Dorothy Dean presents: It’s a safe bet Cookie Monster would devour these monster cookies

The first time I heard of monster cookies was about 5 years ago after my husband returned from a hockey road trip in Canada.

He came home raving about some cookies that a friend’s dad had made and brought to the rink where they were playing. He said they were called monster cookies and was trying to tell me the ingredients so I could make them.

He was all over the map guessing, so I simply googled “monster cookies” to figure them out myself. So many recipes and versions popped up, and I didn’t know which to try.

The basic ingredients are peanut butter, oats, chocolate chips and candy-coated chocolates. Some recipes used creamy peanut butter, some chunky. And some included flour, while others didn’t.

He taste-tested a few recipes I tried, but none compared to the OG batch he had in Canada. Then, finally, I found a recipe that created the monster cookie his taste buds were craving. The poor batch didn’t last two days with him circling the cookie jar like a rabid shark.

It was this flourless version that had the magical combination and amounts of ingredients: eggs, brown and white sugar, butter, baking soda, vanilla, corn syrup, oats, smooth peanut butter, chocolate chips and candy-coated chocolate.

And he loves shredded coconut, so I threw that into the mix, too.

Now I don’t know if they’re called monster cookies because of their ingredients or size. But a ⅓ cup is used to measure out the cookie balls for this recipe, so they’re pretty big. And the balls are chilled before they’re baked to keep them from spreading.

The cookies have a chewy, yet crisp texture and a perfect balance of peanut butter and chocolate flavor. They’re addictively delicious (no wonder why he was craving them).

Try them dunked in milk or sandwiched around ice cream.

Monster Cookies

Adapted from allrecipes.com.

3 eggs

1 ½ cups packed brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon corn syrup

1 ½ cups peanut butter

3 ½ cups rolled oats

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup candy-coated milk chocolate pieces

In a large bowl, beat the eggs.

Add in the remaining ingredients in order, from the brown sugar to the coconut, mixing well between each addition. Then fold in the chocolate chips and candy pieces.

Using a ⅓ cup, measure out the dough and form into cookie balls.

Put the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and place it into a refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes, or cover and chill until needed.

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees and bake for 13 minutes, or until golden brown around the bottom edges. And if you’re questioning if they’re done, know they retain heat and will continue to cook through.

Remove from the oven and let cool directly on the baking sheet, at least 5 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Audrey Alfaro can be reached at spoonandswallow@yahoo.com.