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Healthier Monster Cookies

January 8, 2016 by becky 55 Comments

A soft and delicious healthier Monster Cookie made with peanut butter, oats, mini chocolate chips and topped with colorful mini M&M’s. There’s no butter, oil or flour in these cookies!

Healthier Monster Cookies

There’s nothing I love more than a good cookie! You all might know that my absolute favorite cookie is a good chocolate chip cookie. My kids love cookies too and so I was thinking about how I should come up with a healthier cookie option both my kids and I would enjoy. I adapted my favorite healthier peanut butter cookie and changed a few things such as adding M&M’s since my kids LOVE M&M’s!

I was thrilled how pretty they turned out and even more excited when my kids really enjoyed them! They didn’t even notice at all that these are much healthier than regular Monster Cookies. No butter, no oil and no flour! Not much sugar added but still perfectly sweet with the addition of a touch of honey.

We just moved and my son had his first day of school on Monday. I was more nervous than him hoping he would like it since he was so happy at his old school. After school, I had these cookie waiting for him and he was so happy! And btw he is enjoying his new school. Thank goodness!

Healthier Monster Cookies

I love how quick these cookies are to make! It’s a one-bowl recipe! Just mix together your ingredients, scoop, and bake! Let cool then enjoy one of the best cookies ever! These cookies are awesome and I know you will love it!

My kids always get excited when I make this cookie recipe. They are big fans of M&M’s. The vibrant colors really make these cookies pretty and tasty looking! And I love that I know they are eating a healthier dessert recipe.

Healthier Monster Cookies

Enjoy!

You might also like:

Healthy No-Bake Cookies

Dark Chocolate M&M Cookies

Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Zucchini-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

No-Bake Healthy Breakfast Cookies

Reese’s Pieces Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

Yield: 16 cookies

Healthier Monster Cookies

Healthier Monster Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • ΒΌ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
  • Β½ cup + 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats (or quick oats)
  • β…› teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • Β½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup mini M&M's

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a medium-sized bowl (I used my stand mixer) stir together the peanut butter, honey, and brown sugar. Do not warm up the peanut butter or the honey.
  3. Add the oats, salt, baking soda, and vanilla extract. Stir well.
  4. In a separate bowl lightly beat the egg and then add it to the mixture.
  5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  6. Use a cookie scoop to scoop out the dough. Press the dough very tightly in the cookie scoop to form the balls if using your hands squeeze the mixture tightly into a ball so it doesn’t crumble.
  7. Form the balls onto a cookie sheet, press down slightly, top with the M&M's and more mini chocolate chips if desired and bake for 7-8 minutes.
  8. Watch the cookies closely and remove when the bottom barely starts to brown even if they don't look completely done (they cook more as they cool).
  9. Remove and allow to cool completely.
© Becky
Adapted from Chelsea’s Messy Apron

**PIN IT!**

Healthier Monster Cookies

Filed Under: Cookies, Desserts, Healthy

« Becky’s Bites of Life- December
20 Family-Friendly Healthy Recipes »

Comments

  1. Jill W @ Utah Sweet Savings says

    January 12, 2016 at 10:02 am

    Those look really yummy, even without all the bad stuff! I can’t wait to try them!

    Reply
    • becky says

      January 13, 2016 at 10:22 pm

      Thanks Jill! They are so yummy! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  2. Jennifer says

    January 12, 2016 at 10:46 am

    Those look delicious! I’m definitely going to have to give them a shot πŸ™‚ Do you think I could sub regular chocolate chips for the M&Ms?

    Reply
    • becky says

      January 13, 2016 at 10:26 pm

      Thank you! Of course! I’ve done it before. Enjoy! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  3. Aliza B says

    January 12, 2016 at 11:12 am

    These look tasty! I have a question about the m&m’s. Are these the baking ones you find by the chocolate chips? Or the regular mini ones that you find with other candy. Thanks!

    Reply
    • becky says

      January 13, 2016 at 10:27 pm

      Thanks! I used regular mini M&M’s but I’m sure the baking ones would work just as well too!

      Reply
  4. Amberly says

    January 12, 2016 at 12:47 pm

    These look SO yuummy!!!

    Reply
    • becky says

      January 13, 2016 at 10:27 pm

      Thanks Amberly!

