Gluten-free Monster Cookies
A family favorite for years, these gluten-free monster cookies are chewy cookies that are chock full of peanut butter, gluten-free oats, chocolate and M&M’s. This easy, flourless oatmeal peanut butter cookie recipe is one that I love to whip up to have on hand for after school treats!
Gluten-free monster cookies are a staple at our house. I made these cookies for many years before needing to go gluten-free, and they were one of the easiest recipes to switch to gluten-free since they don’t have any flour in them. Just use gluten-free oats and verify that all other ingredients are gluten-free like they should be, and these are easy as can be! Flourless cookies like these and my flourless chocolate cookies are great options for making when you don’t have any gluten-free flour blends on hand.
Why are these called Monster Cookies? Honestly, I have no idea why these have always been called Monster Cookies instead of just gluten-free M&M cookies. Maybe the person that coined that term was making each cookie really huge too? I make mine approximately palm-sized, but you could go bigger or smaller, just adjust baking time a bit!
With whole grain gluten-free oats, and protein from the peanut butter, I feel good about having these for a snack.
I even had a friend bring these to me when I was nursing my baby, recommending them as a great snack to keep my energy and blood sugar up between meals. Seriously, it doesn’t get much better than a friend bringing you delicious flourless oatmeal peanut butter cookies and encouraging you to eat them for your health!
I’ve brought them to new moms, playdates, and just last week, to our small group from church. Kids and adults all love these!
Notes on Ingredients and substitutions for Gluten-free Monster Cookies:
- Butter: If you need dairy-free, you can use Earth Balance buttery sticks, Melt buttery sticks, or I think coconut oil would work just fine, though I haven’t tested that yet since I’m all about the real butter!
- Peanut Butter: I’ve made these with regular Jif or Skippy creamy peanut butter, Jif Natural peanut butter, Skippy Natural peanut butter or Trader Joe’s brand natural peanut butter – all with great results. While I prefer creamy peanut butter, you can also make these with crunchy peanut butter if you want more crunch! If you need to avoid peanut butter, you can a nut butter or SunButter.
- Oats: For the oats, I recommend certified gluten-free oats that are grown using a purity protocol. I use and recommend Bakery on Main gluten-free rolled oats or Bakery on Main gluten-free quick oats. The quick oats are definitely finer, while the rolled oats give a heartier texture. You pick! I’ve tested both with great results. I buy mine from Amazon and have linked to them there.
- Chocolate Chips: Be sure you are using a brand that isn’t manufactured on shared equipment with wheat. I love Guittard brand semi-sweet morsels which I buy at Winco, and for dairy-free I use Enjoy Life semi-sweet mini chips or mega chunks, which I buy at Amazon.
- I only use plain milk chocolate brand name M&Ms which I’ve previously confirmed are free of gluten ingredients and are not made on shared equipment with wheat. Update, just tried with the dark chocolate M&Ms and they’re so good! Always check the ingredients label! If you are wanting to use a generic or another flavor/variety, you’ll need to investigate their safety.
- I’m not aware of a dairy-free equivalent for M&M’s that is not made on shared equipment, so if you need to be dairy-free, I would just skip the M&Ms and use double the chocolate chips.
The recipe makes 3 dozen cookies, so you have plenty to share!
It’s fun to switch these up for the holidays by using holiday colored plain M&M’s too! I’ve used all red and pink for Valentine’s day, or all green and red for Christmas.
For patriotic holidays, I use red, white and blue M&M’s. I brought them to our 4th of July potluck last year like this:
I’ve even been known to use all the orange and blue ones to make these for a Boise State Football party! BOISE!
Looking for more cookie recipes that use peanut butter? Check out my gluten-free double peanut butter cookies – they’re so soft and yummy! If you’re looking for a flourless option like these, then you might like these flourless, sugar-free gluten-free peanut butter cookies. If you’d like a vegan option, try these vegan peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies. So many yummy options!
If you’ve got a favorite cookie that I haven’t shared a recipe for yet, be sure to let me know! Also check out my Pinterest board full of gluten-free cookies!
If you make these and love them, please come back and give this recipe a 5 star rating in the recipe card! Feel free to comment with tips or to share any successful substitutions you made.
Gluten-free Monster Cookies recipe:
Gluten-free Monster Cookies
A family favorite for years, these gluten-free monster cookies are chewy cookies that are chock full of peanut butter, gluten-free oats, chocolate and M&M’s. This easy, flourless oatmeal peanut butter cookie recipe is one that I love to whip up to have on hand for after school treats!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup softened butter, margarine or coconut oil
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cups peanut butter (I prefer using creamy, but you can use crunchy)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 4 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats or instant oats
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup plain M&M's
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream together butter, sugars, peanut butter and eggs until light.
- Add baking soda, vanilla extract, and gluten-free oats and mix on low speed until well mixed.
- Stir in chocolate chips and plain M&M's.
- Use a large cookie scoop to scoop rounded balls of dough and place on lined cookie sheets, leaving space between them for them to spread. I only do 12 per cookie sheet, less if using a smaller sized sheet. I usually flatten them a bit.
- Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until they don't look gooey in the center. These are better slightly under-cooked than overcooked. I recommend baking a test cookie to see how many minutes it will take for your oven.
- Remove from oven and leave on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before moving cookies to wire racks to cool.
Notes
Please see blog post for recommended brands and substitution suggestions.
You are welcome to make these smaller or larger than the size I use. Your baking time will vary depending on size - typically a minute or two shorter baking time for smaller cookies, and about 1-2 minutes longer for larger cookies.
I hope you love these cookies as much as my family does!
