Monster Cookies - the best ever

So this is my Aunt Cindy's recipe, who happens to be one of the best bakers I know! Every recipe card I get from her kitchen always turns out fantastic. I have a recipe for the best gingersnaps you've ever tasted from her too, which I will post some other day. Today, I am sharing a recipe for the yummiest cookies I could ever think of. Part of that is that I have altered Aunt Cindy's recipe (I prefer to think of it as embellishment) by chopping up loads of candy right into the cookies. I told you, these are good. Right after Halloween (granted, I'm a couple of weeks late) is the perfect time to make them, b/c you can dump those leftover snickers and butterfingers bars right in! Is anyone else thinking 'Leftover? who has leftover snickers?' but just in case you did...

I have since nicknamed them "Steve's Favorite Cookies" in honor of Steve's love for them, because I think of Steve and Maria whenever I make them. I think of Maria when I go running too. And when I drink coffee. And when I eat cheezits. And...well I guess I just miss her, ok?

Without further delay, here is what you need for success:

1/2 c. room temp butter

1/2 c. white sugar (recipe calls for 1 c. but with all the candy I throw in, I cut out a lot. You could probably even eliminate the white sugar altogether...)

1 c. packed brown sugar
1 & 1/2 c. peanut butter

3 eggs
1 teaspoon corn syrup (no idea how important this measurement is...I mean 1 tsp? I wouldn't buy this stuff just for this recipe, but I happen to have a bottle from who knows where that is who knows how old. As this is the only recipe I use that has corn syrup in it, how fast can you use up a whole bottle at 1 tsp per recipe? did I mention I don't know where or when I got it? scary)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons baking soda

4-1/2 c. rolled oats aka old fashioned (sometimes more if the mixture looks too wet...but be aware, because there is no flour, it never quite looks like 'dough')

Obnoxious amounts of M&M's, chocolate chips, heath, SNICKERS, mars (called milky way in america), butterfingers, aahhh, the sky is the limit....the original recipe calls for just M&M's and chocolate chips, but why stop there?

In my defense, this is a flour-less recipe and calls for only 1/2 the butter of most cookie recipes...what more can I do?

Instructions:

Cream the butter and the sugar in a large bowl. Then add the rest of the ingredients in the order they are given, mixing on low speed after each addition to incorporate. Drop cookies (I use two spoons...can be sticky stuff from the pb) onto greased (or lined with foil - easiest clean up) cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for anywhere from 7-10 min based on the size of the cookie. You don't want to overbake these beauties! They are meant to be chewy from the oatmeal...I usually leave them in for about 8 min. I have a husband who likes cookies extra chewy so I make sure they are just lightly kissed with golden but haven't officially "browned" around the edges yet. If someone is allergic to peanut butter, I imagine you could use almond or cashew butter, but I can't say I have tried it yet. Also, you could use gluten-free oats to make this recipe completely gluten free.

Now, for the sake of humor, I will share with you that this recipe has been scaled down quite a bit (4 times in fact). My version probably yields 3 dozen or so. My Aunt Cindy must have written down the measurements she uses around Christmas-time to bake hundreds, literally. For example, her recipe calls for a dozen eggs - 12! and 18 cups of oatmeal! how about having 3 pounds of peanut butter on hand - hah! Can you imagine the size bowl you need to mix that recipe?!? My sister Katie and I tried it once - I don't even remember what we did with all those! Or how long we were standing at the oven, baking them off! Probably hours and hours! :)

OH, it just came to me!! I remember now...we sent most of them to our then long-distance boyfriends...now husbands! We captured their hearts with these cookies, when you taste them, you will see how!

- the picture was found at bakeorbreak.com -