      Reply
  5. Julia says

    January 12, 2016 at 12:55 pm

    Those look delicious and I am sure that my kids would LOVE this! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
    • becky says

      January 13, 2016 at 10:28 pm

      Thanks! My kids really enjoyed it!

      Reply
  6. Jessica Williams says

    January 12, 2016 at 4:47 pm

    These look incredible- pinned for later! Thank you!

    Reply
    • becky says

      January 13, 2016 at 10:29 pm

      Thanks Jessica! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  7. Cassie says

    February 5, 2016 at 1:30 pm

    for the old fashioned oats do they need to be processed into an oat flour or baked as is?

    Reply
    • becky says

      February 9, 2016 at 5:36 pm

      Nope. But you can blend them into a flour if you want. If you do that measure out the oat flour to be 1/2 a cup.

      Reply
  8. amanda says

    March 23, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    Can I use regular sugar instead of brown sugar if I dont have any?

    Reply
    • becky says

      March 23, 2016 at 7:37 pm

      Yes, that should be fine. Brown sugar is preferred because of the flavor and chewiness it adds though.

      Reply
  9. brie says

    April 8, 2016 at 8:14 am

    what could we sub out for the brown sugar?? would apple sauce work?? or more honey?

    Reply
    • becky says

      April 8, 2016 at 11:24 am

      Honestly, I’m not sure but I think either more honey or applesauce would work. I’d say about 2-3 tablespoons. Please let me know what you try and if it worked!

      Reply
    • Melinda says

      July 7, 2016 at 8:03 pm

      I’m going to try using date sugar and a flax egg and see how that turns out.

      Reply
      • becky says

        July 8, 2016 at 9:46 am

        Great idea. Please let me know how it turns out! πŸ™‚

        Reply
  10. Holly says

    June 5, 2016 at 7:11 pm

    I’m completely obsessed with these!!!!!!

    Reply
    • becky says

      June 5, 2016 at 9:04 pm

      Cool! So happy to hear that! I’m obsessed too! I love cookies but a healthy cookie that taste amazing is the best! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  11. Danielle says

    June 15, 2016 at 4:14 pm

    Want to try these cookies but am counting my calories..do you know how many calories 1 cookie is?

    Reply
    • becky says

      June 15, 2016 at 8:33 pm

      Sorry, I don’t have calorie information on my site. But there are plenty of resources out there on the internet that can help. Enjoy! πŸ™‚

      Reply
    • Erika says

      July 15, 2016 at 8:30 pm

      Did you find any calorie info on these?

      Reply
  12. Amy says

    June 22, 2016 at 9:05 pm

    I don’t ever comment on these things but this cookie recipe is the BEST I just had to! It’s so easy (coming from a new college student who has never baked this means a lot) and it hits those cravings really easily! I’m so excited to share them with my friends and I also didn’t have chocolate chips so I made use of some milk chocolate balls I had and chopped them and put them in. When I took the cookies out I was concerned about them being too soft so I popped them back in for a minute & they’re soft & chewy! Thanks so much for this recipe it’s a life saver

    Reply
    • becky says

      June 23, 2016 at 8:34 am

      I am so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know. πŸ™‚ These cookies are pretty amazing!

      Reply
  13. Amanda says

    July 14, 2016 at 6:45 pm

    Wow, these look great. Can’t believe there’s no oil, butter or flour in them! Pinning these to make soon.

    Reply
  14. Sarah says

    August 29, 2016 at 12:54 pm

    These are soo tasty!! Made them last night for the first time. At first I thought I had burned them because the bottoms were a bit dark, but thankfully they don’t taste burnt at all and the tops are so soft and delicious! This recipe is perfect for peanut butter lovers. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • becky says

      August 29, 2016 at 1:09 pm

      Thanks for letting me know Sarah! πŸ™‚ I’m so glad you liked these. I’m not sure how long you baked it but try baking it for just 7 minutes next time. I’ve never had mine come out dark, just keep your eye on it! Oven temperatures can vary slightly plus the size of the cookie can affect baking time. Thanks for leaving a comment!

      Reply
  15. Lindsey says

    September 14, 2016 at 1:56 pm

    I’ve tried a lot of healthier baking options on here and nothing lived up to par… Except these! They were totally delicious! Thanks!

    Reply
    • becky says

      September 14, 2016 at 8:25 pm

      So happy to hear that! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  16. Jia Imran says

    September 16, 2016 at 2:09 pm

    These look delicious. Where I live peanut butter is expensive and unhealthy. What can I substitute? πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • becky says

      September 17, 2016 at 5:40 pm

      Thanks! You could try another nut butter like almond.

