These Christmas Monster Cookies are loaded with all the good stuff: chocolate chips, colorful holiday M&Ms, salty pretzels, festive sprinkles, and little bits of marshmallow tucked throughout. They’re chewy, packed with texture, and have the most fun marshmallow pull when you break one open.
The combination of sweet chocolate, salty pretzels, and gooey marshmallow makes these cookies a little different from your usual Christmas cookie. They’re big, colorful, and perfect for adding something playful to your holiday cookie tray.
Butter: At room temperature
Dark brown sugar and granulated sugar: Dark brown sugar adds moisture and a deeper caramel flavor, while granulated sugar helps the cookies spread.
Eggs and egg yolk: The extra yolk adds richness and helps create a chewy texture.
All-purpose flour: Provides the structure needed to hold the oats and generous mix-ins together. Spoon and level when measuring.
Old-fashioned rolled oats: These give monster cookies their signature hearty texture. Use rolled oats rather than instant oats.
Baking soda and baking powder: This combination helps the cookies rise while still allowing them to spread.
Vanilla extract: Adds warmth and rounds out the flavor.
Mini pretzels: Crushed pretzels add a salty crunch that balances the sweetness.
Chocolate chips: Mini semisweet chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips give the cookies a mix of chocolate flavor throughout. I like to roughly chop the dark chocolate chips.
Holiday M&Ms and sprinkles: These add festive color and make the cookies extra fun for the holidays.
Dehydrated marshmallow bits: These are the secret to the gooey marshmallow pull. Use dehydrated bits rather than regular mini marshmallows.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, dark brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined and fluffy.
Mix in the eggs and egg yolk, followed by the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, old-fashioned oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low speed just until combined. Avoid overmixing.
Fold in the M&Ms, crushed pretzels, mini semisweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, dehydrated marshmallow bits, and holiday sprinkles until evenly distributed.
Scoop the dough into 3-tablespoon portions and gently roll into balls. Arrange on the prepared baking sheets, leaving room for the cookies to spread.
Bake until the edges are set and the centers still look slightly soft. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.
Don’t chill the dough. This helps the cookies spread properly. If they do happen to spread too much, you can chill the dough for about 15 minutes.
Use dehydrated marshmallow bits. Regular mini marshmallows have a different moisture content and won’t behave the same way in the oven.
Don’t overbake. The cookies should still look a little soft in the center when you remove them. They’ll continue to set as they cool.
Roll the dough into balls. Scooping and gently rolling the portions helps create more uniform, round cookies.
Save some M&Ms for the tops. For a colorful finish, reserve a few M&Ms and gently press them onto the cookies while they’re still warm.
The tested batch was baked without chilling, so I recommend baking the dough fresh for the most reliable spread. The effects of chilling this particular dough haven’t been tested.
Dehydrated marshmallow bits are recommended because they have a different texture and moisture content than regular mini marshmallows.
Dough temperature, flour measurement, and the balance of dry ingredients can all affect spread. This recipe was tested without chilling the dough, so start there if your cookies turn out too thick.
Once completely cool, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. For the best texture, keep them sealed between servings.
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