!
At the very least, I recommend looking for oats that are glyphosate-free. Glyphosate is a toxic pesticide that can be harmful when ingested. Whether your oats are gluten-free or not is totally up to you.
How to Make Gluten Free Monster Cookies with Leftover Candy
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk the wet ingredients: Add the wet ingredients to a large bowl, and whisk until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients: Gently fold the baking soda, oats, chocolate candies, and candy bars into the batter, distributing them evenly.
- Rest: Let your cookie dough rest at room temperature. This relaxes the gluten, preventing the cookies from becoming tough!
- Portion: Use a cookie dough scoop or a ¼ measuring cup to create equal-sized dough balls, and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Leave a bit of space between each cookie!
- Bake: Transfer the cookies to the oven, and bake until they spread and the tops are set.
- Cool: Let your monster cookies cool on the baking sheet slightly. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Baking Tips
- Reshape the cookies. Because these cookies have different types of chopped candy bars in them, they sometimes bake up in uneven shapes. While this does not at all affect the taste, you can reshape the cookies right after they come out of the oven into a more circular shape. To do this, take a dull knife and gently push the edges of the cookies back into a circle.
- Cool completely. These gluten free monster cookies are super delicate while warm and tend to crumble and fall apart. So, we highly recommend allowing them to cool completely before serving!
- Avoid overbaking. Keep a close eye on your oven, and remove the cookies as soon as they’re lightly golden brown. Remember, they’ll continue to bake slightly as they cool and set!
- Top the cookies. For picture-worthy cookies, stick additional chocolate candies on top of the cookie dough before baking.
FAQs
Most M&Ms are gluten-free, but some varieties are not. So, be sure to double-check the ingredient list before using!
Stored in an airtight container, these cookies will stay fresh at room temperature for up to 3 days, or you can store them in the fridge for up to 5-7 days.
Yes! You can freeze these cookies for up to 2 months. We recommend you bake the cookies before freezing, as the dough doesn’t keep as well in the freezer as the baked cookies do. When ready to eat the frozen cookies simply defrost at room temperature for about an hour.
More Gluten Free Cookie Recipes
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Gluten Free Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 3/4 cup no-added sugar natural drippy peanut butter see note
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups quick cooking oats
- ½ cup hard shelled chocolate candies
- 1/2 cup chopped leftover candy bars or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add coconut oil, maple syrup, peanut butter, egg and vanilla extract to a bowl and whisk together until fully combined. Stir in the baking soda, oats, chocolate candies and chopped candy bars.⅓ cup melted coconut oil, 1/2 cup maple syrup, 3/4 cup no-added sugar natural drippy peanut butter, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 2 cups quick cooking oats, ½ cup hard shelled chocolate candies, 1/2 cup chopped leftover candy bars
- Let the batter sit for 15 minutes at room temperature.
- Scoop the dough into balls about ¼ cup in size and place on a baking sheet about 1-1/2” apart.
- Bake in the preheated oven in the middle rack for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies have spread and the tops are set.
- Remove from the oven, and if desired, while still hot, using a dull knife gently push any misshapen cookies into a circular shape (see note).
- Let the cookies sit on the hot tray for at least 15 minutes, before transferring to a cooling rack to finish setting up. They are very delicate while they are hot.
Notes
- Stored in an airtight container, these cookies will stay fresh at room temperature for up to 3 days, or you can store them in the fridge for up to 5-7 days.
- You can freeze these cookies for up to 2 months. We recommend you bake the cookies before freezing, as the dough doesn’t keep as well in the freezer as the baked cookies do. When ready to eat the frozen cookies simply defrost at room temperature for about an hour.
I made these for Xmas with red and green candies and they were amazing!!!
SO DELICIOUS!!! loved these. Fun and easy too make, too (with toddler!). Doubled the recipe and had TONS! Maybe made a bit smaller than directed but was fine with that 🙂 thanks for yet another great recipe!
I made these today with a few adjustments. I don’t eat egg and didn’t have access to chia or flaxseed at the time so I substituted in mashed bananas to help bind the cookies and added a little plant milk (e.g. almond). As my oats were not quick bake, I milled the oats into oat flour using my Vitamin dry blade (a food processor can do this!). Lastly, as I was trying to avoid eating too much Halloween candy, I put some raw cacao powder into the cookie mix to keep the chocolate flavour without the extra sugar. This will turn your cookie into a brown colour but they’ll still taste AMAZING! I will probably be making these again in the future. Thanks, Lexi!
This recipe is delicious!!! I followed it exactly and used Unreal candies and enjoy life chocolate chips. They tasted just like the monster cookies I used to make that were full of sugar. Cooked for 12 minutes and that was perfect. Thanks Lexi!!
Couldn’t wait to make these and they were super tasty! It was a little tricky to know when they were fully cooked, and I wonder if I over baked them a tad. They were delicious, though, and perfect with a cold glass of milk!