I love that this makes a large batch of cookies. I froze three tubes of batter wrapped in wax paper. Once they thaw, I quickly slice and bake to make a quick batch of treats. I bake for 11 minutes in my oven. Excellent recipe!
Made for the first time. Absolutely delicious. Great recipe.
So glad you enjoyed these Rhonda!
Delicious, sweet and chewy, with all my favorites built in.
That’s exactly what these are! Yay! So happy to hear you enjoyed these!
I saw this recipe and I had to make it. When I was a kid M&M cookies with something we made every Christmas. Tis the season and I hadn’t had them in a really long time so I was really excited. I bought the M&Ms without the dyes, I think the brand is Sunspire? I followed the recipe almost exactly but instead of white sugar I use coconut sugar since that’s all I had. I use the fresh ground peanut butter from the grocery store so not exactly crunchy and not exactly creamy. When I got to the point where I was adding the M&M’s and the chocolate chips my 6 quart stand mixer which is still fairly new almost conked out on me. The batter was super stiff. I’ll review the ingredients list and feel very certain that I didn’t make any errors there. Anyway I only was able to add the M&M’s. I didn’t dare add the chocolate chips and risk bringing up the mixer and I’m not into kneading by hand. I proceeded to bake it was a little disappointed that you cannot see the M&M’s at all and I’m just not sure how adding the chocolate chips as well would have made that much of a difference in whether or not you can see the M&Ms so they didn’t have the visual appeal that I was hoping for. They do taste pretty good. I baked 14 minutes and when they are cool they are slightly crispy which is my preference.
These don’t seem to spread out on their own, should I mash them down some before baking? You can tell I’m not a baker..lol
Yes, feel free to push them down some!
Made these Dr my grandson coming over this week. They turned out great. He’s going to love them. Nana loves them too. I appreciate your recipes being so easy to follow.
Fantastic! I added milk and dark chocolate chips and used peanut butter M & Ms because that’s what I had on hand. I also substituted some of the regular peanut butter for honey roasted peanut butter and cut back a bit on the sugar. Used coconut and turbinado sugar. No one knew they were GF and everyone loved them. This recipe will definitely be added to the rotation.
Those look really good. And what a day I’ve had. I could really use a cookie!
These monster cookies are amazing!! My son cannot eat gluten and sometimes it’s hard to find a truly yummy alternative. I love that it’s just oats – no expensive or nutrient-lacking GF substitutes.
YUMMY! Thanks for this simple, delicious recipe!
You’re so welcome! Thanks for the 5 star rating and compliment!So glad your son enjoyed them and you enjoyed the ease of ingredients!
These were amazing! Made me feel like I was eating “real” cookies once again. Now I can indulge in a delicious dessert with friends. Thanks for a great recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these Jen! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and rate these. It is appreciated.
Have you ever tried making these with Coconut Sugar? I, too am trying to lower the sugar level or at least lower the glycemic index number. Thanks!
Stef, I haven’t but these would be a recipe that I think would work with that! Give it a shot!
Made these cookies for a teacher luncheon at my kids school. There are a couple teachers that are gluten free. Everyone commented on how good the cookies were. One of the teachers that is gluten free said it was the best gluten free cookie she has ever had. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Sara, I’m so happy to hear that! That was sweet of you to make them for the teachers and I’m so glad they enjoyed them!
Can you sub maple syrup? Honey? I’m looking for less sugar!
@Sandi, Liquid sugars affect texture and baking times. I am very familiar with the taste and texture of these cookies as I grew up eating them. Using substitutes in a recipe is tricky if you aren’t familiar with the original recipe. I suggest making recipe as stated first. This allows you to compare original recipe and know the intended texture. Research how to substitute honey/maple syrup for sugar amount in baking. I think the taste of maple syrup would compete too much with everything. I think you’ll have to experiment with baking times.
I made with dark chocolate chunks and craisins!! Great switch up !!
I have also used dark chocolate chunks and dried cherries .. the switch came as my dad was not an m$m fan. I have also used half the chocolate and added toasted nuts, keeping the base of the recipe the same! Always a great cookie!!
Those are all great ideas! Thanks for sharing!
Did you really make these with Trader Joe’s Natural Peanut Butter, as in just Peanuts and Salt? I have yet to see a recipe suggesting TRUE natural peanut butter, the kind without the extra oil and added sugar. I only had TJ’s crunchy PB in the house, so I used my husband’s creamy skippy. My girls agree that the cookies are delicious! I’d love to try natural PB next time.
I made this recipe with smuckers natural creamy peanut butter. They were great!
I make these with Kirkland (Costco) organic PB which is only dry roasted peanuts and sea salt. They are amazing! 😉
These were delicious and easy to make. My daughter can’t have eggs so I did a mixed egg replacement. We 1/2’d the recipe so for 1 1/2 eggs we did 1/4 cup of applesauce mixed with 1/4 tsps of baking soda (for 1 egg) and 1 tbs flax meal with 2 tbs warm water as 1/2 egg. We set both aside for about 5 minutes before adding into the mix. Turned out great! We did just a touch more oats since we had so much wet stuff.
“Don’t you make any gross gluten free cookies!”
I have a work potluck tomorrow and I am determined every month to make them something they never would have expected. Now I have been craving gluten free cookies but I prefer to omit flour replacements and find ways to make foods with the least amount of ingredienst.
Now you have saved me! I am making these tonight and plan to surprise everyone at work … again
These were easy to make and delicious. I loved baking before my son was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Its recipes like this that make everyone in our family happy!
I make these cookies all the time. They are delicious! Even my friends who do not have to be gluten free love them!
I love and appreciate how you consider all possible dietary needs, including peanut free, dairy free butter, etc… I can’t wait to try these cookies and many of your other recipes!
Thank you Danielle! I do try! Hope you can try these soon!