Simply the BEST: Mom’s Legendary Monster Cookies!

Legendary? For real? There I go again with the adjectives, right? Wrong! Ask anyone in my extended family, our friend circle, or any acquaintance within any of my siblings’ generation from my hometown and they will back me up. My mom’s monster cookies are legendary!!! 

This recipe is all thanks to my mom and the countless batches of these cookies she’s made for us over the years. That being said, I want to take a detour here and explain how this legendary recipe affected my husband’s relationship with me and my family. Any of you who have met my husband know that he can seem a bit shy when you first meet him. Any of you who really know my husband know that his true self will come shining through shortly thereafter 😉 For those of you who have never had the pleasure of meeting him, you have no idea what I’m talking about so let me tell you a story.

When I first started bringing my boyfriend-at-the-time-now-husband to my family gatherings he was beyond reserved. He came across as a sweet guy who was super polite and seemed to have taken a liking to me. I knew he was holding back and it was only a matter of time before his other amazing qualities came to light and my family saw why exactly I had fallen for him. After just a few times of him going back home to my parents’ farm with me, my mom started to pick up on his favorite foods. She has always had a tendency to make our favorite foods for us when we visit home and she’s taken that to an extreme level now that each of us have brought home future spouses. She wanted him (like each in-law before and after him) to feel right at home.

It didn’t take more than a few visits before he realized that she nearly always has a batch of these cookies either freshly made or hidden in the freezer. Almost equally as quickly, my mom noticed he seemed wayyyyy less reserved when the cookies were mentioned and, inevitably, passed around for all of us to enjoy. Soon, my sweet-tooth future hubby was not only taking multiple cookies before being offered, but even going so far as to ask about the whereabouts of the cookies himself. Eventually, the power of those cookies had my husband loosened up enough around my family that he felt comfortable enough to join in on the relentless teasing that is known as normal conversation to us.

Soon, my whole family began to realize this man was not nearly as shy as they first thought. He’s still the super sweet and polite guy they saw at first but he’s also now his normal hilarious, quick-witted, and smart self around them. I won’t lie here, I have little doubt that these cookies (along with the rest of the delicious cooking and baking of my family) sealed the deal with my husband falling in love 😉

Thankfully for our marriage, I found that the power of these legendary cookies extends past the boundary of my mom’s kitchen. Imagine my relief when I realized these cookies are actually simple enough that a notoriously failed baker such as myself can bake these delicious godsends! These cookies were a staple in our house when I was growing up, they are still a staple there when we visit home, and now I can make them a staple in my own house too. I can’t begin to tell you all the stories of these cookies but they include them being payment for work done, them being a midnight snack for family sitting around visiting late into the night, them being the core reason of relentless teasing about my perfectionist mom making sure exactly THREE M&Ms are visible on the top of each baked cookie (when I say each cookie, I mean EACH COOKIE of the thousands she has baked in her lifetime!). 

This recipe has been passed around to so many friends over the years that I thought it was only fitting to share with you all too! For those of you bakers, don’t panic when you scan this thinking I made a typo…there really isn’t any flour in this recipe! Now, go ahead and lose any reservations about making a full batch if this is your first time making this recipe. I halved it from the original which makes 4 dozen and believe me, you’ll regret not making at least 2 dozen after the power of these cookies has you falling in love after the first bite!