      Reply
  17. Kelly says

    October 9, 2016 at 1:58 pm

    Wow, these cookies are really good! I was having a craving for Monster Cookies like I made when I was kid, but was trying to find a healthier version. These are great. Nice peanut butter taste and with the chocolate chips and M & M’s…Oh my goodness. I will definitely make these again! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • becky says

      October 10, 2016 at 10:27 am

      I’m so glad you loved it! Thanks for letting me know. πŸ™‚

      Reply
  18. Alyson says

    November 4, 2016 at 2:08 pm

    So yummy!! How many calories do you think are in each cookie??

    Reply
    • becky says

      November 7, 2016 at 1:34 pm

      Thanks Alyson! Sorry, I don’t have that information but I’m sure there are a lot of calorie calculators out there that can help you.

      Reply
  19. Jessica says

    April 15, 2019 at 8:35 pm

    For those that want to know, I did a calorie calculator and found its about 163 calories per cookie (if you make 16 like the recipe says).

    Reply
  20. suzanneholt says

    July 20, 2019 at 1:22 pm

    This looks so good! Using mini M&M’s goes a long way for less sugar!

    Reply
    • becky says

      July 25, 2019 at 1:29 pm

      Definitely! It’s fun too! 😁

      Reply
  21. Vanessa says

    July 20, 2019 at 1:23 pm

    Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?

    Reply
    • becky says

      July 25, 2019 at 1:29 pm

      Yep! They stay soft too. Enjoy! πŸ˜„ (Just keep in an airtight container at room temperature.)

      Reply
  22. For Sure says

    September 14, 2019 at 7:50 am

    These are nothing but a bunch of sugar in various forms. Using oatmeal is great, but the rest is just sugar. Nothing that makes them warrant the label healthy.

    Reply
    • becky says

      September 14, 2019 at 8:28 am

      Thanks for taking the time to comment. You are correct there is sugar in this recipe. These cookies are labeled healthiER. Compare these ingredients to any regular Monster Cookie recipe and you will see that this recipe is healthiER. Hope you have a great day!

      Reply
  23. Kathy Wilson says

    March 20, 2020 at 5:31 pm

    These are very good. Followed the recipe as written except for using crunchy pb, because that’s what I had on hand.

    Reply
    • becky says

      March 20, 2020 at 7:01 pm

      Crunchy PB sounds delicious in this recipe! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you. πŸ™‚

      Reply
  24. Kelly says

    June 26, 2020 at 3:40 pm

    Loved the recipe. I followed it exactly and it came out great. Even my very picky daughter didn’t realize there was oatmeal in it.

    Reply
    • becky says

      June 27, 2020 at 2:29 pm

      That’s awesome! It’s such a great recipe. πŸ™‚

      Reply
  25. Kimberly Pierce says

    August 22, 2020 at 4:38 pm

    Omg these cookies are the bomb . I made them today for my birthday 8/22. And I can’t eat just one. Only difference I did was mix the m&mon the batter with the chocolate chip . Also added it on top like it said . . So soft and tasty πŸ˜‹. Wish I could add a pic to show how great it turned out .

    Reply
    • becky says

      August 22, 2020 at 9:10 pm

      Thanks for taking the time to leave this awesome review! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Happy birthday! You can upload a picture to the pin on Pinterest. I’d love to see. πŸ™‚

      Reply
  26. JB says

    September 10, 2020 at 11:14 am

    Can you use natural (runny) peanut butter?

    Reply
    • becky says

      September 10, 2020 at 6:09 pm

      I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. It could make the cookies harder to stick together but it might work just fine! Please let me know how it turns out if you try it.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. No Bake Monster Cookie Energy Bites - Love to be in the Kitchen says:
    February 23, 2016 at 6:03 am

    […] Healthy Monster Cookies No Bake Monster Cookie Energy Bites   Print Author: Becky Serves: 15 Ingredients […]

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  2. Healthier Peanut Butter M&M Christmas Cookies - Love to be in the Kitchen says:
    December 6, 2016 at 4:00 pm

    […] And I love that there’s oats in these cookies. Many of you know and love my recipe for Healthy Monster Cookies and this recipe is my Christmas version of […]

    Reply

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