almond monster cookies
Times like these call for recipes without flour. I know that a lot of people haven’t been able to get their hands on flour, yeast, bread… you name it. But everyone is feeling really ‘chef-fy’ lately. Luckily, there are lots of recipes that are naturally free of flour.
I don’t know about you, but I freaking love M&M cookies. There’s something about the crunchiness when you bite into one that you don’t get with regular CCC’s that is so dope. Add a few chopped nuts, and that’s a cookie.
Something that has been popping up on my Instagram feed lately is monster cookies. Typically made with peanut butter, oats, M&Ms, and chocolate chips, there are some variances in recipes. Some call for flour, or raisins, or butterscotch chips, but I figured it would be good to stick with a simple version.
I decided to switch up a couple of things. Since I’m allergic, I swapped out the classic peanut butter with almond butter. I was pleasantly (un)surprised with the complexity the almond butter added to the flavor of the cookie. Combined with the candy pieces, heaven! You can use PB if that’s all you have or if you prefer it, but I love almond butter. You could probably use a seed butter if you can’t do nuts, but I haven’t tried it myself.
I also decided to use only M&Ms instead of the candy/chocolate chip combo. I just love M&Ms too much to not take advantage of using as many as possible here. If you don’t have M&Ms, you can definitely go ahead and use chips instead. Like I said, whatever you have, use it.
almond monster cookies
yield: 12 cookies, about 4 inches across
3 Tb softened butter
½ cup almond butter
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups rolled oats (old fashioned)
¼ cup slivered or sliced almonds (optional)
¾ cup M&Ms
In a stand mixer, add the butter, almond butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Cream together on medium low speed for 3-4 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the baking soda and salt and mix for one minute. Add egg and mix well, about one minute, scraping bowl down afterward. Add vanilla and mix until combined. Add rolled oats and combine thoroughly. Remove bowl from the mixer and add the M&Ms. (You don’t want to mix in the candies with the paddle attachment; they will get crushed at the bottom of the bowl.) Mix by hand until candies are evenly dispersed. Use that elbow grease! Cover bowl and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or longer. At this point, you could scoop the dough and place into a zip lock bag straight into the freezer. Bake cookies straight out of the freezer as needed, adding 2-3 minutes onto the total bake time.
When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350. Remove the bowl from the fridge. Using a #24 cookie scoop (2 2/3 Tb, 2 inch scoop, 50 grams), portion out 12 balls of dough onto a nonstick or parchment lined sheet tray. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until the edges begin to brown nicely and cookies are still gooey looking and puffy in the center. I like my cookies just a little underdone so be sure to check earlier rather than later until they’re done to your preference! Remove the pan from the oven and let cookies cool on the pan, about 5 minutes, before removing (if you can wait that long). You want them to set up a bit, so be sure not to take them off right away. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
